Saturday, November 16, 2024

Closing thoughts on Sharks



          Meeting Dr. Skolam last Saturday to ask him a few specific questions, cemented in my mind what I've experienced since I was a girl ~ all creatures behave according to their basic survival instinct and from learned experiences, whether you're a shark or swimmer. 


                                                                                                                    


                   As I wrote a few days ago, my first experience with sharks was catching them for dinner as a girl. I wasn't afraid nor was I careless, just rather intrigued. Ancient fish that have survived for so long, relatively unchanged, is impressive (my favorite sea critters are the "soft intelligences" known as the octopus ~ again, stories and experiences are for another time). When Dr. Skomal inscribed his book to me as shown above, I thought, "How did he know that I enjoyed the sharks?" And, of course I'll keep swimming!!

                        As a teenager, my next lessons with sharks happened in St. Croix, USVI. After high school and before college, I was a cabinetmaker working in Alna, Maine. I lived in Harpswell and met a man, Ron Oullette, who  was building a ferro-cement sailboat in what was then Wallace's Boatyard, and is now known as Safe Harbor Great Island Marina. 

                                                   ( Bec Deemer ~ on Pinion in Harpswell, your father, uncle , and                                                                                     Grandparents on Pinon)

                    We finished building the boat together and, after a year of living on it (yes in the winter too, see a trend here?), we sailed from Harpswell to St. Croix. We had two crew members join us for the journey. One was Earl Crandall, who attend Brunswick High School with Ron. If any of you know "Earl-the-Pearl" Crandall, (last I heard he was working one of the boats at the Maine Marine Museum in Bath), please tell him that Baa (my nickname) says, "Hello." The other crew member was a D.A. from the Bronx named Jake Apuzzo. 




                       I took the above picture when I was 19. Pinion, the name of our cutter, had successfully made it during an early morning passage through Hell's Gate and down the East River. Jake was trying to peep into an old girlfriends apartment window. Earl is at the wheel. We were giddy from making it to New York City and knowing our maiden open water (blue water) leg of the trip, from Sandy Hook to the Chesapeake, was only a day away.

                            The rest trip was book-worthy; filled with a hurricane in blue water that last 11 days and all of us incased in a skin of salt, encounters with other live-aboard characters from every part of the country and planet, kindness from strangers and learning to shoot a pistol in the intracoastal waterway because in the early 80's there were real Pirates in the Caribbean who would steal a 48' boat (and potentially kill you) for one point to point drug run.  I've promised my kids and students to write about this journey one day and I will. 

                              After nearly two weeks at sea (in storms between Beaufort, NC and the  USVI), we first anchored at Buck Island, a national park off the north east end of St. Croix. It was the first gin clear warm water I'd ever encountered. Seeing all the fish, corals, and sea life was thrilling. When I made it ashore, I couldn't walk, so I got back in the water. I loved being able the fish I knew were there all along. Jacques Cousteau was  my hero and my curiosity was piqued! For the better part of the year that I lived there, when not working in a sandal or cabinetmaking shop, you could find me in, on, or under the sea. In fact, on weekends I often crewed for friends on their "cattle boats" from Christiansted out to Buck Island. There is an underwater nature trail there and I'd teach the tourists how to use a mask, fins and snorkel. To get them feeling comfortable we'd have them stay near the stern of the boat. But before we went into the trail, another crew member would throw some frozen peas in the water to create a rush of fish, so the tourists would understand how crowded it would be on the trail. The sounds of the shouts through the snorkel still makes me laugh to this day!

                                                (Bec Deemer ~me with your two uncles!

                      If you're from Harpswell, of a certain age and you hear the words "St. Croix", "underwater", "diving", "honored explorer", "innovation", "funniest story evah" "Brunswick", and "wildly successful entrepreneur" in quick succession ~ the narrative will wind its way to Brett Gilliam. Brett had know Ron in Brunswick and had a few years earlier helped Ron find himself after Vietnam in St. Croix. It was there that Ron hatched the idea of building the sailboat back in Maine. Brett and Ron taught me how to scuba dive, free dive and spearfish. Ron and I borrowed all of Brett's gear when we first arrived in St. Croix. Brett owned one of the first and best dive shops on the Island. Plus he had a flotilla of power yachts, with his business, where he'd entertain friends and turn clients into new friends. He was larger than life and extremely generous if he called you his friend. After I left St. Croix and  later when he returned to Maine, I continued to run into him in Bath and Arrowsic. He invited me to a New York Explorers Club Event he was attending and I regret not being able to go with him. He always wanted to swap stories and get updates. A year ago Brett died and below is his obituary, written by his friend,the musician, Jonathan Edwards.


https://www.daiglefuneralhome.com/obituary/Bret-Gilliam?fbclid=IwY2xjawGmFbxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHWXVo_4O89E2NJbvWSiv3x9GSmreIm9a4N-L9D1K6Q8Guo_UU0vfYzAeSg_aem_8LJS2dInroBtHYzV_vBO9g
                    
                      Back to the sharks, remember the sharks?! Ron and Brett taught me about the underwater neighborhood. Christiansted Harbor is where I lived. I learned to honor and respect my neighbors. I learned where different critters lived and at what times of day they "went out." 

                        Black tip and White tip reef sharks were common around the clock, but were most active at dawn and dusk. There were also Lemon, Tiger, Nurse and Hammerheads. The only one I didn't meet was the hammerhead. As a literary agent, in the 1990s', I had the privilege of going to Hawaii. I taught in Maui at a Writer's Conference and visited Kauai as well as Oahu. I learned where my neighbors lived and how they behaved. I swam and dove with locals and listened more that I spoke. When I was in the Galapagos with group of my students in 2012, I also missed spotting a hammerhead, but I know I will one day. I did get to play "Simon Says" with a young sea lion and swim along side iguanas and penguins! On the Great Barrier Reef in 2015 with some other students we saw many wonderful creatures. But all these places are dying and the fish I knew as a girl, don't grow as big as they did in my youth.  The other sharks are all reliable and easy to share the environment, if you follow the neighborhood rules:
  1.  Don't drag your dinner (speared fish) home in a net bag, as it's an open invitation for the sharks to join the meal. 
  2.  Always bring a stick or baton to ward off unwanted attention or company, especially at a drop off. Christiansted has a barrier reef between the harbor (which is relatively shallow with a dredge channel) and a gigantic drop off, a fairly sheer wall, into the Puerto Rican Trench that falls down hundreds of feet rapidly on the north shore and not too out to miles of deep.
  3.  If the company doesn't take the hint, punch them near the eye/gills or if things get heated, stuff the baton (or a piece of coral or rock) in the neighbor's mouth, as they can't see when their mouth is open (Brett taught me that one). 
  4. Usually if they bump you, they are a dumb teenager who thinks you're a sweet treat and a shoving them aside is often enough to confuse them and make them doubt themselves. 
  5. Let sleeping neighbors sleep. Don't go poking Nurse Sharks sleeping under a rock or in a cave. Don't pull an octopus out of it's shell or grotto. Don't try to grab an eel who is playing peak-a-boo. It's just not polite. These are all gentle creatures who are just trying to get some shut eye or restore.
  6. Tigers are the least relaxed. Try to stay away from their turf. They aren't as mutually respectful as the others. Little things tick them off or they imagine that humans are competing for resources. Either way, stay clear ~ not out of the water, just know where the live and their habits. 

The Neighborhood. Depths in fathoms. 1 fathom = 6 feet.


            By the time I left St. Croix and returned to Maine to attend USM, the doctor conducting the mandatory medical exam asked me, "What is it your do?"  
                       Curiously I said, " Why do you ask?" 
                    He said, "Because I've never seen ears so open, lungs so clear, your eyesight is 20/10 and your body is pure muscle!" 
                    I answered, "Until recently I did a great deal of walking, swimming, rowing, diving, physical labor, sailing and holding my breath for minutes at a time, down to between 40-80', to follow my ocean friends. I didn't own a car for over a year until I returned to Maine." 
                    "That explains it," said the doctor. 

                    Back to New England, Harspwell, White Sharks and Dr. Skomal. 




                    I only opened the book, saw the inscription, read the table of contents and saw that the last chapter was entitled, "A Slap In The Face" after I'd already posted my previous shark insights to you all. Dr. Skomal was really startled about what happened in Mackerel Cove four years ago. So much so that he dedicated the final chapter of the book, in large part, to the event. Once I'm done reading it, I'd gladly lend it to whomever would like to borrow it and perhaps it can help you to understand and appreciate these ancient and ever present creatures as much as I do.


                        Last little note: If you surf or are really afraid of shark encounter, Sharkbanz have been wildly successful as deterrents. One on your ankle as a surfer or one on a wrist and another on the opposite ankle if you're an Open Water Swimmer who wears a wetsuit prove effective. They also have products to keep sharks from stealing fish from recreational and commercial fishermen. I can connect you to the founder if you're interested and it will make you feel more confident while learning about your neighbors. 


                            Brett Gilliam's Shark Attack Survival Story. The year it happened was, wait for it, 1972!  If you listen to the entire interview, you learn that what caused the white tip sharks to behave aggressively was the US Navy sending high frequencies underwater! The Navy was being a bad neighbor!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q44xzF_Yw_8




                     
                                
 

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