Dive Into Your Imagination

Eric Shapiro is probably the biggest Great White Shark fan we have ever met! We recently went on a trip and was able to interview Eric on his adventure! Eric’s first description about his experience is well, wordless:

When I first saw a Great White on aboard the Solomar V, with Shark Diving International, I have to be honest and say that there are no words I can use to describe how amazing it was. I mean, how do you verbalize seeing a perfectly designed apex super predator for the first time in your life, fulfilling a life long dream?

Well, why don’t you start then by telling us about yourself!

I am 33 and from Baltimore, Maryland. I became a commercial diver when I was 24 and went to diving school in Southern California for just more than a year. I have always loved the ocean and sharks especially, so I guess that was part of the draw into becoming a commercial diver. I have lived in several states but ended up back in Maryland. Though I currently do not work as a commercial diver, I do run Hyperbaric chambers in a hospital setting for advanced wound healing.

And how is it that your fascination with Great White Sharks started?

Ever since I can remember, truly, my first memories are that of wanting to see not just sharks, but Great Whites. Ever since I saw "Jaws" I thought to myself "What else could compare to seeing first hand the awesomeness of this Apex predator?". To have gone and seen them, with my own two eyes is an experience unlike anything. I have been sky diving, been an offshore diver, skied the back bowls of Vail, CO, flipped a car at 100 mph, even been to Space Camp.....but being in that cage, facing my most primal fear while simultaneously fulfilling a life long dream overshadows anything else I have done.

What did everyone back home think about this adventure?

Most of my friends thought it was a bit nuts, but then again I think some of them are nuts for getting married and having kids.....so who's to say who is the more adventurous?

Good point, I know these feelings well!

Even though I was there for three days, it felt like 5 minutes. I went with my friend, Marti, who is one of only two other people I have EVER met who have such a deep rooted love of not just sharks, but Great Whites. Marti and I were like kids in a candy store months before the trip. She and I couldn't contain our enthusiasm, especially the day of the trip!! We met so many great and interesting people during our time on the Solomar V. It is an experience I will NEVER forget, EVER!!

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