Reporter gets up close with blue sharks off the Nova Scotia coast
Join me as I try a shark cage diving experience in Nova Scotia. Did I spot a shark? Watch my video to find out
I've never been scuba diving before, but when I saw there was a new company offering tours from Halifax, N.S., to swim with sharks from the safety of a cage, I had to try it.
Atlantic Shark Expeditions departs from the Cable Wharf on the Halifax waterfront.
The best way I can describe cage diving is it’s like being trapped inside an elevator that happens to be flooding with water up to your neck. And, oh, yes, there could be a blue shark lurking on any side of you.
The one-day tour runs from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and costs C$434.
The boat ride is about an hour and a half in length, as it takes you away from the harbour and gets you closer to the Gulf Stream where water temperatures are warmer. The tour provides your mask, snorkel and a wetsuit.
Nathan Coleman, a video journalist at The Weather Network, goes shark cage diving. (Natalie Wannamaker/Submitted to The Weather Network)
Water temperatures on the day I went were 17°C. A marine biologist with Atlantic Shark Expeditions, Maggie McKenna says you won’t see blue sharks at temperatures that get below 12°C.
“As the overall temperature of the waters warm due to climate change, they could be showing up closer to the shoreline, and farther and farther north,” McKenna told The Weather Network.
But, don't be alarmed. Blue sharks, like other shark species, don’t pose a threat to humans.
“They will rub right up against the cage. They will poke your camera with their nose. They’re very, very curious. You can tell that they’re aware that you’re another being. Making eye contact with a blue shark that is less than a foot in front of your face [is] life changing. It is so fun,” says McKenna.
Watch the video preceding the article to see the full story behind Nathan Coleman's shark cage diving experience.
Thumbnail courtesy of Natalie Wannamaker.
