The Shark Whisperer
10 August 2012 | Suwarrow Atoll, Northern Cook Islands
Harry is the Park Ranger and Ants (short for Anthony in kiwi-speak?) is his assistant. We say hello to both of them as we're poking around the place. A few other cruisers are there filling out the forms necessary for checking out. Ants grabs a bucket that appears to be full of fish parts and other food scraps. He gestures for all of us to follow him and we do. He leads us along a different path away from the ranger's building through the bush to the other side of the island. It is a very small island and in no time we are standing at water's edge looking out at the pass that we all entered to get to the inside of the atoll. There is a sign that says, "No Swimming - Sharks". It is a beautiful and wild place, water rushing and breaking waves off in distance. The water in front of us is pretty shallow and Ants steps out into it and up onto a rock. He makes sure we all have cameras ready and he's then he yells out HEY! And in come maybe a dozen sharks, rushing in fast, conditioned to come at the sound of his voice. Ants chucks in the food from the bucket and a short but furious feeding frenzy takes place. There's mostly black tip and white tip reef sharks but also a few larger ones lurking around in the back. It's a pretty impressive sight and we all stand there staring well after the event is over. We've only just scratched the service of the place and all we can say is...WOW...We love it here. What's Next?