taking a dip

remember way back in june, when i mentioned T and i took a swim with the whale sharks? well, if you don't, i'll give a little back story. my grandma volunteers at the georgia aquarium, and offered us tickets to go swim with the whale sharks some time ago. sadly, we hadn't been able to make the trek out. then, our plans finally aligned where we could take a trip to see my grandparents. so, of course my grandma very sweetly scheduled our swim while we were there. in a word, it was -- awesome. 

thankfully, my grandma took pictures of the day, and boy, am i happy she did! my phone is still sadly allergic to water plus, no foreign items are allowed in the tank. so, i give you my grandma's view of our dip with the sharks...

[soon-to-be swimming in the tank behind us]

first up, our group was taken back to go over safety items -- where we'd swim, and the rules. the tank itself is a mini ecosystem with multiple types of sharks, fish, and marine life. to keep their environment as tranquil as possible, no touching any marine life (even if they touch you) and no splitting from the group. once i heard the first rule, all my thoughts were about hoping i'd get bumped by a whale shark. 

[so, so excited]

[going over where we will swim and the equipment]

[group shot]

[getting used to the breathing apparatus]

[underwater smooch]

funny story on the photo above -- objects may seem closer than they appear. T and i were swimming in the tank, reveling in the moment, and then i look down and see a sawtooth fish...approaching me with it's mouth (lined with teeth) pointed up towards me. seeing those teeth getting closer and closer, i got nervous those teeth were going to come in contact with my crotch and/or upper legs. remembering i couldn't touch the shark, and i couldn't safely move away without worry of those teeth hitting something else, i starfished. basically, i spread my extremities as open as possible hoping it'd work out. right as the fish looked like it'd make contact, its mouth (thankfully) tipped down and kept swimming. my grandma, seeing this unfold below us, said, "ahhh!", she snapped a photo, looked back up, and said, "are you okay?". this photo was just before i gave the thumbs up that i was alright. when we saw the video of our experience after, we found that the fish and i were thankfully a couple of feet from each other instead of a couple of inches like i thought. 

[circling back to get out]

to say we were happy would be a massive understatement. we were on cloud nine, and feeling incredible. it seriously was the greatest experience, and has inspired us to do it again. only this time, we want to kick it up a notch and take a dip with the sharks in the ocean :)

a big thanks to my grandma for gifting us such a memorable experience, the ga aquarium for having us, and the marine life for letting us swim with them for the afternoon!