Yesterday was quite possibly the best day of Shane's life. It all started on
this trip, when Shane found a brochure on the ferry. The brochure was for the
Eye-to-Eye Shark Dive at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. The program hadn't even opened yet; the brochure only said to sign up for email notification when more details were available.
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| Getting the dry suit on |
After looking the program over ($65 for a cage dive with sharks for people ages 8 and up? No experience or equipment needed? Really, only $65? No way!), we decided that this would make the perfect birthday present for Shane. We had no idea when and if the program would be open. But we were ready when the email arrived that we could reserve a spot before it was open to the public!
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| The weight belt keeps them from floating to the surface. |
Shane received about 20 minutes of instruction before he went down into the cage. Most of that time was dedicated to getting suited up. There were two older ladies and one other girl about Shane's age for a total of four divers. They all got dry suits that zipped right over their street clothes and diving boots. The water was about 75 degrees, so they didn't need the hoods that Mark and I wore while diving in the Puget Sound. They sent me to the viewing area before Shane was introduced to his regulator (the mouth piece he breathed through), so I was worried that he wouldn't get enough time to practice before they tossed him to the sharks!
I really didn't need to worry. The cage was open at the top and the divers could come up anytime they felt uncomfortable. Shane bobbed up a few times at the start of his dive so he could clear his mask, but he soon figured out how to clear the mask and the regulator of water beneath the surface. He said he felt nervous when he first went under water because he wasn't used to breathing under water. But then he got used to it and loved every minute of it! I loved that the cage was right next to the viewing area and I could watch Shane the whole time.
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| Waving to the camera! |
Shane knows a LOT about sharks. He has checked out every book from the library and watched every video on the National Geographic website. He wanted to write an email to National Geographic asking them to add some videos about basking sharks because there weren't any. He was excited that he was able to identify the different species on the dive and determine gender as well. (We joked that Shane wouldn't be able to keep his mouth on the regulator because he would need to spout off shark facts as they came to mind like he does at home.)
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| Shane and a sand tiger shark |
This was such a great experience and a perfect introduction to scuba diving. I am so thankful that he had this opportunity!
