Scuba Diving . . . with sharks . . .??

Yesterday Kyle and our friend B paid their deposit for a scuba diving trip over Presidents Day weekend. The trip is off one of the outer islands, Yonaguni, and the purpose of the trip is to dive with hammerhead sharks as they migrate.

Hum. Why haven't I paid my deposit? Well . . . it sounds like an awesome opportunity . . . drop 60-90 feet below the surface of the ocean and float in the drift of the Philippine Sea and the China Sea and hope that a school (or multiple schools) of hammerhead sharks will come floating by. Hum. Why haven't I paid my deposit? Because they are freaking meat eating sharks!

I saw some very cool pictures from previous trips. The dive master assures me it is safe. They've been doing this trip for 30 years and no one's lost any arm yet. The captain of the dive boat has been taking people out for 50 years and again, no tragedies. . . But I'm still scared. I'm a bit scared of a freak shark attack. I'm a bit scared of getting out on the boat, getting ready to roll off backwards into the wide open sea and chickening out. I'm a bit scared of my husband getting eaten by a shark. I'm a bit scared of having a near panic attack after I drop in. At that point there is no choice. Figure it out. Breathe through the reg. Take in the beauty of nature. Watch for sharks.

Then again . . . probably the opportunity of a lifetime. These sharks migrate in mid-February. They migrate in the exact location where the two seas converge. The dive company has an 85% sighting rate overall and a 97% sighting rate during the dates Kyle and B have booked their trip. We might not be here in February of 2011, so February of 2010 might be my best chance.

The dive master says, "if we get lucky, we'll roll right off the boat in to a school. Last year we dropped right in to a school of sharks." He continues, "If we're lucky, a shark will be swimming between you and your buddy."

Oh . . . the other dives include touring an underwater city, sort of like Atlantis. The ruins include a large stone structure that looks like a face (think Sphinx, sort of) and a bunch of buildings and stone ruins. There is no consensus about whether or not the structure was human-made or formed naturally. But, if it was human-made than it is one of the oldest structures on Earth. It would be so old that it was made long, long ago and is now covered by 40 feet of ocean water. Respected scientists fall on both sides of this argument - some say it's human-made, some say it's a natural occurrence. Many won't go on the record saying anything. As the dive master put it, "Academe doesn't like that kind of thing. They'd loss tenure and stuff."

I really, seriously need help with this decision. Am I crazy to go? Or crazy not to go?

Pictures of the ruins in Yonaguni

Another dive perspective