[Paddlewise] Shark encounter

Warning! The creative use of a paddle, as described in this story, might be
shocking to some readers.
Last weekend I took a plane to Australia to do some paddling away from the
boring grey, flat Netherlands. The surroundings were fantastic: Sometimes I
was floating over coral reefs with the most beautiful colors and most
unbelievable animals, sometimes I crossed underwater ravines hundreds of
meters deep with playing dolphins and sharks. I kept the shoreline in sight:
A rough coast with fjords and immense caves.
Completely overwhelmed by the wonder of the place I floated, and sometimes
paddled, my eyes fixed on the rocks high above, when suddenly my dreams were
shattered by something hitting the bow of my boat. I was driven off course,
and started looking around for what had hit me. I saw a grey triangle
drawing circles around my boat. A shark!
I know Australian sharks take an interest in kayakkers. To them a kayak must
look like another shark: A long slender body, but floating a bit too high on
the water and swimming like being heavily handicapped. Probably a shark just
wants to say "Hi" to any kayakker it passes. Usually it will stay for a
minute before going on its own business.
Quietly I waited for the shark to move on. I didn't move and didn't paddle,
trying to be as boring as possible to the beast. It didn't leave. Once more
it bumped into the bow of my boat. At the third hit I tried to push it away
with my paddle, but was answered by a flip of its tail that nearly capsized
me. I decided to do what the shark clearly wanted from me: I turned around
and started to paddle in the other direction.
The shark allowed me to turn the boat. When I started to paddle it did not
interfere. However, I discovered that the current was much stronger than I
had thought: There was no way I could paddle against it. I heard breaking
waves behind me, and looking over my shoulder I discovered a reef with
dumping surf that I could not possibly avoid. Being smashed to pieces on a
coral reef is an ugly way to die, so I got a bit nervous. To make things
worse, the shark started bothering me again. It swam right by my side, so
close to me that I could not paddle without hitting it.
There was only one thing to do. I grabbed the fin of the shark, expecting it
to shake itself loose and disappear. It didn't. Carefully it started to
swim, and dragging me along its side it pulled me out of the danger area
into the open sea. When we got out of the current it started to shake a bit,
and when I released its fin it started circling around me once more. Strange
circles: Sometimes upside down, sometimes with wide open jaws out of the
water. At some point it even laid its head on my deck, allowing a terrifying
view of hundreds of teeth. I was not scared anymore, just uncomfortable:
What the hell did that shark want from me?
Then I saw something glitter between its teeth. On closer inspection I
recognized a breathing apparatus of some scuba-diver. Probably the shark had
been feasting on a tourist diver when the apparatus got stuck between its
teeth.
It owed him one: After all, the shark had saved my life. I cleaned its
teeth. At first I was working with a pocket knife, but in the end I was
banging its jaws with my paddle, with all the force I could muster without
tipping over the kayak. The shark had to brace itself to stay on the deck.
The breathing machine came loose, the shark made a jump into the air out of
pure joy and dived. I expected never to see it again, but a few minutes
later it was back, putting a freshly caught salmon on my deck. That was a
treat at the barbecue later that night!
I did not have a present to offer the shark: I usually do not carry any
fresh divers in my lunchbox. Next time I go paddle in that area I will
certainly bring one for my new friend.
Niels.
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