Kids love sharks. We love sharks. 

Practically every scuba diver who has ever seen a shark loves them. Unfortunately there is enormous fishing pressure on these beautiful and amazing animals and scientists believe that 95% of the shark population has already been wiped out. "But, wait a sec!" you might say, "Did you say that sharks are beautiful and amazing animals??

I thought they were mindless cold blooded killers who eat anything they can??"  

Well, that illustrates our point perfectly. The poor old shark has been the subject of the worst public relations campaign that you can imagine. Even the feared mighty great white shark is not the mindless savage predator who will eat anything it can the way it was portrayed in the movie JAWS. We have got to know the 102 white sharks resident at Guadalupe Island - and supported 4 years of scientific research of these animals - and we can tell you with a certainty that this is a group of interesting and varied personalities. Some white sharks are very smart. Some are not smart at all. Some are timid and some are shy. Some are very sneaky. And yes, we have to admit, a couple of these sharks can be quite assertive. After watching a shark spend an hour examining and circling a t-shirt that fell over the rail before taking a very hesitant nibble, it was reinforced to us that these are not in any way mindless predators who attack anything and everything in the ocean. 

Our mission is for kids to see great white sharks firsthand and to appreciate just how beautiful they really are. We want every kid to have a really positive experience.. We believe that living in our world is about more than fear-mongering and teaching kids that other adults are doing mean things. We would rather offer an opportunity for kids to see something amazing that they will never forget. Great if that changes their perceptions a little bit. Even better if they communicate what they saw and felt to other kids. But more than anything, we want kids to see for themselves how beautiful and intriguing great white sharks are. 

Yes it's safe - my own kids went diving with great white sharks when they were 5 and 7 years old respectively and can't wait to go back this year. But no, it's not suitable for every kid. 

We hope that your kids can join us on the ship. Or follow our story by watching this website 

Captain Mike and the staff and crew of the Nautilus Explorer.