GREAT, WHITE AND VERY INQUISITIVE
“Do not attempt to touch the shark.” You might think that it goes without saying — especially this summer, when coverage of attacks, encounters and even sightings has been at fever pitch. But after nearly 15 years of taking people cage-diving with great whites, Mike Haines knows better.
The message is repeated during the early-morning arrival at the Shark Experience office, harbourside in Bluff; in the first briefing onboard the Southern Isle as it charges into Foveaux Strait; and on signs everywhere you look that read: “Keep all body parts inside the cage.”
Most people get it, says Haines. “I’ve had one idiot. He stuck his head out, with his camera.” Haines hauled him out of the water, where he was less of a danger.
Some level of risk
