Great White lark

Another White Pointer shark, nicknamed Curly by team members.

CPO Martin Smith, PO Carl Smith and LSA Mark Pooley in their shark cage, ready to meet the sharks up close.

Jez, the 4.7m White Pointer shark was an impressive sight for the diving team.

Encountering a shark while swimming is most people's idea of a nightmare.

Not for CPO Martin Smith, PO Carl Smith and LSA Mark Pooley, who recently returned from a diving expedition to Neptune Island off the coast of South Australia. For them, it was a dream come true.

In a scene reminiscent of the movie "Jaws", minus the bloodshed, the three adventurous sailors made the decision to undertake a dive with the Great White sharks to see what all the fuss was about.

CPO Smith said that they had all wanted to do this kind of diving for many years. "During the expedition we had encounters with seven Great White sharks the biggest being a 4.7m male known as Jez, a truly impressive sight," he said.

The sharks were attracted to their vessel, Farlie, by the constant stream of blood being poured over the side, known in the trade as "chumming".

"The first few days were quite quiet with only one shark visiting the team but on the last two days we had to have eyes in the back of our heads the sharks were buzzing us from all directions," CPO Smith said.

"What was quite impressive was that Carl had only learnt to dive five days prior to the expedition and was now getting in the water with a two ton monster.

He was surprised at the speed at which the shark could turn and strike at the bait in the water," CPO Smith said.

At one point when CPO Smith was in the cage on his own the 4.7m giant decided to bite the cage and shake it.

"It was like being rattled in a tin can, but a great opportunity for some close up photos," he said.

During the trip, the sailors were also fortunate enough to witness a tagging of a young shark, new to the research team on board.

The sailors ended their expedition with a visit to the Rodney Fox museum in Glenelg, Adelaide, with slide shows and talks about the Great White and other species of shark.

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