There's probably a few of you waiting for this one.
Several years ago, my store designed a specialized trip for a selected group of hearty divers. This trip was a Shark Diving Experience off the California Coast. We were splitting the trip with several other groups. I may take this out of context a little.
We sent two of our instructors, along with several divers ranging from open water to divemaster. The trip was a weekend trip out of Long Beach. Nothing special. A trip out to open ocean to dive, in a cage, amongst blue sharks, and the possibility of a mako or two. By coincidence, one of the two safety divers assigned to the trip was a friend from years past. The safety divers job was to ward off the sharks if they got to close and to insure all divers were safe.
Arriving at the dive spot, which was in deep blue water, it didn't take long for the sharks to show after a minimum of "chumming". The safety divers entered first to check the safety of the dive. After safety was assured, our two instructors entered the cage and had an excellent time looking at the sharks. They even ventured outside the cage to be amongst the sharks. All blues.
After getting back on board, two other divers from our group entered the water. One was carrying a video. I'll call him Bill. This was Bill's first experience with a underwater video camera, and also he was the least experienced ocean diver. The other diver I'll call Sam.
The two divers got in the cage and Bill took many minutes of video, seeing the blues going through the chum, an exciting experience. The safety diver I know, I'll call him Stan, was outside the cage and seeing that all was OK (seeing that the sharks were not in a "frenzy", motioned for Bill to come out of the cage). Remember, Bill was fairly new to diving. Bill went out of the cage and being over-weighted with the video, was having difficulty working his buoyancy control device (BCD). Sam decided to stay in the cage. More sharks were showing up and Stan and the other safety diver were getting pretty busy keeping the sharks at bay.
Because Bill was having all of the BCD problems, his attention was not on the sharks, but on getting his BCD neutral. He was still swimming hard, maintaining a position, and had his elbows up straight from his shoulders, still shooting video.
Blue Shark
Blues were all over now and one came directly toward Bill. No problem. Usually you can bump them with an object (the video camera) and they swim away. Well, this was done. The shark went to the right. Bill's arms were still up and then it happened. The shark that bumped the video bit Bill in the right forearm. The safety divers were going nuts because they were not close enough to prevent this accident. Sam on the other hand could see what the shark was going to do and frantically tried to gain Bill's attention. It didn't work.
Somehow one of the safety divers grabbed the video and Bill swam to the boat. On board the two instructors got Bill, laid him down and took care of first aid business. Bill was wrapped to stop the bleeding and told to elevate his right arm. Bill had suffered a good bite, which pulled his skin back, exposing his tendons, bone and muscles. What also happened was that Bill used his left hand to try to free himself from the sharks mouth. His left hand was cut up also. This hand was also elevated.
The Coast Guard was called. All the vitals were given and the Coast Guard determined that things were well in place. They showed up in about 30 minutes and helicoptered Bill off to a hospital in Los Angeles.
The reason there is detail in this accident was that Bill's video recorded the whole incident. When the safety diver got the video, unbeknowing to him, the camera stayed in a position to record Bill swimming to the boat. So, I have a copy of the attack on Bill.
The things that happened after Bill was taken to the hospital is sort of comical. First though, was a plus at the hospital. The doctor attending Bill was an expert in this sort of bite, plus being an expert on alligator bites. So Bill was in good hands. The "LA Times" said that Bill was attacked by a Great White and that he was cut in two. Also that he was saved by a tourniquet. This was really amazing to us. Also, the tabloid reporters dressed as nurses and doctors to try to get into Bill's room to get that "exclusive story". It was determined that every thing was still functional in Bill arm, but he would have a nasty gash.
Bill was very positive about all this. He accepted a TV slot on "Regis & Kathy", and on "Hard Copy". Several other media got on board. I think that Bill received, in all, about $75,0000.00 for all his media appearances. Bill still dives. He would be the first to show his scar from an interesting Shark Trip.
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