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Nurse Shark!? Sorry, It Was 3 Bulls!
AND, we have pictures!
AND, we have pictures!
A group of us went out on one of TampaBay’s most famous private boats today! Frogman_5, Mr3d, MissDirected and CoolTech boarded the Irish Wake for an exciting day of diving. This boat has hosted SB divers from around the world and has never failed to create exciting dives and great friendships (Thanks Rich!)
You may remember this boat from another exciting adventure last year, “Running With the Bulls…” http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=139959&highlight=Running+with+the+bulls
Not surprising, we choose to dive this same wreck often, and it didn’t let us down this time! South Jack Wreck is a scattered wreck with two large stacks protruding from the ground up about 15’ (I believe someone told me they were boilers). The wreck is home to a number of Goliath Grouper and is teaming with large varying species. Pictures are easy to find, and visibility today was exceptional (top to bottom 60+ feet) I will write the report and MissD will proudly share the pics!
We paired into two groups; Mr3D and frogman_5 were first in the water while MissDirected and I prepared our gear to dive upon their return. MissD and I received our report of conditions from frogman_5 while we were on the tag line. There’s a Nurse Shark sitting on the bottom, but we didn’t get close enough to check it out. I won’t bore you with the same old reports about our first dive. You know the profiles… excellent visibility, six Goliath Grouper, schools of Tuna blocking out the sun, pictures everywhere… you get the idea. We didn’t run into the Nurse Shark, but had a great dive (So great we all decided to double dip it).
Here is where this story begins. MissD and I hit the water and descended the tag line to the bottom. We chose to do a little sand diving because the wreck is scattered and we were being shielded from everything by schools of Tuna that kept closing us at the center of their circling bodies every time we stopped to take a picture. We decided to head back to the boilers and do some more easy photos of posing Goliath Grouper. As we made our way around the boilers happily snapping photos, I got the sign from MissD (hand vertically atop the head). We all know Jimmy Buffet was not on the dive… It had to be the Nurse Shark!
I stopped my snapping pictures of a willing subject (Goliath) and waited among the rock debris to spot the Nurse. MissD chose not to wait for me to spot it, and showed me the picture on her digital… pointed tail, interesting dorsal, teeth… That’s not a Nurse! It’s TWO BULLS! AND THEY ARE CLOSE!
We couldn’t see sharks any longer, so we went back to our willing models, Goliath, ‘cuda, Angels, Tangs, but kept watch over the outskirts for signs of shark attitude change. I was on the dive for “Running with the Bulls…” I know what they are capable of doing. If this was the same group from last year, we could be in for some exciting fun before getting back on the boat!
Then, we saw it… swimming in a straight line, 10’ over our heads… no hurry, no agitation, just gently swimming by. It was a third Bull, and it appeared to be doing recon work. Well, now you have my attention (and the hairs on my neck were also at attention). We have an open water 50’ swim back to the anchor line, plenty of air, but bottom time is ticking by. Neither of us was worried about air, and neither of us was at a panic state, just heightened awareness. We’ve been good dive buddies in the past, and we were about to become closer friends (unless I take out my knife, slice her and swim like hell!
)
We chose to continue our dive, but hung around the two boilers, gently peeking around the corners before committing to each side. At one point just after seeing the overhead bull, I got to close to a jagged edge on one boiler and it happened… A small scrape! Crap! I had to look at it… yep, it was seeping green liquid (blood underwater), and it was seeping like a paper cut! I rubbed it; no better, I held my hand over it… nothing. OK, this just became a dangerous dive and bottom time is ticking away. We each have close to 2000 psi, but bottom time is still ticking…
Well, we have to make the 50’ swim and then the ascent, should I pull out the knife for this one? It won’t be worth a lot, but I just need to get an eye, or snout (Not MissD… the shark!
) I motion to call the dive, and I receive pleading eyes and begging motions with a request to do one more time around the boilers… Hell, I’m a trooper… OK (Johnny, you’ve seen that look in her eyes… you just can’t say no to that look) we take another zip around the boilers MissD happy to snap a couple more posing fish. I chose not to tell MissD about the paper cut, no need to add anxiety to the new challenge I just created. As if three Bulls were not enough, I had to go and raise the bar to make it more of a challengeI don’t mind telling you that I hung around that last boiler just a bit longer than I really wanted to, but I wanted to have a good look around before opening up to a possible open water attack. We made the swim to the anchor line and started our ascent. I will also tell you that I followed the rules on ascent right up to the “optional” safety stop, even though two of our new friends made an appearance at our level right at 30'. Possibly bent, possibly attacked. I think I would have a better chance with a chamber, and I wasn’t in a deco situation. MissD began her safety stop, but when she saw that I was swimming over to the ladder and gave her the sign that I was getting out, she chose to follow my lead.
When a diver hits the surface there are some things you may not want to hear come from their mouth. I actually thought about what to say when I hit the surface in order to expedite my exit from the water. This is the wording I chose, “Someone take my gear quick, Bull Sharks and I am bleeding” That got everyone’s attention, and I was out of the water, bleeding from my underwater paper cut, we got MissD out of the water quickly, got the small wound covered, and had a great story to tell.
Oh, the pictures of grouper alone will win this week’s dive-off, we added the sharks to seal the deal!
Always a pleasure to dive with you Tracy! Always fun to be out on the boat, Rich! See you tomorrow morning for another great day of diving!
(Perhaps I should change my screen name to "Dances with Bulls! :grin )
