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Walkers Cay – The Ultimate Shark Experience
By Jeremy Cuff
At the 2000 NEC Dive Show, the American underwater photographer and filmmaker Tom Campbell recommended Walkers Cay as one of the best locations for close encounters with sharks. Well within the reach and budgets of non-professional divers, it is, perhaps, the ultimate
shark experience…
Last autumn at the NEC Dive Show, we attended a seminar by the American underwater photographer and filmmaker Tom Campbell. During his talk, covering a variety of his diving assignments, Tom described his experiences filming Great White sharks from outside a cage in South Africa.
In a wider sense, he discussed the often-misunderstood behaviour of sharks, and how with a greater understanding, divers can actually get in the water with apex predators such as Great Whites and Tiger sharks, which were previously considered too dangerous. He also recommended Walkers Cay in the Bahamas as "the best place in the Caribbean to dive with sharks."
Belonging to the Abaco island group, Walkers Cay is located in the extreme north of the Bahamas, around 140 miles northeast of Fort Lauderdale in Florida. It’s most easily reached by an hour-long flight direct from Fort Lauderdale.
The atmosphere is typically laid back with friendly staff, comfortable accommodation, good food, a swimming pool and a hot tub in which to discuss the days diving with fellow aquanauts.
Divers also share Walkers Cay with big game fishermen who visit the island in an attempt to lure unfortunate pelagics such as bonefish and barracuda to their bait. All of the fishing, however, is conducted in the open ocean, well away from the extensive reef systems and the activities of divers.
The Sea Below Dive Shop is managed by Gary Adkinson and ably supported by an enthusiastic team that includes instructor Barry Albury, divemaster Phillip Russell and Captain Leroy “Snoopy” Cooper, who often pilots the dive boat whilst skanking to reggae cassettes!
Inside the dive shop, there can be no doubt as what is found in the waters around Walkers Cay – photographs of sharks, shark videos, sharks teeth, shark T- shirts and shark stickers. After all, this dive shop will take you to the Shark Rodeo!
For many years now, Gary Adkinson’s team have been feeding sharks at a site close to Walkers Cay. On any given day there can be 50-120 sharks gathering to feed on the legendary “chumsicle,” a potent mix of dead fish and ice formed into a barrel. Its arrival on the boat could best be described as a diving version of a religious ceremony - curious divers gathering around while the mysterious container steams in the balmy air.
A couple of minutes of engine revving in the area of the Shark Rodeo site attracts sharks to the feeding arena, although it is known that many sharks now gather daily in the area each morning without the need for such stimuli. While food is the original and primary reason for the gathering, it’s thought that they may also benefit from the social interaction and could assist in mating.
Before jumping in, the briefing explains the behaviour expected of divers - which includes keeping a safe distance from the chumsicle, particularly when it’s first submerged and not to touch or chase the sharks. Large areas of white on a wet suit are also to be avoided as studies have shown that the colour can be attractive to the sharks, perhaps because it’s easily mistaken for a small or injured fish. Consequently, shorties revealing excessive white flesh are not allowed at the rodeo.
The Shark Rodeo commences once the divers have descended through the circling sharks (a great experience in itself) and settled on the sandy bottom at a depth of 12 metres. The chumsicle is then lowered from the boat.
The action is instant and spectacular. Sharks immediately cluster around the chumsicle, taking turns to bite off chunks. When a large piece gets detached, the sharks appear to "ride" the food like a rodeo, often chasing it a considerable distance until it gets devoured. Others cruise in a casual and unhurried manner - waiting for their turn.
Throughout the Shark Rodeo, divers are treated to the spectacle of sharks at very close quarters. Often they will swim between dive buddies and pass directly overhead although, at no time does it feel threatening. One of the reasons for this is that the sharks have never been hand fed and don’t associate divers with food. It’s probable that they perceive us as other predators, hopeful for a morsel of food.
Caribbean Reef sharks and Black Tip Reef sharks are the most common species at the rodeo although other species are known. We observed a closely-knit pair of nurse sharks but on some occasions, hammerheads, bull sharks, lemon sharks and even tiger sharks will investigate the action. After our second Shark Rodeo, whilst heading back to the island, we were lucky to see a large Tiger Shark cruising the shallows. It appears that although seldom seen, they are never far away.
Many of the feeding sharks shed teeth, which can sometimes be found on the sand close to where the chumsicle was submerged. In this natural process, new teeth will move forward to replace those lost. Some divers spent more time engaged in tooth hunting than watching the sharks.
Divers at Walkers Cay will notice that many of the sharks carry tags, attached to the region around their dorsal fins. Students of marine ecology are regular visitors to the island, assisting in the extensive studies on the behaviour and movements of the Walkers Cay population.
In this often tiring and difficult work, it’s been discovered that Caribbean Reef sharks, far from spending their entire lives on and around the reefs, will sometimes visit the open ocean for considerable periods before returning to the shallows. Why they do this is unclear, but it shows how little is known about shark behaviour, even of species that are relatively common and easy to observe.
Divers visiting for a week will usually get two full Shark Rodeos to add to their dive logs and perhaps another visit or two to the site, but without the chumsicle.
Many dive destinations in the tropics, at best, enjoy sporadic shark encounters resulting in the focus on other marine life. At Walkers Cay, however, the reverse is true with the sharks being the major attraction. The result is that the rest of the diving is sometimes considered secondary. There is, however, a lot to see.
Most of the dive sites around Walkers Cay are fairly easy and relatively shallow averaging 12 to 15 metres, although it is possible to go deeper on some of the outer reef walls. The underwater topography is interesting with numerous gullies, caves and swim-throughs to explore – most of which you’d never find without the Sea Below dive team.
Sharks are regularly encountered on most dive sites with the Flower Gardens, Split Reef, Sue’s Reef, Magic Kingdom yielding Caribbean Reef Sharks.
Large lobsters are common and can be found in any suitable nook or cranny, while at the smaller end of the invertebrate scale, nudibranchs can be spotted searching the corals for edible titbits. The corals themselves are interesting and prolific, enhancing an already interesting seascape.
Turtles, a favourite food of Tiger sharks can be found anywhere with Sue’s Reef and Split Reef coming up trumps. Tuna, mackerel, parrotfish and groupers account for some of the larger fish species regularly encountered. And if you look carefully, scorpionfish and flounders can be spotted, each as inconspicuous as it is specialised.
On one of the earlier dives, someone said they’d seen a Manta Ray. The comment seemed strange as Manta’s are rarely recorded from this area. It turned out to be an Eagle Ray, and they’re actually quite common – by the end the week we’d seen them on several dives.
During the second Shark Rodeo, at least six of these magnificent rays swam into the arena and glided effortlessly past the amazed divers. For Eagle Ray heaven, the Magic Kingdom site produced the most “magic” with a large group of these graceful rays “flying” around a coral pinnacle. It was generally agreed that we’d seen an incredible eighteen!
Walkers Cay is also known for its population of Bull sharks – and to see them you don’t even need to get in the water. They can usually be found in an area next to the airstrip and have become accustomed to visiting the shallows to be fed the leftovers from the fishermen’s bait.
It’s well worth collecting some offal from the fish cleaning room at the marina and wandering over to see them.
The sounds of approaching footsteps and the splash of the bait hitting the surface combined with the irresistible smell ensures that the sharks turn up within minutes. On occasions, the island staff will even allow visitors to snorkel with them under strict supervision.
At Walkers Cay, divers can complete the PADI Shark Awareness course, a specialty only offered by a few dive destinations worldwide. We decided to sign up and found it to be extremely rewarding and informative. To complete the specialty, divers must attend a talk by Gary Adkinson and dive the Shark Rodeo.
At the frontline of marine conservation for many years, Gary is an inspiring and motivated individual, passionate about the preservation of our marine heritage. He’s involved with many research projects and travels the world extensively with his work. He also contributes his knowledge to a group that studies shark attacks and the reasons behind them.
The Shark Awareness Specialty discusses shark behaviour in general and that of the Walkers Cay population in particular. Why, for example doesn’t the multitude of other fish swirling around chumsicle get eaten by the sharks? The answer is that sharks prefer to eat dead or dying fish rather than expend energy catching healthy specimens. The reasons why shark attacks occur and the stupidity of mainstream sensationalist media coverage are discussed in depth, as are the wider implications of global environmental mismanagement such as the appalling practice of "finning" for shark-fin soup in the Orient and the effects of unsustainable and indiscriminate long-line fishing and drift netting.
Divers are encouraged to get actively involved in aspects of marine conservation – campaigning against pollution and overfishing, writing letters to lawmakers or simply dispelling urban myths about the inhabitants of the sea.
In order to conserve the sharks and therefore entire marine ecosystems, Gary has used the tactic of placing a financial value on the head of each shark present in a given area. In a world where money talks, this approach has paid dividends. It then becomes a matter of simple arithmetic - the revenue generated by visiting divers divided by the number of sharks. Suddenly, when placed in that context, the sharks have a real value to the economy.
Gary was also a guest speaker at this year's NEC Dive Show. He returned to his theme of media coverage following recent attacks in Florida. The message was simple and clear – to go out and dispel the misconceptions fuelled by a dumbed-down, hysterical media and the convenient vested interests that have no place for sharks. He argues that it’s every divers task to pass on credible information and to spread the word as to the reality of shark behaviour. I'm sure that most of the audience left the seminar with more “get up and go” than they arrived with. Many will visit Walkers Cay as a result. This article, in a small way, is carrying out just what Gary inspired us to do – to inform more people about sharks.
He then invited everyone to Walkers Cay to “Come and see my kids.” As you’d imagine, they’re quite well behaved.
Summer 2001
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