Shipwrecks and Sharks on the Exumas Islands - Day 3
- gaylemabery
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
We woke up to the smell of bacon cooking in the galley, and Chef Chris had another amazing spread prepared. We were both tired from yesterday’s activities (see that Blog post here) and slept soundly in our cozy cabin!
Engineer Kristin gave the dive briefing after breakfast. The first site today would be at a sunken shipwreck of the Austin Smith off the northeast shore of Highborne Cay. After going through the protocals, she challenged the divers to find the original name of the boat for bonus points! She also noted there would be lots of sharks, but to keep an eye out for “Finnegan”…noting they’d know him when they saw him!
After the briefing, the divers went out to get ready. As they put on their gear, there were multiple sharks visibly circling the boat. To ease their minds, the crew had a special playlist including Shark Fighter, Man Eater and Reggae Sharks! Fortunately, the swells are pretty big and not ideal for snorkeling. Again, Captain Bill didn’t advise that Gayle snorkel…although he said if she chose to, she should expect the sharks to swim right up to her (but he assured they wouldn’t hurt her). She passed on that one!
After about 40 minutes exploring, the divers came up with stories to tell, and plenty of videos of sharks.
Several divers found the original name of the boat, which was “Cape Current”. We think every diver got to see Finnegan, who, as it turned out, was missing his dorsal fin, and was destined never to see his “fin again”!
Chris had a morning snack prepared, and once all were safely aboard we pulled anchor and headed east for a 6-hour crossing enroute to Eleuthera Island. This long, thin island is known for its pink sand beaches, clear turquoise water, and laid-back atmosphere. Notably for us, it would provide shelter from the winds that were predicted for the rest of our trip.
The trip over was smoother than Saturday’s crossing, with big rolling swells that the catamaran cut through easily. We had some excitement when a fish bit on the line we were trolling with. Scott was closest, so he got to reel it in! It was a beautiful Mahi Mahi that Chris made into ceviche!
The 3:30 pm dive site was called Split Coral Head, which is southwest of Freetown on Eleuthera Island, and Dive Master Victoria advised in the briefing divers could count on seeing yellowtail snapper and more Caribbean reef sharks. True to her word, when the boat was anchored at the site, we could see 6-8 sharks circling right off the back of the boat.
Gayle got her courage up to snorkel, and was very glad to see that the sharks had followed the divers down deeper, and were far in the distance when she was snorkeling. The divers got very up close and personal!
Our new friends Chris and Melody got turned around on the dive and never found the Split Coral Head, but they got bonus points for finding a Hammerhead Shark!
When we got back out of the water, Chef Chris had the ceviche and saltine crackers waiting. It was so delicious!
After dinner, Captain Bill loaded a bait tube with half the remnants of the Mahi Mahi, and we dipped it off the back of the boat to watch the sharks frenzy. There must have been 20 sharks going after the tube. We watched the sunset as the sharks swarmed!
Only 4 divers decided to do the night dive tonight, and it turned out to be a bit exciting. Right before they dove, they were given special safety protocols because of the likelihood of Sea Wasp jellyfish that come out of the deep trench near here and are attracted to surface lights. This meant divers had to turn their lights off when entering and exiting the water (as if night diving isn’t exciting enough)!
We watched the lights cast by the divers after they were deep enough to turn them on and not attract the Sea Wasps. This was our first time observing a night dive from above, and it was very easy to watch the divers movement as their flashlight beams were quite visible. This turned out to be very useful, as we could all see that Chris and Melody were off course and headed in the wrong direction to find the reef. Engineer Kristen suited up and jumped into help guide them to the right spot.
Meanwhile, Libby and Sheila, who had planned to stay under the boat to watch the sharks started moving towards the back of the boat, and ended up far to our rear and facing a swim against strong currents to get back. Captain Bill and Dive Master Victoria launched the dingy and went to pick them up.
As a non-diver, Gayle was quite anxious watching the whole scene unfold, and happy Scott, Joel and Jill hadn’t gone on this dive. As a diver, Scott said it actually made him feel better about night dives, as he saw how visible the divers were to the crew, making rescues easier in the event they are needed.
After the night dives, most of the group sat up and watched the various dive videos that people had recorded on the trip. Melody and Chris’s 360 camera videos were a big hit!
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