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*NEWS* Photos Must See!
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Pattaya Underwater World - Diving with sharks The visit to the Underwater World Aquarium in Pattaya was organized as the final part of Mermaid’s Dive for Earth Day 2007 activities. We took a Baht bus taxi from Mermaids dive centre in Jomtien Soi White House to the Aquarium on the Sukhumvit road. It cost us 100 Baht and on arrival we went to the information office to book our shark diving experience. We had to show proof that we were experienced divers by producing one of our PADI certification cards. After paying our fee and filling in several pages of liability releases and the like, much of which could have been lifted straight from the PADI instructor manual, we were told to to return in 30 minutes. So, we went off to have a wander around the aquarium to pass the time. The building is designed in a circular shape and as you enter the display areas the first tank you come to is what is called the “touch pool”. We were rather surprised to see blue spotted ribbon tail rays in there and small bamboo sharks as normally we would tell people not to touch these, or any other creatures. Like most rays, the blue-spotted have a stinger on their tails which is very painful if you get hit with it and requires medical attention. Bamboo sharks are usually found hiding under rocks and coral during the day, and although they are generally very timid and docile, they have been known to bite if antagonized….. wouldn’t you? The Bamboo Sharks are common at various dive sites in Pattaya such as Laem Thong (Koh Larn) and Koh Rin South Rock. Also in the touch tank were various star fish, sea cucumbers and diadema sea urchins, which again are something we brief scuba divers to avoid touching. Although they are not poisonous getting spiked by one is not a particularly pleasant experience.
As we headed down the walkway
to the main part of the aquarium we passed a “pond” containing koi and
several circular tanks containing various anemone fish and other members of the
damsel fish family. After walking through the tunnel which passes under the shark tank, we were tracked down by one of the members of staff and were told that it was time for us to get ready for our shark dive. Having seen what we were to be diving with, there was a feeling of excitement as we set up our dive equipment and talked to the dm and instructor who would accompany us on our dive. Please don’t touch the marine life was the main part of the briefing (but very hard to enforce!!) Before we knew it we were kitted, buddy checked and it was time to go, so to the tank we headed.
On arriving at the entry point to the tank the sight was awesome: huge sharks, rays, and turtles swimming around below us. Lucky for us it was feeding time and it seemed that the sharks were hungry. As I waited for the sharks and rays beneath me to part so I could enter the water, I was feeling slightly nervous, having been told in the briefing beforehand that a couple of days previous to our visit the sharks had been biting at each other, and that there had been no apparent reason for this, i.e. it was not feeding time.
Sue entered the tank first and while she was waiting for me to make my entry she was nudged in the back by a very large nurse shark. Finally it was all clear so I took one giant stride, held my camera above my head, and was in the tank with my eyes popping out of my head. I had thought that the sharks and rays would probably hide at the other end of the tank, how wrong was I? The sharks circled around us, above below and to the sides, as we moved around the aquarium and most of the time they were even close enough to put out my hand and touch them. What a feeling! I was diving with sharks and getting away with being able to touch them without losing a hand or arm! They would swim straight at us, then either turn to the left or right, swim over or beneath us, or just bump into us.
As well as the nurse and leopard sharks, there are several black-tip reef sharks in the tank but it was impossible to get too close to them and they had to be observed from a distance, as they swam close to the surface of the tank. Not very friendly at all, even to each other. We observed that the black-tips seem to hang out in opposing gangs as we watched one group heading directly towards another. Upon seeing each other, both groups did an about turn and headed off in the opposite direction. The rays were less bothered than the sharks, they would glide above us and brush across the top of our heads as they swam by or became a strange looking hat. Once again I was able to put out a hand and touch these marvelous creatures. Their undersides are so amazingly soft it’s like stroking silk. While they were being fed with cockles we could here the sound of them crunching the shells throughout the tank. It was a strange sound and took me a short while to figure out what it was! There are also two turtles in the tank, one large hawksbill turtle and a smaller green turtle. The Hawksbill wasn’t bothered by the divers being there and was quite happy to be followed around and photographed. Once again they came close enough to touch and it was a strange feeling to be able to reach out and stroke it without the turtle being startled and bolting for cover. In fact, they were so not bothered by us that one head-butted Sue, then carried on swimming as if nothing had happened. The smaller turtle was a little more phased by our presence but circled around the tank in a world of its own. Also there are two huge grouper in the tank along with a large shoal of trevally. Even though this was a dive in an aquarium and only to 3.4metres for 46 minutes it was an amazing thing to be able to do, and the time went by very quickly. I would recommend to anybody that hasn’t done this to give it a try, cameras are welcome but the light in the tank isn’t as good as it could be and an addition flash or strobe is needed. If anyone who has never dived before wants to experience diving with the sharks at the aquarium they will be given a short Discover Scuba Diving brief with the instructor before entering the tank. To be honest, I would not recommend it for inexperienced or uncertified divers, even though the tank is only 3.4 meters deep. The aquarium has standard dive equipment which you can use and is included in the price, or you can take your own. We just took our masks and cameras, but our own fins and wetsuits would have been nice... Many thanks to Clive Granby for his input in this report. Sue H - Mermaids Dive Center - Green Activity Coordinator.
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