The Wealthy Soul

"You won't believe this story, but it's true."

It must be the consciousness I've been in, writing this latest series about Great Whites.

But just after writing the story, joyously reading your comments on my blog, a massive 3-day feeding frenzy occurred right off the coast where I swim every day.

Huge circular schools of fish could be seen jumping out of the water at once followed by either a shark jumping literally out of the water after them, or it's fearsome dorsal and tail fin breaking the surface in hot pursuit.

It was an incredible show like I've never seen before.

Just the week before, I had been swimming a half mile per day with Patty, a young tri-athlete visiting the Florida coast with her husband and young children.

She had been hesitant to swim in the ocean, used to the heated swimming pools and calm lakes of Michigan. She was wary of the riptides, jellyfish and sharks everyone warned her about in the Atlantic.

"No worries," I told her casually. "The riptides, if they're around at all, only pull you out to shoulder-deep water, and I've only seen a shark inside the breakers once. And he was a small one."

Good thing she wasn't around the following week!

However something did occur the week she was here -

Could You Escape From a Great White?

This story is true-to-life.

You're in open ocean.

You're many miles from shore.

You're just minding your own business, feeling your regular playful self.

You are, in fact, a seal.

Two hundred pounds of blubber . . . very gainly on land, but an acrobat extraordinaire underwater.

But you're no match for a Great White Shark.

Your speed can't match his.

Your size can't even begin to be compared to his (he's 10x larger).

And you, my friend, are his favorite snack.

And suddenly he's just there, a massive torpedo from out of the depths, rows of razor teeth just inches from your tail.