Shark Week. Shark Tank. Baby Shark. Sharks always seem to be somewhere. But when you’re lucky enough to be a scuba diver, they get a lot closer—physically and metaphorically.

The world’s most misunderstood apex predator is stepping into the spotlight this year with the 50th anniversary of Jaws, Steven Spielberg’s 1975 film about a harrowing spate of shark attacks along an idyllic stretch of New England coastline.

The movie was a sleepover staple in my formative years. Before I became a diver and got lucky enough to familiarize myself with sharks off the screen and underwater, the mere thought of the ocean’s most maligned animals came with a duh-duh, duh-duh soundtrack in my head. Pop culture has a way of projecting.

But Jacques Cousteau’s adage that we only protect what we love grew to have particular poignance for me when it comes to sharks, considering my evolution from abject fear to admiration, awe and respect.

When I became a diver, I quickly learned I’d have to find a way to get past my trepidation at sharing the ocean with sharks. You could say I dived in at the deep end with a trip to Guadalupe Island off the coast of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula back when it was still possible and legal to cage dive with them there (the Mexican government banned the practice in this protected area in 2023).

Related Reading; The Ultimate Guide to Shark Diving

I don’t think I’ve ever felt more wary than when I stepped off the boat’s stern and dropped into the steel cage, surface-to-air hose clenched between my lips, just having caught sight of a massive fin breaking the blue water’s deceptively serene surface. Entering the water with circling great whites felt like the most counterintuitive thing I’d ever done. It also broke the seal and turned fear into a deep sense of respect. I stepped back onto the boat a changed woman and diver.

There were a bunch of music industry types on our boat, and I learned what the phrase “party like rock stars” actually meant as the margaritas flowed on our way back to port in Ensenada after three days in the water with great whites. The Jaws soundtrack was forever replaced in my head with heavy metal music blasting and joyous celebrations.

Related Reading; How Do I Dive Safely With Sharks?

Since then, I look for sharks on every dive. I surface with sadness when they haven’t materialized where I was told they should. Sharks are the sign of a healthy and thriving marine ecosystem. Without them, the food web gets all out of whack. The more I dive with sharks, the more I notice the cautious middle ground the animals keep when they see that you, too, have an eye on them. Lose sight of them, of course, and you might find them making a closer, curious pass—these cartilage-hewn wild beauties that shimmer silver, steel and blue, and make creatures large and small part the seas with their presence. As divers, it is our utmost privilege to be under the surface, spending these moments among them.