Nothing Spoils a Good Birthday Like a Shark

originally posted 12 NOV 2014

I have been enjoying the responses on my 'Two Truths and a Lie" post.

I picked some tough ones. A few people have said they really hope my lie is the
"I once looked on in horror as my young son was surrounded by sharks while swimming in the ocean."

But, no, completely true.

It was my son's ninth birthday. We were living in Trinidad and spending the week in Mayaro (a town on the east coast). The night before his birthday, I remember watching Survivorman. He mentioned that evening is also known as the 'sharking hour'. We joked about that.

The next day, our son got a new body board. The house was right on the beach so we were out there playing in the waves several times that day. He wanted one last time with the body board, so, in the early evening, we all headed out again.

You already know where this is going, right?

So the kids are paddling around in the water. My son is a ways out there as is his way when he is in the ocean. My daughter, in her little inner tube, was in a very shallow spot with daddy fishing beside her. I decided to walk down the beach a ways. All of a sudden, I hear a commotion. There is a crowd around my husband. Everybody is yelling and pointing at my son. Had no clue what they were yelling but I jogged back pretty quick. Sharks! There were so many (at the very least 15 to 20 if not more) and they were writhing and swarming around my son!

Scariest moment of my life, I can tell you that. Everybody is yelling at him and he's just looking at us like, "What's wrong?" But, smart kid, paddles back in. My husband meets him half way and drags him our of the water really quickly. We all just stood watching these sharks right where my son had been. My husband grabbed a heavier pole and tried to catch one. That's my husband for you. My son and I were just in shock, I think.

It was so hard to tell by the view we had but, from all the dorsal fins, we believe they were either some form of nurse shark or sand shark which are pretty harmless. The locals said they have been out there each night in the evening feeding on schools of fish.

Harmless or not, seeing my son surrounded by sharks is something I hope never to experience ever again!