meeting the landlord of Santa Rosa Island

C

cmetzenberg

New member
After 22 years of diving in California I finally got to meet the ‘landlord’ yesterday. This particular ‘landlord’ was a 12-15’ great white shark named Katie. We figure it was Katie because a tagged shark matching the description of the one we saw has recently been observed in that area.
Katie was a really great example of an adult GW. She’s still young and can grow a bit larger. Unlike larger GWs she had very few distinguishing scars and marks. As far as her species go, she was a very ‘well-tempered’ shark. She didn’t behave in an aggressive or territorial manner, nor did she have any interest in making a meal of any of us; I wouldn’t most likely be writing this if she did.
I had just entered the water and swam the anchor line and was starting my decent to the bottom, 50’ below. I was no more than 5’ down the anchor line when she came up behind me and circle around my left side. Had she wanted a snack I would have never seen it coming, but she would have gotten a mouth full of aluminum tank. She was about 10’ away. She looked just like they do on TV, mouth slightly open displaying the tips of many large white teeth, black empty eye that no matter where you are feels like it is looking right at you (in my case I’m sure it was), and a perfect grey white interface on their stomach.
As soon as she had looked at me, she headed towards Jay and Brian who were already at depth on the seafloor. Her grey back faded into the blue. It was here, as she swam away from me, I got to see just how large she was; an easy 4-5’ wide. At this point I got back on the boat as fast as I could, scared and stoked simultaneously, I knew she was headed right for the other divers. I got back aboard and stripped some of my gear off so I could get to the engine controls. With my tank still on my back, I fired up the port engine, took it out of gear and revved it up and down. The guys on the bottom heard the engines but at this point, they had already made visual contact with the shark, but at least now they knew I wasn’t down there too.
Jay and Brian were luckily almost directly under the stern of the boat. Katie made one pass around them. Jay and Brian were back to back on the bottom. As soon as she headed away, they raced up for the stern of the boat. This is where things are dicey; you can’t ascend to fast, the gasses in your lungs and blood stream will expand and you can easily blow out a lung. It is also the worst place to be in the water column when dealing with a shark; you’re vulnerable from all sides. They didn’t come up faster than their bubbles (a crude ascension speed gauge used by divers), but they came up as fast as them. They got back onboard as quickly as you’d imagine.
We decided to move to another spot to dive closer inland. It was a good call, not second shark sighting and lots of lobster.
Unfortunately during the revving of my port engine I did something cause it is misfiring now. Perhaps a bad plug or a fouled injector.
 
Wow! I am glad you all had the requisite wisdom and presence of mind to get out of that one.

That's all I have to say about that!
 
Marvelous story--and a good ending due to very wise handling of the situation.

In the summers of 1951 to 1952 I worked at Camp Fox which is just to the East of Long Point, Catalina Island. Those of us who were on the staff knew that a 'great white shark regularly patrolled an area off Long Point. We didn't dive there, but dove elsewhere. This was before SCUBA was readily available. Back then, that was an old steel hot water tank, which had been made into a dive helmet by putting a glass face plate on it, and pieces of split hose on the cutouts for the shoulders. The diver wore lead shoes. Two above water pumped hard with oversized bicycle type pumps. One tended the line and hose to the helmet. The goal of the pumpers was to keep the water level below the mouth of the "diver". One of the "pumpers" was the next diver--so they were well motivated.

We had about 150 campers who swam twice a day-- an early AM dip off the beach, and during regular "swim period" in an float enclosed area with lifeguards and swim instructors. There were regular snorkeling trips. All of this was at least 300 yards from where the great white shark hung out. He had plenty of fish and seals to eat there. Never was there any incursion of the great white into the areas where there were swimmers.

My grandfather told a story many times of when he was sailing around Catalina, in the early 1900's there was another boat just behind his, when a crew member fell overboard. The other sailors saw a great white attack and kill this crew member. I always remembered this story. But in the over 50 years of my diving and sailing around the Channel Islands I never saw another great white sharp--plenty of other types however.

It is felt that most great white sharks attacks are cases of mistaken identity. A person is mistaken for the usual food: fish, sea mammals, rays etc--not humans.

Back in the late 60's and early 70's I was involved in increasing diver safety on commercial dive "head" boats. One of the recommendations we made which became policy/law, was that an underwater sounding device was essential to recall divers. Conrad used his engines to recall the other divers--and signal that he was OK and aboard the boat. Not moving rapidly, and a "normal" return to the surface--plus keeping the shark in view were key in their survival.

Other ways of recalling divers, include an underwater sound transducer, waterproof speakers, cranked up, hitting two metal objects under water.

Although not necessarily essential on a C Dory, for larger craft, a skiff or inflatable to recover divers who have strayed away from an anchored boat is essential.

Thanks for the great post!
 
Jay and Brian said the engines were very audible underwater. Now i just have to figure out what happened to make the one i revved up misfire...injector, plug, hopefully something simple.
 
I've seen a few juveniles GWs at the surface in the Santa Monica Bay but never underwater. Last year, Merry and I were diving the five-mile outfall pipe off El Segundo. I ascended a few minutes before Merry. While making my safety stop at fifteen feet I could still make out her tank and camera. I saw her fold up her strobe arms and begin her ascent. When she got close enough to me, she gave me the shark sign.

A five footer was swimming along the pipe and saw Merry, so it decided to check her out. It swam right up to her, then turned and swam away. She told me she saw the Disney grin but wasn't scared, but was prepared to bonk it with her strobes if necessary.

Some other divers I know were cleaning nets off a shipwreck at Catalina when a pregnant GW swam up to them. They got her on video.
https://vimeo.com/104235521
 
Wow. Nothing to mess with. I believe in such situations, discretion is the better part of valor. Getting the hell out of the water was the proper course of action. I have never seen a GW, but I must confess, I would like to...but from a cage.

The largest sharks I have experience with are tigers, but they are generally slower in their attacks. I have been “harassed” by gray reef sharks at the drop offs outside Kwajalein atoll. We were spear fishing, so we attracted quite the “gathering”. Still unnerving, even if they are “only” 6’ long. They were like missiles; one cannot react quickly or precisely enough to stave off a bite. I retreated to the boat as well, but being mid-water column, as you noted, was when I felt most vulnerable. And since we were ocean-side, the water dropped off DEEP.

Glad you and your group were safe. Once in a lifetime experience...or at least one would hope. :wink:
 
Pacificcoast101":2de81tf4 said:
I've seen a few juveniles GWs at the surface in the Santa Monica Bay but never underwater. Last year, Merry and I were diving the five-mile outfall pipe off El Segundo. I ascended a few minutes before Merry. While making my safety stop at fifteen feet I could still make out her tank and camera. I saw her fold up her strobe arms and begin her ascent. When she got close enough to me, she gave me the shark sign.

A five footer was swimming along the pipe and saw Merry, so it decided to check her out. It swam right up to her, then turned and swam away. She told me she saw the Disney grin but wasn't scared, but was prepared to bonk it with her strobes if necessary.

Some other divers I know were cleaning nets off a shipwreck at Catalina when a pregnant GW swam up to them. They got her on video.
https://vimeo.com/104235521
Click to expand...

Ugh, stuck at depth!
 
Great story. Thanks!

In 1990 I stayed on a live-aboard dive boat in the Cayman Islands, the Cayman Aggressor. I was an inexperienced driver with some very experienced drives. We used dive computers (high tech at the time) to get double the bottom time. Seven dives a day for seven days in one of the most beautiful dive places in the world.

On day two or three I'm sitting on the boat and someone pops out of the water and yells "SHARK". This was not long after the JAWS movie and I'm thinking death and destruction. This is not good!

To my surprise/shock everyone suits up and jumps in the water to see the shark. This did not seem natural to me at all.

It was a six foot hammerhead if my memory serves me right.

We did a night dives every night too. Jumping into the water, in the dark, at night, holding only a flashlight, didn't seem natural either.

These days I'd just assume be on the boat looking down.

8)
 
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