I want to dive!

I've been doing tons of research on sharks lately, and now I want to get closer to them, beyond Google searches and book pages. I want to dive with sharks. That might sound very strange coming from a 13 year old girl, but I'm not like most girls. 'Scary' animals don't bother me. "Sharks and snakes and alligators, oh my!" simply doesn't fit me. Most animals don't scare me.

Now, back to the diving topic. I would do anything to jump in the sea right now and dive next to sharks in a coral reef. After becoming inches from the face of a blacktip reef shark behind glass at the aquarium restaurant, I want to become inches from a shark face with no glass. Not a great white or tiger shark face but a reef shark or some other bottom dweller. I'm not sure if I would get in the water with a great white without a shark cage, at least until I'm very experienced. Surprisingly, I'd get in with a great white without a cage before I'd jump in the sea beside a wild orca pod. But a mako on the other hand, they are not nearly as dangerous and scary as they look with their curved, jagged teeth and their huge solid black eyes. They are actually a very shy species, and I'd dive with them any day without a shark cage. Hammerheads are very similar in reputation to makos. They are strange and scary looking but actually very shy. One of the least scary-looking (you can't even see their teeth unless they are eating) large species is the beautiful blue shark, swift and agile with their long, lean bodies. They are one of the about 20 species of shark that are considered dangerous, but I have never heard of anybody being attacked by one. I've only seen pictures and videos of divers interacting with and feeding them. To tell the truth, I don't care if a shark species is on the danger list because most reports of attacks are very exaggerated and I know the cause for most attacks and it makes perfect sense. But sadly the shy and graceful blue, mako, and hammerhead sharks are three of the most targeted species for finning. Lastly, I believe that diving with a basking or whale shark would be awesome and exhilarating as well.

I could snorkel in the ocean easily, but scuba diving is better since you can go deep under. I am old enough to start diving now, but I still have to wait. I don't live near good beaches and I need to become a better swimmer first. My ocean friends will just have to wait for me for a few more years. Then, I'll meet my friends for the first time, but I will feel as if I've known them forever.