Metro 141 sharks

: in the deep

Deep!

In the Jaws

of Bangkok

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:in the deep

Are you looking for a bit of an adrenaline rush to clear out the cobwebs? Fancy coming face to face with one of man’s most feared nemeses, right in the middle of the city? Join John Twigg as he takes a plunge for some close encounters with the denizens of the deep.

While the day started out like any other, with a quick sortie into the office to check my email before heading off to town, it soon took a turn for the bizarre.Today my briefcase had only a swimsuit and a towel. Because today I wasn’t gong to any normal meetings… I was going scuba diving… and not just anywhere, but in a pool full of hungry sharks.

The venue was Siam Ocean World, smack in the middle of downtown Bangkok. As I walked off the skytrain the shops were still shut, but the entrance to Siam Ocean World was already teeming with tourists and school kids queuing up in anticipation of the wonders within. I hoped they wouldn’t get to see anyone eaten by a shark today.

Planet Scuba’s divemaster, Robin Lloyd, met me at the gate, and escorted me through the Aquarium. As I’m an experienced diver (yeah, right!… I took a course once, ten years ago) we skipped the refresher course, and headed immediately for the ‘main course’.We barely stopped to look at the static displays as we made our way down the wooden boardwalk into the viewing area beneath the tank.An acrylic tunnel spirals you right through the middle of the display giving the impression that you could reach out and touch the sharks.They seemed so peaceful, but the raggedy rows of razor sharp teeth and the cold eyes gave them a menacing edge. I wondered how I’d react once I was on the other side of the glass – I’d find out shortly I guess.

In the centre of the tunnel, Robin stopped and pointed out our proposed route. “We enter the tank over there, and we’ll swim over the walkway here, being careful not to drag any objects which might scratch the glass. Once you’ve cleared the walkway, you’re in the main current, and this is where you’ll come face to face with the sharks.”

To emphasise his point, two Nurse sharks emerged from the gloom, and swum right past the spot, with jaws half open. Robin continued.“Don’t be fooled by the name! Nurse sharks hunt in packs, nursing their prey together, before ruthlessly tearing them to pieces.”They’re part of the Tiger shark family, and that’s one of four species of sharks known to attack humans. I made a mental note not to be the meat in a shark sandwich.

Looking to ease my nerves, I asked Robin if the sharks had been fed.“No,” he said,“because it clouds up the water.”

I asked “Doesn’t blood cloud it up too?”

Having recce’d the dive from the bottom of the tank, we made our way back topside and suited up. At our designated entry point Robin gave a pre-dive briefing. He pointed to a group of school kids who were cuing up for their turn in the glass bottom boats which circle the aquarium above our heads… “Remember it’s an overhead environment.We don’t want you popping up and plastering yourself on the bottom of a boat full of kids”. Now that’s a particularly disturbing

By now we were totally at ease as the Ocean’s top predators swirled around us, and we barely even looked up when they brushed by

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Sumatra image – especially if I’m ascending in a shroud of bubbles as an over-zealous tiger shark tries to rip my arm off. It sounded like the kind of material Peter Benchley would’ve had a field day with.

I asked Robin if the sharks had been fed.

“No,” he said, “because it clouds up the water.”

I asked “Doesn’t blood cloud it up too?”

We checked out the route once again on the map.Then it was on with the hood and the gloves (I’m not sure if they were to keep the fish from nibbling on my ears or to hold my appendages together in case of a bite). And with all senses diminished, we slipped on the ungainly fins, and paddled down into the pool.

Our first task was to coax a particularly large stingray off the last step, since he was between us and the water. But he was way too comfortable, and in the end Robin budged him just enough for us to shimmy past – precariously close to the head. As I hugged the wall, with fins flapping and about 30 kilos of weight sucking on my back, I wondered whether that three foot long whip-like barb would go through my wetsuit? At least it took my mind off the sharks for a moment.

Then we were in the water, and I pulled a deep breath from the regulator. Suddenly it all seemed so peaceful. The fear was gone, replaced with an air of anticipation. While Robin went back for his camera, I checked my lead ballast, which was hopelessly inadequate. I was bobbling around on the surface like a wounded seal when Robin returned and tucked a couple of extra 2kg lead weights into my pocket, and he signaled ‘ok’ for the dive.

By now the aquarium was open for business, and I be-

came aware for the first time that I was inches away from a viewing tunnel full of people, no doubt bemused by our antics as we poked around the rocks, acclimatizing to our environment. We were so close to the people, yet so detached – they reacted without inhibition. Some boys reached out – fingers pressed ET-style against the tank – and girls blew kisses as we chugged out clouds of bubbles in mirth.

The tube was like a barrier separating us from the sealife hidden beyond. As we rose above it, still interacting with the people within, the expanse of the reef emerging from the gloom seemed to go on forever. As we descended over the other side, Robin pointed over my shoulder. They came from behind, in a pair, and the first I knew of them was the gentle nudge as they grazed against my body. It was a couple of curious Leopard sharks who were clearly still not used to people coming into their territory. Curiosity had brought them in close, but unfazed by the encounter, they continued their path along the reef. I kicked out to keep pace with my new friends and was so enraptured by the moment that I almost swam head-first into the jaws of a much larger Nurse shark gliding towards me out of the blue. I could have sworn he was about to swallow me whole, but I’ll put that down to the magnification effect of the goggles. Without any discernable body movement, he rolled up over me as, remembering the briefing – “don’t trap the shark against the glass” – I arched down beneath him and followed him with my eyes as he swam over the tunnel and away. We meandered through a rock tunnel, along with our Leopard escorts, and dropped down in front of the enormous viewing window, which was now packed with people enjoying our

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show. Robin had his underwater camera, and he took pictures of the people taking pictures of us through the glass.

We sat for a while, inches apart, waiting for one of the gnarlylooking Nurse sharks to swim between us for the ultimate close-up photo. Having got a couple of unforgettable pictures, we went back to our games with the tourists and with the sharks. Some of the little kids were overcome with the spectacle, while others crowded round – their mums and dads eagerly snapping up the moment.We even surprised an older Thai couple who were oblivious to our presence as they stood back to the glass capturing the moment. They’ll get quite a shock when they get their photos back.

By now we were totally at ease as the Ocean’s top predators swirled around us, and we barely even looked up when they brushed by. We decided to take a curtain call (literally), and slipped out through the curtain of artificial seaweed into a darkened corner where we came face to face with a massive Grouper which (although appearing to be in the same tank) was actually separated by a glass partition to stop him eating the smaller tropical fish. Having checked us out, he puffed nonchalantly a few times and hovered back into his dingy abode. We continued our circumnavigation, and dropped over the reef into a secluded corner where a huge shark, at least a couple of metres long, lay motionless in a corner.This answered for me a question that Matt Brody had raised (in Jaws) twenty years ago… sharks were supposed to swim in their sleep, since if they stopped they drowned. But this one had wedged itself into a crack and simply let the current wash through it’s gills. It’s obvious that in the wild a shark could find a tidal surge or a current

to anchor themselves in and let mother nature take charge – it was quite a revelation.

I looked around, but Robin was gone.A flutter of movement near the surface, and I realized he was standing on the step offering me a hand. Had it been half an hour already? I took one last sweeping gaze around the pool, savouring the moment, before inflating my vest, and bobbling back to the surface.

Wow! What a rush. It wasn’t until I was back on terra firma that I realized that at NO point since entering the water had I felt even the slightest flutter of fear with the sharks.

Some boys reached out – fingers pressed ET-style against the tank – and girls blew kisses as we chugged out clouds of bubbles in mirth.

But that was just part of the buzz. Before the dive I thought, at best, this would be a weak imitation of nature, but now it dawned on me that you would rarely ever find such a rich undersea environment in the wild. I thought of the thousands of dollars divers plough into the elusive hunt for these predators in their natural environment – the excitement they experience catching a glimpse of a shark in the distance – yet we’d spend the best part of an hour playing with several different varieties. There had been no long boat trip to get there, and no question of how long to wait before flying home. I could simply step out of my wetsuit into a shower, then back on the train to anywhere in the city.

I even had time to arrange a lunch with my bankers, although why I was thinking about them coming out of the shark tank is anyone’s guess.

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