The aquarium nearest my home has a special program that lets you take a swim in the shark tank. Yes, they make you pay to almost get eaten. Capitalism at it's best. The first time we tried to do this was in June '05 and we were turned away because we did not have a reservation and we showed up later in the day. We decided to go back at the end of July or mid August. I called several times to make a reservation, but I never got through. We only had one chance to go for the rest of the summer, so we got up early and took the two hour drive to get there at opening. I had read the website (www.adventureaquarium.com) and found out all the things I would need. I was ready! After some begging and pleading they said I could get into the 2:45 group. They only run three groups since it takes two hours for each group.
I was happy as I could be at that point. Then the realization of just how stupid I can be hit me right between the eyes, I forgot my bathing suit. DOH! That's it. I have to go get one. I sent the wife and kids into the aquarium and got some directions from a local to the nearest Wal-Mart. Like the proverbial "Bat-Out-Of-Hell" I was off. I raced through town looking for the landmarks I could remember and low and behold I actually found it. In late July retail stores all over the country begin a transition from summer to "Back-to-School" merchandise. The men's bathing suits could now be found only on the discounted horrible pattern, super small or XXXXXXL, nobody wants me rack. After searching through suits that would have me singing very high notes indeed and the god awful floral patterns, I found a medium, solid yellow, basic, actually normal suit. Off to the register and fly the bat back to hell. Now with suit and all my other needs, I caught up to the wife and kids to kill time in the aquarium.
Actually the aquarium is fantastic, but my enthusiasm was pointed in one direction only. In the mean time, my kids got their faces painted and we had a long slow walk through the aquarium. When the time came, I was very anxious. The family had a 3:00 show in the 4D theater so they left as I was headed up to the sharks. They took us down to the locker room area and sized us up for wet suits and explained how to get into them and how they should fit. It's kind of like putting the skin back on that banana only harder. We showered with the suits on to water log them and get any oils out of our hair and off our faces. Once we were wet, we headed back to the Shark Shack for some instruction. They explained about the sharks and rays that we would encounter and went over some safety precautions. While we were in the training my family showed up out side the Shark Shack to watch me get eaten. Then into the water we went. The wet suits are like full body life preservers. You can't sink in them. It was an odd feeling when swimming to not be under the water, but on it. We were not to make any splashing or sudden noises, so we all swam using just our arms for the most part.
The shark tank has a shelf built around the outer edge about 3-4 feet from the surface. The shelf has a half wall that looks like rock to form a kind of trench for us to sit in, well float in. The trench has two open areas for the sharks to exit if they get into the trench. The two divers that went into the trench with us were filled with comments about you only need to be the second slowest swimmer if anything bad happens. They blocked the exits of the trench with their bodies while we watched the sharks. It is an oddly silent world and the sharks glide through it with almost no effort at all. They are beautiful creatures. I could almost immediately tell the sharks apart. Each one has some distinguishing features. One has an odd pattern of brown spots on its sides and another has three welts on the top of the right fin. Visibility in the water was strange. Bands of light rippled down into the water like the suns rays after a summer storm breaking through the clouds. But it was the combination of shadows where the sharks always seemed to pop out from.
With a signal from our guides we moved to the area where the rays are kept. We needed to be very careful as the Butterfly Ray was injured and is too stubborn to move. They explained how to feed the rays and took us out one at a time to feed them. I put my hand into the water and looked around. A Cow-Nosed ray came out of nowhere to grab the snack. It caught me off guard and I tripped over my flippers and stumbled a bit. Then I felt a strange feeling at my knee like someone was pressing the vacuum cleaner hose against my leg. When I looked down, another Cow-Nosed ray was sucking at my leg. It stared working its way up my leg. The Cow-Nosed rays were very cute, like a Pug that can swim. So ugly they are cute.
We all swam around with the rays for a while and then moved out to the shark area again. This time I was on the end by one of the shark exits. Well, actually I was half way in the exit. I could only hold myself back with one hand. It was less active this time though and I was afraid that I would not see many sharks on the way out. I sank myself into the water a little bit more and looked out into the shadows. A small round shape began for form in front of me. It took a moment to realize that the shape was headed straight for me. The the clear image of a Sand Tiger shark appeared in the lights from above and he was indeed headed straight for me. Ten feet away and he wasn't turning. Eight feet and moving slowly. Six. Four! At that he turned to my left and seemed to look right through me with that beady little 'I eat Italian hit men' eye of his. And then he swam away. I looked over to the diver next to my and gave a thumbs up to say 'I'm Ok' and 'That was COOL' all at once. The second time the shark did that I got the feeling he was looking for some lunch. At the THIRD time I was thinking that this was not funny any more and he should knock it off. Before a forth time could come around it was time to head back and out adventure was over. But, I did not leave with a feeling of being glad to get out of there. I was beyond words with enjoyment. I had a great time in the tank. It's something I don't ever want to forget.
