No one spoke or dared to breathe, as the unmistakable shape of a Mako dorsal fin sliced the now calm sea, gently carving a path to the boat.

Everyone scrambled and jostled for a vantage point to watch the creature investigate the pea soup of berley, which led it here.

'It's a wee tacka,' exclaimed the Skipper as we all watched open mouthed in amazement. The word 'wee' when referring to a Mako in Kiwi terms means anything smaller than 10 feet.

It is 0700 hours; the shark cage is in the water swaying gently in a calming swell, the sun casts a yellowish hue on the sea, while the Skipper tells old salty tales to heighten the excitement.

Blue shark numbers have grown rapidly, and number between eight to 10 around the cage. They circle curiously, open-mouthed to investigate the content of the cloudy water. The Mako attracted earlier retires out of sight due to the commotion and activity of the 'Blues'.

An agonised gurgle from a frail Swede at the bow of the boat signified another addition to the berley club.

With the elusive 'wee' Mako out there somewhere, I hastily kit up armed with my trusty Nikon, dive buddy, a ski pole, tammied reservation and a dash of fish oil on our wetsuits for good measure.

We gently lower ourselves into the viscous trail of berley and become just another foreign object to analyse and taste.

Swimming with feeding Blue sharks is like directing traffic at a demolition derby, except they come at us from all angles. Shooting still images in this situation requires close teamwork and trust in your dive partner.

We slowly drift away from the immediate sanctuary of the cage and boat, trying to break clear of the feeding circle and the burly trail. As we observe, touch and fend off the Blues, I reflect on the fatality rate of sailors taken by Blue sharks from sinking ships during World War II.

Blues are basically opportunists and will have a little taste of almost anything on offer. With that information in mind, I now decide to worry about the Mako we saw before and wonder where it is, and does it have friends?

As if by request, a Mako gracefully sailed into sight from the depths curiously looking at us as it passed within about 12-15 metres.

I turned to my dive buddy, and shaking our heads from side to side, we gesture with our hands wide apart that this one is not the 'wee' female Mako that we saw before. This was very big, and very serious.

The Dictionary of large sharks for extreme divers describes a shark thus:

(Shark), n. comprised of two essential words [use your imagination] and a great deal of speed associated with the sighting of the sharp-toothed predator of the deep.

I'm able to identify the torpedo-shaped silhouette to my left and down six or so metres, which at this point confirms that the Mako is still investigating the commotion of the Blues and the contents of the water.

Reasonably confident that the shark knows we have seen him, we are hopeful an ambush won't be an option. We've drifted about 10 metres away from the boat, and with that in mind we slowly but deliberately fin and scan a path to get back. We fend off fin chews in the process.

Only three metres from the boat and ascending, I hear a couple of muffled sounds from behind. I turn and look. My dive buddy is giving me the approaching direction of the Mako.

It's close, 'real close'-the unmistakable blade-shaped tail sweeping from side to side and rapidly propelling towards us. Being in the centre of the viscous pea soup of berley was not a good situation.

Makos have been known to reach speeds of up to 90 km/h, but at that moment we broke its record. We launched ourselves clumsily back onto the boat with our newfound super human strength - motivated by fear, adrenaline and more fear.

I turned in time to get an image to exemplify the ferocity of it's exposed needle sharp lacerating teeth as it tore at a bait-wired cage.

To swim with this great predator left us truly awed, almost reverent. The Mako is near the apex of the largest predatory fish in the world. These magnificent creatures have few natural enemies and command respect.

Many species of sharks have been unjustifiably persecuted for many years, and slaughtered to near extinction. We should learn to respect them for what they are; graceful, efficient and most importantly, an integral part of the ocean food chain.

By LAC Marcus Fillinger