Great White Shark Dive Guadalupe Island Mexico #aworldofitsown

Sharks are perfectly designed, beautiful creatures and vital for the equilibrium of the marine ecosystem. – Great White Shark Dive #aworldofitsown – Guadalupe Island

Sharks, especially the Great White are portrayed in the media as man eaters when in reality is the other way around. Man is killing sharks at an alarming speed, killing them for their fins.

Guadalupe Island off the Pacific Coast of Mexico is considered the best place in the world to see the Great White Shark. Because of the unusually high numbers found around the Guadalupe Island it is an important site for researching the great white.  We were lucky enough to speak to Dr. Mauricio Hoyos: biologist and Director of Pelagios Kakunjá, who lives on the island and devotes his life to the studying and protection of sharks. One of the things he explained to us is that the great whites are curious creatures and accidents involving humans are caused by the sharks confusing the human shape with a seal.

The adventure began arriving at Ensenada were we met the liveaboard. It was a 25 hrs journey: I didn’t sleep the first night, bouncing from one side to the other of the bed, high waves, I had never experienced such a long trip before. The next morning when we saw Guadalupe Island I was so excited! The crew start attracting the sharks with fish. I climbed to the roof of the boat and from there I saw the shape of the first Great White Shark … Butterflies in my stomach, I couldn’t wait to jump in the water.

I guess the sharks were excited to see us too! It’s like a “zoo in reverse”  humans in cages – the sharks came to see us!

Once I was in the water the butterflies in my belly started flying like crazy! So amazing to meet “The Lord of the Oceans” so close! Seeing the sharks swim up vertically from the deep blue and circle around the cages checking us out, Wow. Each day spent we met different sharks of all sizes, all of them incredible gorgeous.

I spent hours in the cage, so happy, in a meditative stage sometimes. Surrounded by deep blue water, sometimes by myself… Incredibly happy!

My closest encounter was when one of the sharks realized I was a “mermaid trapped inside a cage” and tried to get inside to rescue me – Talk about extreme! The poor shark came swimming to see us so fast he got inside the cage up to his dorsal fin, the cage was only thing that stopped him from “rescuing” us. It was just a few seconds that felt like eternity! I was alone with an Italian movie maker with his huge camera when this happened. My friend and I were pushed (or jumped at the speed of light) to the corner of the cage while the shark was trying to free himself from the cage bars.

Another beautiful experience was when a big school of yellow tail jacks were swimming around the cage, lots and lots of them! Beautiful… 5 days at sea, at nights the stars were shining by the millions, the seals swimming around the boat catching sardines and fluorescent creatures swimming by giving a grand spectacle with the bioluminescence of their bodies. Going to bed felt like being in your mother’s womb, floating with the gentle movement of the boat.

It has been one of the greatest privileges in my life: Sol the mermaid got to meet “The Lord of the Oceans” Great White Shark Dive #aworldofitsown – Guadalupe Island

Haz click aquí para ver mas de nuestras aventuras sub acuáticas con tiburones y manta rayas en Archipiélago Revillagigedo (Islas Socorro)

Click here to see our underwater adventures with Sharks, Manta Rayas in the Islands of Revillagigedo. 

Click here to see our underwater adventures with the whale shark.
Para mas de nuestras aventuras sub acuáticas con tiburones ballena haz click aquí.

Great White Shark Dive #aworldofitsown – Guadalupe Island Mexico – Photographs and words by Sol Tamargo

Thanks for additional picture by Pablo Simon