Eloise living out her dream swimming with deadly sharks

Eloise living out her dream swimming with deadly sharks

4 October 2023

A KILLINCHY teenager has come face-to-face with some of the world’s most feared ocean predators.

Eloise Keera swam with sharks in the Caribbean after being chosen to take part in the Deadly Mission Shark progamme, hosted by Steve Backshall on CBBC.

During a ten-day trip in the Bahamas, Eloise learnt how to dive and interact with sharks.

The 15 year-old has always dreamed of being a marine biologist and was inspired by her grandfather, who was a biology teacher.

Seeing an advert for the show on the social media platform TikTok, Eloise jumped at the chance to become a “shark saviour”.

“She was very determined, I was a little bit dismissive and said ‘There is going to be thousands of people applying, don’t get your hopes up’,” said Eloise’s mum, Andrea.

“She was really determined that she was going to apply – it very much came from her and was not led by me at all.”

Eloise explained that when she saw the advert she “thought it would be a dream come true”.

“I always wanted to get into marine conservation and I quite often do beach cleans,” she continued

“I’ve always wanted to swim with sharks. I’ve been pestering my parents to take me diving.”

Eloise and five other children travelled to Bimini island in February, learning how to dive and interact with sharks.

The children were also actively involved in hands-on conservation projects and benefited from interactions with marine biologists.

At first, Eloise struggled with her diving, particularly managing inner ear pressure.

“It was quite challenging, I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it. And then one day, it suddenly clicked.”

Over the course of the trip, Eloise and the other children swam alongside lemon, nurse, bull and great hammerhead sharks.

They also learned about the conservation efforts to protect these magnificent creatures, which she described as “one of the best experiences I’ve ever had”.

She added: “I’ve become a lot more confident and adventurous because there were a lot of things that I was just thrown into, which was good because I couldn’t back out.”

Since returning to Killinchy, Eloise has kept in touch with the other Deadly Mission Shark participants and they are now planning on completing an open water diving course together.

Longer term, she plans on becoming a fully-qualified marine biologist.

“I’m already doing all the subjects I need for a marine biology and I’m looking into the A-Levels I need as well,” she said.

But for now, she is enjoying the hype around her television debut.

“I told some of my friends but a lot of my teachers and my mum’s friends didn’t know [about the show],” she said.

“And then suddenly everybody’s saying, ‘Oh my goodness, I saw you on TV’. It’s actually been quite positive feedback.

“I thought I might get some comments online, but everybody’s been really positive about it, wanting to know more about it and asking me about sharks and their conservation.”