This is one of my fondest marine encounters, simply due to the element of surprise! It only lasted a mere minute or two, and luckily I was rather oblivious to what was going on at the time...
A little background before we begin: This encounter happened in Utila on 26th March 2019, and up until this point, the only sharks I could confidently identify really were those which we see frequently in the area, such as nurse sharks and whale sharks (pretty obvious); other than those species I could only recognise sharks due to their defining physical features like a hammerhead for example. Basically, my shark ID knowledge was poor.
To add slight embarrassment to this story, at the time I was a few months into my role as Program Manager at The Whale Shark & Oceanic Research Center 'WSORC' (@wsorc_life), so some may argue that my shark ID skills should have been better, but to give credit to myself, my focus was mainly on whale sharks!
On this day I was leading a reasonably large group on an Ocean Safari, which entails taking visitors around the island by boat in search of marine life. On these trips we are predominantly looking for whale sharks, but it is common for us to encounter dolphins and even pilot whales and sperm whales if we are lucky! In these circumstances, we allow people to enter the water and snorkel with the wildlife which can truly be a once in a lifetime experience for many. These trips can be very exciting and a joy to lead, however on many occasions we can tour around the whole island without seeing anything, which can inevitably lead to disappointment - but you can't control nature! These Ocean Safaris would not only allow us as an NGO to educate tourists about how to responsibly and safely interact with wildlife, but it also provides a source of income for The Whale Shark Center - which we rely on in order to operate as a whole!
After leaving the harbour and driving around to the west side of the island, we begun our search. Like most in Utila, it was a beautiful day with perfect conditions for spotting a dorsal fin or a 'boil' in the water (signs of a whale shark feeding frenzy - small fish jumping out of the water which creates a boiling water effect). We also had Captain Seth in charge of the boat on this day which filled me with confidence as he had found many a whale shark for me in the past!
As we reached the north side of Utila, we were about one and a half hours and half way into our trip, so we took a short snorkel break over a shallow reef to cool off to see some of the local Caribbean reef fish species. Then, we continued on our trip around the island which is usually the time when I start to cross all my fingers and toes, hoping to provide an unforgettable experience for everyone on the boat. During this second half of the trip can be when people start to feel disheartened and even start to doze off in the sun as we make our way back to the harbour... but then Captain Seth spotted a pod of dorsal fins!
As we so frequently encounter dolphins in Utila's waters, that is what we first assumed the marine animal to be upon slowly approaching the pod. Though as we got closer we could see that the pod were moving much slower than the usual spinner, bottlenose or rough-toothed dolphins, which alluded us to think they were actually a pod of pilot whales. Encountering pilot whales in the area isn't all that rare, but it's still a treat! If you've never seen a pilot whale before, they look like dolphins on steroids: one thick block of muscle. Despite their misleading name, pilot whales actually belong to the dolphin family Delphinidae.
Following normal procedure, I briefed everyone to enter the water calmly and to keep their hands to themselves. As we entered the water with our snorkel gear, I saw that there were two pods of pilot whales, both of which had calves, therefore they were rather timid and quickly surfaced to take a deep breath before duck diving. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a shadow emerge out of the blue, approaching our group in the water - fast. I could hear muffled shouting from the boat and lifted my head out of the water to see Captain Seth pointing to the shadow exclaiming "silky shark!!".
I had never seen a silky shark in person before, and I knew that sometimes people had encountered silky sharks in Utila, as well as lemon sharks, though I wouldn't have been able to tell them apart. If you've ever been in water and felt the shock and adrenalin of a surprise encounter, you also may not have been able to fully remember every detail or even recall the entire event: it all happens so quickly!
I curiously followed the shark as it weaved between bodies in the water before darting off back into the blue. I even considered duck diving after it as the shark swam deeper, but I decided to stay on the surface. As we all climbed back onboard the boat, everyone was elated! We couldn't believe that we had been in the water with a silky shark. A teenage girl from one of the families onboard was an intern at NOAA Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and had experience with capturing, tagging and releasing many different shark species. I overheard her talking to her parents about how she was so excited to have just seen an Oceanic Whitetip. I internally rolled my eyes at her mis-identification and we made our way back to the harbour. No-one ever sees Oceanic Whitetips in this area, that's quite unheard of. Plus, isn't that species known to be notoriously risky for humans to be in the water with? No, it couldn't be. Captain Seth grew up in Utila and had seen everything in the ocean! I was confident that he knew what he saw and that the teenage girl had just made a mistake (though thinking back to the physical appearance of the shark, I couldn't recall all that much due to adrenalin).
When we got back on land, I said thank you and goodbye to boat full of very happy customers! I unloaded the boat and raced back to the center to look at my footage. I quickly shared the news of us having seen a silky shark along with a video on WSORC's social media, and it wasn't long before I received a direct message from my good friend and previous WSORC Staff member Megan Fryer (@megf610 ), informing me of my catastrophic mistake:"Abs, that's not a silky, it's an OCEANIC WHITETIP". Oh. My. Gosh.
I rewatched the video and it was so blatantly obvious! The distinctive white markings on the rounded dorsal fin, the stocky build and the long paddle-like pectoral fins. I couldn't believe that I had missed all of these identifying features, especially as I had actually been in the water with it, whereas Seth was watching from the boat. I quickly edited the post on social media and the comments came rolling in; everyone was gobsmacked and very envious! I ran over to The Lodge to show my fellow staff. They found it comical that I hadn't realised the species, until the realisation hit them that I had been in the water with it, along with a large group of customers! People started showing me the search results for 'Oceanic Whitetip' on Google and YouTube; and whilst I definitely don't believe everything I see online, it was slightly unsettling to read results such as "Oceanic whitetip sharks are one of the more dangerous sharks to humans." Whoops! In hindsight I am relieved that I was oblivious to the species, otherwise I may have felt anxious - more so because there were children in the water! I wanted to apologise to the teenage girl for not believing her, so I contacted her parents to verify the news of my delayed discovery, along with the video.
All in all, a memorable encounter for many reasons, and it is safe to say that my shark ID skills have improved since! It's always important to know what you're in the water with.
Safe diving & happy dreaming,
A.
Comments