Snorkeling with Sharks in Oahu

I remember the first time I saw Ocean Ramsey swimming peacefully next to a great white shark I was in shock, just like the rest of the world. I started researching more about who she is and found out that she is a world renown marine biologist, model and conversationalist. I then learned that she runs an educational program called "Shark Research Snorkel" where people from around the world come to Oahu to have an opportunity to snorkel with sharks in open ocean without a cage.

I have done my share of research about various shark diving companies to know which ones are ethical and actually care about the animals and which ones just use shark dives as a ploy to get tourist money at all costs. Ocean's company One Ocean is primarily focuses on marine research and conversation, they don't chum the water and take this opportunity to provide first hand experience to people that sharks are not "mindless man eaters".

I remember the night before our scheduled dive, I was so excited I could barely sleep. I have been fascinated with sharks ever since I was a little girl and had my first shark experience the year before while scuba diving in St. Maarten. This time I knew it would be different, I would be without my scuba equipment and just had basic snorkeling gear in wide open ocean.

The next day we woke up at 7am to make the drive to the north shore to Haleiwa Boat Harbour in the marina where the boat would be waiting for us. The drive from the town to Kailua on the east side to north shore took about 50 mins. When arrived to the marina, we realized that OneOcean doesn't have a direct dive shop in the marine and instead you have to be on a lookout for their boat.

OneOcean team started our educational snorkeling experience by providing facts and statistics about sharks and research they do to help learn more about shark behaviors. They kept emphasizing the importance that sharks play in a marine ecosystem. Sharks keep reefs healthy by removing weak and sick populations in order to prevent the spread of disease, which can be devastating. Scientists have noticed that in the places where sharks has been fished out, there is a significant loss of other marine life which can be detrimental to the health of an overall reef.

Sharks managed to survive 5 mass extinctions including the one that killed the dinosaurs, yet their numbers have been dramatically depleting over the years. Today there are 465 shark species on the planet, yet 1 in 4 of these species are being threaten to extinction due to human activities such as fishing and shark finning. Humans kill 100 million sharks per year!

Once we made it to the dive site, I remember looking down and realizing it was so deep, I couldn't see the bottom in the crystal clear water. When I asked the marine biologist how deep we were going to be, he said a couple hundred feet, maybe a thousand... I remember slowly beginning to panic and my anxiety of being in open ocean coming back, but I knew that I wanted to have this experience so much that I wouldn't let anxiety get the best of me.

When the boat stopped all of us started gearing up for the adventure of a lifetime. I remember seeing sharks come up closer to the surface and the ladder and having to push away the fears deeply instilled by Hollywood production of "Jaws".

Once I jumped in the water it took me a second to adjust being motionless and not making a lot of noise. Once I got used to just floating gently at the surface I remember making eye contact with a few sharks and realizing that they were just as curious about us as we were of them. One of them even came closer from the deep blue abyss to check us out. There were all swimming so slowly, so gracefully, it was absolutely mesmerizing!!

I felt so much joy, excitement and being absolutely humbled by the whole experience. I realize that not everyone has the opportunity to travel to some far flung destination to learn first hand that sharks are nothing that media portrays them to be. But I hope that this inspires some of you to learn more about the ocean, sharks and how we can all protect them to ensure the health of our planet.

If you want to learn more, check out these links:

Booking your pelagic snorkel adventure: https://www.freedivewithsharks.com/

Ocean Ramsey TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVuHuifQL8Q

Cool footage of Ocean swimming with a great white: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-1xU0VfJ-g