Dances with sharks: nurse gets her thrills feeding, tagging underwater predators

Citizen Airman, April, 2004 by David G. Thoreson

Imagine intentionally plunging into an open water shark feeding area. The only thing between you and approximately 50 hungry sharks, weighing up to 400 pounds each, is water. Wearing a pair of chain mail gloves and basic diver's gear, you pull out some frozen fish and begin feeding the hungry giants. Sound crazy?

Not to a nurse assigned to the 944th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. For Capt. Terry Greene, feeding these giant predators, up close and personal, is a true passion.

However, it's a passion that she acquired quite by accident. While her son, who serves on active duty as a member of Air Force Special Operations Command, was in the Bahamas undergoing dive training, he ran across the Shark Feeder Certification School. He quickly called his mother, a certified dive master, to share what he saw.

Captain Greene saw the school as a way of confronting and overcoming a long-time fear. "I was always afraid of sharks, especially after seeing the movie 'Jaws,'" she said.

Soon she was on her way to the Bahamas for what turned out to be a life changing experience. Her first trip to the shark feeding area proved to be somewhat unnerving. As the small boat pulled up to the feeding area, Captain Greene immediately saw the massive sharks circling in anticipation of their meal. When it was her turn to go over the side and into the water, she hesitated. The instructor, who no doubt has seen this reaction many times before, simply pushed her overboard, right into the middle of the school of sharks.

"Touching them for the first time and realizing what magnificent creatures they are was the most incredible experience you could ever imagine," Captain Greene said. "They could kill and eat you in minutes. You are nothing to them; in their house, the sharks rule."

The school teaches students what is referred to as "polite feeding" to prevent the sharks from going into a frenzy. The divers slowly descend to the bottom with two hinged milk cartons containing frozen grouper. They feed the fish to the sharks at the end of a 3-foot-long spear.

"One of the first things the instructors teach is after handling the grouper never wipe your hands on your thighs," Captain Greene said. "Sharks use smell rather than their poor eyesight in selecting their food."

Despite taking these precautions, Captain Greene said she's been bitten before.

"However, because of the chain mail gloves, I only felt pressure. The shark, on the other hand, lost several teeth."

Captain Greene continues to visit the shark feeding school at least once a year and has gotten involved in tagging the very aggressive tiger sharks in Hawaii. Working with the Maul Ocean Center, with a grant from the University of Hawaii, she assists in tagging these sharks to determine their migratory patterns.

Because of their aggressive nature, tiger sharks are fished out of the water and placed on their backs for tagging. Once a shark is on its back, it becomes completely docile and will allow a transponder to be attached to its belly.

Although nursing pays much better than feeding and tagging sharks, Captain Greene said she only works as a nurse now to support her passion. Her long-term goal is to somehow combine her shark experience, diving skills and nursing credentials into one occupation.

In the meantime, shark feeding has become a family affair. Her husband, a retired Army officer and practicing physician assistant, is also involved in the activity.

"He fell in love with the experience as I did and now asks when I will take him back to my sharks," she said

(Colonel Thoreson is chief of public affairs for the 944th Fighter Wing, Luke AFB.)