After hours of sailing into the Celtic Deep, I found myself duck-diving into the blue, armed with a toothbrush and aiming for the denticles of a human-sized shark – for science. I was one of 18 individuals chosen to embark on a conservation journey, learning about and experiencing the all-too-often-overlooked residents of our UK seas.

Aptly named, SharkAdemy is exactly what it says on the tin: a shark school that encompasses fieldwork, in field and in classroom research, and plenty of learning opportunities to train up a new cohort of shark conservationists. This year was its fourth year running. And this year, I was part of the cohort.

The week-long course gave each o plenty to take delight in. Pods of common dolphins would surf our boat’s wake, bluefin tuna would leap into splashing bait balls, and curious seals would peer out at us from within the kelp while we experienced their habitat for ourselves, practiced our freediving, and developed our skills and connection to with their ocean home. But without doubt, the most exciting part of it all were the sharks.

It was during our offshore trip that we first got to experience them. We got to swim with blue sharks – the most heavily fished shark in the world. At one point, there were three in the water circling below my fins.

Before embarking on our trip, we were briefed on shark safety. We were told to wear dark colours, not to splash, and to maintain our space in the water, asserting our presence with eye contact.

I remembered this as they darted towards me. I made eye contact with them and watched as they nimbly shifted their bodies and changed direction. But for as intently as we were watching them, we were being watched right back: these intelligent, responsive creatures filled with curiosity and not in the least bit ‘mindless’.

In place of fear, I felt both respect and connection.

Blue sharks are a migratory species, capable of travelling several thousand miles. I wondered where these had come from – was it the Caribbean? The Azores? Wherever it was, it was likely a long-haul flight from Wales. Soon, the seas would cool, and they’d find warmer waters again.

But I’d shared the sea with a shark that may have crossed an ocean to get here.