Into the gully, finning hard against the surge, I descend, carefully trying not to breathe too heavily and use up my oxygen. Fifteen metres above me, mountainous waves are breaking across the reef and my adrenaline is pumping. Rounding a bend, I come upon a cave and swim closer to peer inside.
There it is! Just three metres away, a large, raggedtooth shark is staring at me. Dead eyes, jutting teeth in need of a dentist, and a long sinuous body with delicate spots. It is ugly-beautiful, a thing of menace and grace. We gawk and gape at each other for a few seconds, then with a lazy swipe of the tail, it glides past, out of the cave and into the Indian Oceanʼs ink.
My heart is hammering with…