While on a duck boat tour of Philadelphia earlier in the year of 2009, the tour guide pointed out Camden's Adventure Aquarium and noted that you could swim with sharks there. My ears perked up, and I told my family that was what I wanted to do for my birthday. I got a few patient head nods and a few quizzical glares. But it stuck in my head and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I mentioned it to my then husband a few times (even sent him the link), but I could tell he thought that I was more than a little bit on the crazy side of things. So, I did what any normal girl would do. I bought it for myself. It's not shoes, but it was definitely an impulse purchase.
My parents happened to be back down visiting again (I'd say for me, but I know they came to see their granddaughter) and wanted to come along to see me actually do this. So we piled into the car, sat in an endless amount of traffic on the Jersey turnpike because of an accident, and I pulled up to the spot with about all of two minutes to spare.
It was just myself and one other woman who had signed up to take a dip in the shark tank (which is actually an awesome tank, that has one of those tunnels you can walk through like in Jaws 3). So we got dressed in our gear (it was a wetsuit nightmare, and I had to sausage myself into one that was probably meant for a guy), got a quick snorkeling lesson, and then stepped down onto the platform, that rims the top of the tank and leaves you submerged about thigh deep (I'm short, so adjust accordingly). After our guide shooed away the pesky eel that was blocking our path, we were brought around to the far side of the tank, where we were instructed to stay behind the bit of rock and float. This wasn't exactly the "swimming" I had imagined when I thought of swimming with sharks. This was more like floating near sharks. But as a giant nurse shark who was about 12 feet long got within four inches of my face, I felt like I was getting quite the experience. And one of the sharks seemed in a curious mood and kept nudging his pointy snout in our direction, and the guide had to shoo him away with a pole. While it wasn't like I had imagined scuba diving would be, it was still 15 minutes of getting a really special view of these magnificent creatures.
But the best part wasn't even really something I knew was going to happen. We got to go over to a stingray tank, which wasn't accessible or visible to the public, and play with them. As we got into their little lagoon, they immediately started bumping up against us in our legs and just wanted to be pet. Seriously. They were like little puppies who just wanted attention... and food. The thing that got me was how soft they really were. They look very rubbery and unappealing on TV, but really getting to pet them for an extended period of time, I couldn't help but marvel at the fact that their skin was soft like suede. They actually reminded me a lot of my mother's Italian Greyhounds, but without the barking. For someone like me with a host of allergies, they'd make the perfect pet... if only I had room for a giant saltwater tank in my apartment.
After being pried away from the stingrays, we had a chance for some more shark viewing. I was all hyped up and gung ho to spent another 15 minutes marveling at the mammals, but the other guest was less than enthused and quite cold, so she left and the lovely guide had no problem letting me stay floating near the sharks for close to 30 minutes. It was a fantastic and peaceful experience that helped convince me I really needed to get that SCUBA license if I wanted to do more of it. Even though it wasn't exactly what I had imagined, and my then three-year-old was a little freaked out that mommy might get eaten, it was a wonderful way to spend my birthday. And judging by the picture of my kid, it wasn't like she was scarred for life or anything.
No comments:
Post a Comment