Story Time with Zee - Swimming with a shark

My parents were both teachers when I was growing up so we traveled a lot during spring breaks, Christmas breaks, and summer vacation. We went to Florida just about every year that I can remember through high school. One of the families favorite places in Florida to go was Saint Joseph State Park which is a peninsula located in the Gulf of Mexico on the panhandle of Florida. The following is a description of the State Park from their website:

"With miles of white sugar sand, this park has one of the top rated beaches in the United States. Sunbathing, snorkeling, and swimming are popular activities along the Gulf of Mexico and St. Joseph Bay. From offshore, canoeists and kayakers can take in a superb view of the high dunes and sand pine scrub. Outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy camping, fishing, hiking, and bicycling."

Snorkeling and swimming were activities that I would do every time I was there. There is a sandbar on the Gulf side that would trap a lot of sand dollars and other shells as the tides would come in and out. When I was around 12 years old snorkeling on the sandbar to search for shells was one of my favorite past times. This particular time I was by myself and the rest of my family was on the beach. As I snorkeled I was aware that someone was yelling somewhere but it was not the voice of either of my parents so I really didn't pay a lot of attention to it until I realized that the yelling voice was consistently getting closer. The water depth would obviously change with the tides but as I stood up on the sandbar the water was about a half a foot above my knees.

I looked down the beach in the direction of the yelling and spotted the man running down the beach repeatedly yelling something. I was focused on him trying to figure out what he was saying and I didn't make out the word "shark" until he was fairly close. It was that point that I started scanning the water and sure enough there was a shark. The man running down the beach was not very far ahead of the shark that was swimming between the sandbar and the beach. I first noticed the dorsal fin sticking above the water then about six or eight feet behind that the tail fin which also stuck out of the water. If I had started swimming as fast as I could to the beach I would have collided with the shark. I had no idea what to do but I was extremely scared. I don't recall if I pissed my pants or not but I do recall wondering if pissing my pants would attract the shark or keep it away from me. I could see the dark figure of the shark and as it passed about ten feet away from me I could see the distinct outline of the head of the hammerhead shark. I was shallow enough that I don't think the shark could have gotten to me if it wanted to but it didn't seem to care about my presence at all and continued down the beach.

After the shark was very far down the beach and I scanned up and down for other sharks I swam to shore at a speed that I am sure would give Phelps a run for his money. My parents were worried about the safety of swimming and snorkeling there so we went to the ranger station to talk to them. They informed us that hammer head sharks occasionally are able to get between the sand bar and the shore and that they like to go up and down feeding off everything that gets stuck there. They said that the type of hammer head shark that was there do not attack humans and that there has never been a shark attack at Saint Joseph State Park. As I recall my close encounter I can't help but still wonder if pissing is a good or a bad idea when sharks are close by though.