Duh, Duh….Duh, Duh….tune ring a bell??? This is the infamous theme song to a movie that has a creep factor of 10+. Yep, I’m talking about JAWS. It’s the movie that makes you fear the ocean and never want to stick even a toe in the water again. Well, fast forward now about two decades and the movie OPEN WATER has been released, once again freaking out the general public, which includes of course, ME!! Why all of this talk about sharks you ask? Well, Kyle and I just so happened to encounter an 8 foot shark (no, not a great white….but a hammerhead) during our scuba diving escapade in Key Largo during our anniversary trip. Since we had gotten certified last year for our honeymoon and hadn’t been since, we figured we should try it again. 
Key Largo being a perfect location, we were really pumped up to do this once again. Now, in typical Mel fashion, before we got on the boat, I quizzically asked the captain, check-in/register lady, other scuba divers on board, equipment man, pedestrians…….heck, everyone and anyone, if they had any “interesting” experiences while scuba diving……..basically trying to get some type of super scary story out of them to convince me there was a reason I shouldn’t be going. But, all seemed good and each one assured me that no dangers seemed to lurk in the depths of the deep blue. So, what happened next? Well, we were taken about five miles off the coast and came upon the first dive site. There were 8 of us together. Within the first 10 minutes of being underwater, we saw a few big tarpon and happened upon a spotted eagle ray (later which I found out that 1/3 of its body was missing with an enormous bite mark showing from the shark) . So, about 10 more minutes later, we stopped in our tracks for what we thought was the most terrifying sight we would witness, to find out after that it was just the start. 
Enter first black tip reef shark (about 4 feet in length). Now, enter #2 and #3. Quickly turn around to feel a tap on your shoulder as you hallucinate and initially think it is a great white to see your husband holding up the number 4…..and you turn around to see a fourth AND fifth sharking swimming near. Yep, five sharks surrounding the area. This is no good. Well, that is until they are made to look like minnows when this mammoth sized hammerhead comes gliding out of NOWHERE!!!! And it was huge…..really big. I swear, no joke, I think I may have hugged our guide AT LEAST three times underwater, clinging tightly to him…..like a child behind their dad’s legs. It was a tad embarrassing, but I was freaking out. Then, as I watched the shark circle around and come back (realizing I was the last one in line), I suddenly decided to grab onto the flipper of the woman in front of me and propel myself forward so she was now behind me. Instincts, I swear! I didn’t mean to put her in harms way, but my adrenaline kicked into full gear and this girl had a “survival of the fittest” mind frame!
Soon after, there were only 4 of us in the water. The rest of the group went back up to do some “open water skills”. So now, I was the only female and feeling even more terrified. This time, we were swimming through two walls of coral and the 5 reef sharks were swimming on both sides right toward us. All I could think was, “Sharks sense fear….and my pheromones are going crazy!! If I just smile at the shark and it knows I’m confident…..showing no fear….I’ll be fine!” LOL…..I’m ridiculous, but it worked (at least that’s what I tell myself). Needless to say, we made it back up onto the boat and survived. You can tell by my HUGE smile in some of the pics. Anyways, the rest of the trip was perfect. We really enjoyed the adventure of our mini getaway…..wouldn’t have wanted to experience it with anyone else!! Here are some more photos from our anniversary……enjoy!
