home run

back to basics

The water was always colder than Leigh expects. She felt the cool water welcome her through the wet suit as she dipped into it, letting go of the edges of the shark cage and dropping in. She made sure her tank was working and checked her radio. Then she lifted her arms out of the water and Hector handed her the camera.

Once situated, she focused her lens on the shark cage on the other end of the boat, where Dickie and Andy would drop into. No one was in the ghost cage today, so both cages were barred in with lightweight metal.

Leigh took a second to pause, scanning the murky water below her. This is when she remembered that she was swimming in the same waters as an apex predator. Technically, she was one as well, but nothing could make you feel smaller than a twenty foot great white. However, they hadn't seen a great white shark larger than ten feet so far and South Africa was turning out to be a bust and a half.

"There's a shark down here, guys. About 9 meters down?" Leigh was trying her hardest to learn and use meters out of courtesy but she followed it up with, "'Bout 30 feet."

Her voice was distorted through the comms system but her message was confirmed by Hector. She assumed that he relayed it to the guys because moments after she hit record on her camera, she watched as they plunged into the larger cage. Through her monitor she focused on the shark below them after she panned as quickly as she could underwater. No one had warned her that there was a massive learning curve with underwater cameras. Quick movements were basically impossible, given the camera's weight and the resistance the water gave it. However, her experience with all types of cameras made her qualified for this position while Josh was on the boat, monitoring the camera feeds like a good broadcasting student.

"White shark, for sure." Dickie's voice called through the comms, his excitement audible. Leigh knew that a lot of the audio they used would come from the underwater comms, so she had to go radio silent unless something very important happened. Andy was used to being in front and behind the camera, but Leigh was there just to be behind the camera. So she quieted her voice but could not stop her smile from underneath her mask.

The shark looked to be at least fifteen feet long, but she couldn't ask. Leigh had to wait for someone, either Dickie or Andy, to confirm it.

"Holy cow," Andy's voice came though and Leigh laughed freely after she made sure her radio wasn't on. He had such a foul mouth when he wasn't on camera so it was a shock to hear him say 'holy cow'.

"She's gotta be sixteen feet long, mate." Dickie said to Andy and Leigh grinned.

Finally, a shark larger than ten feet! Leigh focused on it, watching through the monitor on the camera as she followed its ascent upwards towards her cage, rather than the larger one.

"You getting that, L?" Dickie asked and it startled her but she managed to keep the camera steady like her life depended on it. The shark was getting closer, it's tail fin swishing gracefully through the water as it rose up to greet her.

"He's coming for you!" Andy called.

Leigh waited to reply until the shark had made a last minute turn and just booped its nose on the bottom bars of the cage below her feet.

"Definitely a female, boys." Leigh spoke, her gleeful laughter just barely making it through before she cut off her radio again.

"Also definitely sixteen feet." Andy added.

"Hector, the decoy!!" Dickie shouted and Leigh cringed as his voice pierced her ears through the comms.

There was a splash above them and the boat began to move incrementally, dragging the cages forward a bit as the seal decoy floated in front of them. Leigh knew that there was a very very low chance that her shark would breach on the lame, unmoving decoy, but her heart still sped up at the prospect.