Diving with Hammerhead Sharks off Green Island, Taiwan
The diving thrill of a lifetime!
From January to March every year, schools of hammerhead sharks are found off
the southern tip of Taiwan's Green Island. It is by all accounts one of the most
exhilarating dives one can ever participate in, and this shark dive claims adventurous
diver lives nearly every year. Definitely an advanced dive, given the depth of
the dive (30-37m); the fact the hammers prefer strong current (hold onto your
face mask!); the waves on the surface push divers under the boat close to the
propellers; the waves cause the boat ladders to smash down onto divers upon exit
and the fact most divers who see so many large sharks at depth tend to use their
air less conservatively than normal, making safe ascents and decompression times
more challenging.
The hammerheads are most likely smooth hammerheads, Sphyrna zygaena, with an
olive-grey upper body color and great bulging white bellies. They grow to 13 feet
and are 500 - 800 pounds, the females are larger specimens than the males by up
to 80cm. The hammers travel from the Philippines to Japan and hang out in and
around Green Island as a rest stop for these few precious months.
 You want the diving
thrill of your life? This is the one. The hammerhead dive at Green Island.
For those 30 minutes underwater, the only thing you'll be thinking of is trying
not to gulp big mouthfuls of air (conserve it!) whilst looking at beasts that
have been around thousands of years longer than humans have.
The Hammerhead Shark Signal:
 The most
exhilarating part of the dive? When Tiger points into the distance and gives the
hammerhead signal (move your fists poised at each ear back and forth like you're
turning the throttle of a motorbike). All the divers go, "Huh, I don't see
no hammerheads!" And then voila! They come into view from the blue expanse,
one, two, ten, fifty, a hundred. Shocking when the big females break off from
swimming against the current and veer towards the dive group, stopping but 20
feet away - MAGNIFICENT animals, bulging white bellies reflecting light as they
dance against the current - so powerful, so effortless as they swim against the
current that threatens to sweep us divers off the coral bottom we are hooked on
to.
If you have any questions or need to know more information about our scuba
diving vacations, Green Island, accomodation, or anything else you need to plan
your trip, don't hesitate to contact us.
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