English Corner  Capt. Lawrence.  Today: Sharks!!

Escolta-ho mentre navegues

SHARK!

Woke up, had coffee, jumped into a shark tank…you know, just another day in the office for Captain Lawrence.. Feeling a bit sluggish? Forget coffee, take a dip with creatures that could quite easily eat you! Trust me it works a treat.

What on earth possessed me to do such a thing? Who in their wright mind would willingly get into a tank full of potentially man eating monsters? I guess If I needed solid proof that I´m not quite “all there” now I have it. To say the experience was the most unnerving of my life, would be putting things mildly.

I had been freaking out all week trying desperately to find a macho way of backing out. I´m a father, I can´t be engaging in such reckless stuff. That sounds like a plausible excuse. Here goes.

” Ring, ring, Hello, Palma aquarium.”

” Hello, good morning Leticia, how are you?”

” Fine Mr. Lawrence, ready for your shark dive with us?, you must be excited ”

” Excited….ummm? yes well actually I wanted to talk about that.”

” Not afraid are you Captain”

” Me, Afraid, no? ”

” It´s safe Stefan, don´t worry you´ll be fine”

You´ll be fine!, may be in bizzaro world but here on earth I most definitely was not feeling fine. We arrived at the Palma aquarium at 9:00 am sharp, no point in keeping my executioners waiting. I never liked the idea of cremation anyway. Maybe they had me to come early so that should anything happen, the staff could clean my bits from the tank before the sane visitors arrived. “Good morning Stefan, welcome to Palma aquarium. Have you been here before? Let me show you around.” Great! as if I´m not terrified enough, now they parade me around in front of the tanks.

Mother of GOD, these animals are enormous and ” my how big your teeth are Mr. shark, let me guess all the better to eat me with.” In a vein attempt to console myself I had been reciting the idea that things look bigger and closer under water. My friends, believe me that is utter baloney.

I would be diving with Chico, one of the aquariums pro divers. He did this on a regular I was told. First, our gear. Can I swap this puny wet suit for a cage please! Next, we get onto the dive platform, a one meter deep ledge in the pool before going the whole hog. The water was cold and smelt distinctly sharky. I took a few breaths and tried to relax. Surly this was safe. These sharks are kept well fed, there was no reason for them to eat one of us. With that, out of the dark rose a mammoth beast. For a second I could not believe my eyes. A sand tiger, one of the BIG sharks had come onto the platform and was swimming directly at me. Before I could pee in my wetsuit it had touched my foot with it´s nose. I leaped backwards out of the pool in horror. ” Thats new, haven´t seen them do that before” said Leticia the aquariums press director as I watched the creature sink back into his deep lair to wait for me. I can´t explain what was going through my mind when we finally swam off the ledge and sunk into the main tank. I remember taking one last look at my wife and child´s face, thinking what would become of them if I never made it out again?

The dive was incredible!. Just as I´d been told a billion times, the sharks want nothing to do with you. They swim around occasionally coming closer for a look, then gliding off again. Every thing in the tank seems to mind it´s own business. It was a wonderful symphony of swirling fish and brilliant colors. I wouldn´t say that time flew but before long it was time to go back to the surface. There waiting for me more beautiful them ever were my two ladies and our close friend Anti Sandra. I had made it out in one piece!!!!!!

Truth be told, Palma aquarium would not offer shark dives if it were not safe. For a nominal fee, anyone with a diving license can partake. Leticia, like the aquariums founder are passionate driven people. Their mission was to create a wonderful exciting environment in witch to entertain and educate the public. There is no doubt that their mission has been accomplished! A visit to Mallorca would not be complete without a visit to the aquarium. In my eyes this is one of the best I have ever seen. Would you believe I actually want to get back in the tank! Come visit www.palmaaquarium.com The sharks are just one part of the experience. Did you know you can bring the kids for a sleep over in front of the tanks? How cool would that be for a budding little Cousteau! I would like to thank Leticia, Chico and everybody at the Palma Aquarium for making this amazing experience possible. Stay tuned, next week we play with jets!

Captain Lawrence

Llaüt El Gordito RCNP