Shark!!!

[CindyM]

We are chillin over in Leinster Bay in our dinghy after a nice snorkel at Waterlemon today, and as we are getting ready to leave, a group of teens swim by us towards the cay. None of them have fins and some don't have masks. It's a pretty far swim from Leinster bay to the cay and these kids are swimming between all the mooring balls which is where we need to go to leave the area. Most of the kids make it to the island but there is one girl that looks awfully tired, so we start making our way towards her to offer her a ride over to the cay. We get to her and offer to pick her up and just as she declines my husband yells "SHARK!!". I've never seen someone jump into a dinghy so fast! And the rest of us in the dinghy are like. "yeah, right" (Hubby is always the kidder). And he's sayin "I am not kidding!". So I grab my snorkel and stick my face in the water to see and here is the manic shark, up here, down there, going everywhere like its just crazy! Now we just saw a nurse shark at pelican rock two days ago and it was just a chillin, like a nice Caribbean shark should be. But the shark today was so freaky and came up on that girl out of nowhere!

Turns out the girl was a camp counseler with a group of campers from one of those nationwide organizations . Don't think they were prepared enough IMO to be doing that swim without masks and fins! She said she would get her group to depart via the closer shoreline. I told her that sea urchins could be a problem there as I remember it from previous years so be careful. Don't think id be to quick to send my kids to such a laid back camp as that! Interesting day to say the least~

An

[CindyM]

I wanted to add that we don't know what type of shark it was. Not a nurse or black tip. Maybe a reef? It was skinny. Will check my reef book when I get home next week.
Writing all this from my iPhone and it's being persnickety and won't let me edit this long post.

[XOXO]

Ok, but, what a great place to go camping, even if the camp counselor isn't capable of keeping kids safe. (kidding!)

I can't wait to see what kind of shark it was. I prefer not seeing any shark, nurse or otherwise.

I am typing this on my iPad. I feel your pain! Have a great trip.

xoxo

[liamsaunt]

Based on its swimming pattern, I wonder if your husband saw a remora? They look kind of like a shark, and are skinny, and swim like that. They will approach people, and have even been known to attach themselves to scuba divers!

We were at Leinster yesterday too, and saw those kids (and heard them talking about a shark). No shark sightings for us, but it was an awesome snorkel!

[CindyM]

Liamsaunt - I looked up remora pictures on my iPhone and you could be right. It was pretty large though - 48 inches. Maybe he was trying to attach himself to the swimmer. I have some acquaintances at home that act like that! I should change my title to "Remora!!!" but I'm sticking to my story! "Shark" makes for better storytelling for the campers back home anyhow!

Waterlemon was pretty crowded yesterday as was Trunk. We finished up on a beautiful peaceful Hineymoon Beach~

[gardengal]

Every single year we go we end up seeing sharks, not just nurse sharks. A few years ago we were snorkling around a point and when we rounded the corner we came up on a pretty big shark. I'm not sure who was more surprised- me or the shark. I can tell you that I've never seen such a big animal swim so fast, that shark was gone in a second flat. Still freaked me out so I stayed close to my husband hoping we'd appear as one big scary animal.

[BRY1105]

My wife and I were snorkeling Leinster Bay last Friday and we saw something that looked similar to a shark. She thought it was a shark, but I wasn't sure. After looking up pictures of the remora, I think it may have been one. It was a good 3 feet long. Leinster was our best snorkel of the week. We saw loads of sea stars, 2 sting rays, and 2 sea turtles! We were there at 8am so there was only a couple people there. As the day went on it got busier (like any beach). All week, we made a habit of getting to our chosen beach around 8.

[leslieeliz]

Out of curiosity, where is the best snorkeling in Leinster.....all the way up in the bay, or along the rocks as you're walking in?

[BRY1105]

While snorkel to Waterlemon Cay is good, I found the best is the center and to the right of center of the bay (as youre looking at the water).

[gimpiegirl]

i've seen nurse sharks and baby/small black tip reef sharks there. but i've seen tons of ramoras there (we have anchored quite a few times). they do swim more erratically.