With Hanli Prinsloo from I Am Water
Working in the Charitable Division of Ewing Trust Company is an incredible experience. There is never a dull moment! My next experience was Freediving with Sharks!
Thanks to Ewings and Hanli Prinsloo of I Am Water and Blue Wilderness in Rocky Bay, I was introduced to freediving and then on the 2nd March 2010 I was introduced to Freediving with Sharks.
Fear rears its ugly head when someone mentions the word “shark”. Even the hardiest of surfers are weary when it comes to sharks in the ocean, mostly through a lack of understanding. I can tell you now, they are not interested in eating us! And I am living proof, along with everyone else who has experienced Freediving/swimming/scuba diving with these wonderful creatures. I’m still here after freediving with them for an hour off the coast of Rocky Bay.
What an incredible encounter we had, watching the black tips swim amongst us freedivers, being inquisitive and enjoying their own encounter with foreign ‘matter’ in their ocean.
I must admit, with all the excitement going on around me, to focus on my breath hold and to obtain that optimum breath before freediving was a bit tougher this time round. I don’t know the depth I reached or the time I spent under the water on one breath, but when I was down there looking up at the surface I was faced with a spectacular sight, watching these beautiful silhouettes turn and move with such ease above me.
At one stage I had a friendly pilot fish hovering around trying to hitch a ride. It eventually realised that it would be impossible to latch on to my wetsuit and swam off to an unsuspecting Shark.
Sharks are portrayed as fearful predators of the oceans…yes, they are predators BUT they are certainly not eager to eat us. Contrary to popular belief, Sharks are not man eaters!
I often swim in the sea and I am a ‘wanna-be’ surfer, and the thought of a Shark swimming below me does cross my mind and not always in an ‘easy-going’ way. I now view Sharks in a totally different light. It is quite upsetting listening to the shocking statistics on the brutality of Sharks by people who do not understand them. The ocean is their home.
Asked if I will do it again…Yes, I will definitely do this again!
Sally Brown
Ewing Trust Company Charitable Division