on a gently swaying deck of a boat in a hundred feet of water. Looking down at a monster shark that was angry and hungry and could take off an arm with a single swipe of its jaws.
But Iâd said I would do it.
And the cage was perfectly safe. No shark would be able to break through the bars, because the cage was floating and would simply bounce away. The tops of the bars were more than a foot out of the water. The shark wouldnât be able to jumpover top and get inside, even if its tiny brain figured out how to do it.
Although my emotions told me it was insane to get into the cage, my brain told me nothing could go wrong.
So I put on my snorkel and mask, grabbed the underwater camera and climbed down the ladder of the
GypSea
into the cage.
To face the monster.
chapter eighteen
I was in a wet suit.
I wished I were in chain mail.
All that the wet suit could do was protect me from the cold water. Even though Gulf waters are warm compared to other areas, the temperature is still lower than body temperature. It never hurts to stay warm.
The floor of the cage was about eight feet below the surface. It meant that I was treading water inside the cage, looking directly at the dorsal fin of the bull sharkon the other side of the bars. I could have reached through and touched it.
The shark must have seen my legs and arms moving below the surface. It charged the cage again, sending shudders through the water.
I gulped and told myself again that the cage could take it.
Then I lowered my head and put my mask in the water and began to breathe through the snorkel.
I almost wet myself inside my wet suit.
With the mask showing everything underwater so clearly, I could see the sharkâs jaws opened wide enough to swallow a basketball. It was directly on the other side of the bars, angled sideways, trying to get through to me.
It was so terrifying, I almost forgot to turn on the underwater camera.
Bang
. It hit the cage again.
Scary as this was, I knew it would make for some good footage.
Bang
.
Bang
.
As I concentrated on filming the shark as it swirled around and attacked the cage, I forgot to be afraid. My world was reduced to the shark and the water and the sound of my breathing.
Until I noticed something as terrifying as the shark.
One of the cageâs outside floats had drifted away from the cage!
That side of the cage immediately began to sink.
Now the cage was tilting sideways. Before, there had been quite a bit of the cage above the water on all four sides. Now the side without the float had sunk below the surface.
And, unbelievably, another float drifted away from the cage.
Without warning, and before I could react, two sides of the cage were well underwater. The top of the cage was now three feet below the surface, with the open end of the cage beginning to face sideways.
With the shark coming in hard. Directly at me.
chapter nineteen
Strange how a personâs mind can register things so clearly.
This close to the surface, there was plenty of sunlight. Behind the shark, I saw bright particles of plankton suspended in the water, like dust in a beam of light.
I saw the sharkâs blank eyes. I saw rows of sharp triangular teeth, all pointing inward. I even saw a few strands of meat stuck in those teeth, floating like streamers.
I had no way of protecting myself.
In the movies, the good guy will punch the shark on the nose and frighten it away.
That was the movies. Here it would have done as much good as spitting in the face of a grizzly.
The shark filled the entire opening of the cage. The cage that was now my prison.
And then, with the clarity of a snapshot, the water mushroomed with bright red.
I wondered if that was my brain again, connecting a color to something happening to my body. Maybe the shark had grabbed my arm and my perceptions were exploding.
But I felt no pain.
The red in the water swirled as the shark thrashed.
For a second the red cleared, and I saw that the top of
But Iâd said I would do it.
And the cage was perfectly safe. No shark would be able to break through the bars, because the cage was floating and would simply bounce away. The tops of the bars were more than a foot out of the water. The shark wouldnât be able to jumpover top and get inside, even if its tiny brain figured out how to do it.
Although my emotions told me it was insane to get into the cage, my brain told me nothing could go wrong.
So I put on my snorkel and mask, grabbed the underwater camera and climbed down the ladder of the
GypSea
into the cage.
To face the monster.
chapter eighteen
I was in a wet suit.
I wished I were in chain mail.
All that the wet suit could do was protect me from the cold water. Even though Gulf waters are warm compared to other areas, the temperature is still lower than body temperature. It never hurts to stay warm.
The floor of the cage was about eight feet below the surface. It meant that I was treading water inside the cage, looking directly at the dorsal fin of the bull sharkon the other side of the bars. I could have reached through and touched it.
The shark must have seen my legs and arms moving below the surface. It charged the cage again, sending shudders through the water.
I gulped and told myself again that the cage could take it.
Then I lowered my head and put my mask in the water and began to breathe through the snorkel.
I almost wet myself inside my wet suit.
With the mask showing everything underwater so clearly, I could see the sharkâs jaws opened wide enough to swallow a basketball. It was directly on the other side of the bars, angled sideways, trying to get through to me.
It was so terrifying, I almost forgot to turn on the underwater camera.
Bang
. It hit the cage again.
Scary as this was, I knew it would make for some good footage.
Bang
.
Bang
.
As I concentrated on filming the shark as it swirled around and attacked the cage, I forgot to be afraid. My world was reduced to the shark and the water and the sound of my breathing.
Until I noticed something as terrifying as the shark.
One of the cageâs outside floats had drifted away from the cage!
That side of the cage immediately began to sink.
Now the cage was tilting sideways. Before, there had been quite a bit of the cage above the water on all four sides. Now the side without the float had sunk below the surface.
And, unbelievably, another float drifted away from the cage.
Without warning, and before I could react, two sides of the cage were well underwater. The top of the cage was now three feet below the surface, with the open end of the cage beginning to face sideways.
With the shark coming in hard. Directly at me.
chapter nineteen
Strange how a personâs mind can register things so clearly.
This close to the surface, there was plenty of sunlight. Behind the shark, I saw bright particles of plankton suspended in the water, like dust in a beam of light.
I saw the sharkâs blank eyes. I saw rows of sharp triangular teeth, all pointing inward. I even saw a few strands of meat stuck in those teeth, floating like streamers.
I had no way of protecting myself.
In the movies, the good guy will punch the shark on the nose and frighten it away.
That was the movies. Here it would have done as much good as spitting in the face of a grizzly.
The shark filled the entire opening of the cage. The cage that was now my prison.
And then, with the clarity of a snapshot, the water mushroomed with bright red.
I wondered if that was my brain again, connecting a color to something happening to my body. Maybe the shark had grabbed my arm and my perceptions were exploding.
But I felt no pain.
The red in the water swirled as the shark thrashed.
For a second the red cleared, and I saw that the top of
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