Location: Guadalupe Island, Mexico

Published: Sport Diver Magazine

Clang clang clang. The clamor of the boat’s anchor plummeting hundreds of feet down into nothing echoes the pounding of my heart. The blood in my ears thunders as I attempt to process all that open water – and what dwells within it. Focused on their gruesome task, the shark wranglers thread sturdy hemp rope through the gaping eye sockets of massive tuna heads, keeping their eyes trained on the water, too, where the ocean’s most feared predator lurks. My stomach churns from the stench of the coagulated blood, bone and guts crushed into a pulpy shark-luring soup that wafts from buckets on the stern. The ocean’s surface is a dark, undulating blue.