by Mary L. Peachin with photography by Jay Ireland and Mary L. Peachin
Apr 2000, Vol. 4 No. 7
“You’ll want to be my dive buddy this week. Trust me on this.” The young man looked at me, quizzically, wondering why a smiley silver-haired lady would make such a definitive comment. Benji, young enough to be my son, was unaware that during the Okeanos Aggressor’s routine checkout dive, while the diving crew assessed our underwater capabilities, I was busy evaluating the divers. When diving with sharks, “babysitting” an anxious buddy reduces both the time spent at depth with scalloped hammerheads, and the opportunity for an up-close experience.