The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
I did a shark dive with the ScubaBoard Invasion Crew last week. A tiger turned right towards me, and I just descended below the wall while the shark wranglers did their thing. No bite and I felt fairly safe.
Beqa Shark Attack
- Thread starter ChrisM
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drrich2
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I don't blame because not enough is known yet to do so and a rush to judgment would be a bad thing.
Shark-feeding, including staff doing it by hand, isn't new, and happens in a number of places. I've joined dives out of Jupiter, Florida where this was done, albeit of the 3 I saw over time (never over 2 at once), none were over 10 feet long (still plenty big to take a person out if so inclined).
The large majority of the time this goes without incident. Real world observation doesn't support the idea of tiger sharks then hunting people because they associate them with food, and accosting random divers. I specific tiger sharks, because Caribbean reef sharks getting somewhat closer people to see if they might have a lion fish is a 'thing' in some places.
All that said, obviously there's some inherent risk. Anyone considering one of these dives needs to seriously consider what the pro.s and con.s are, for them, and make their own decision.
Shark-feeding is just one of those activities some consider acceptable, and others high-risk (at least for themselves). There are things that can be done to mitigate, but not entirely eliminate that.
Shark-feeding, including staff doing it by hand, isn't new, and happens in a number of places. I've joined dives out of Jupiter, Florida where this was done, albeit of the 3 I saw over time (never over 2 at once), none were over 10 feet long (still plenty big to take a person out if so inclined).
The large majority of the time this goes without incident. Real world observation doesn't support the idea of tiger sharks then hunting people because they associate them with food, and accosting random divers. I specific tiger sharks, because Caribbean reef sharks getting somewhat closer people to see if they might have a lion fish is a 'thing' in some places.
All that said, obviously there's some inherent risk. Anyone considering one of these dives needs to seriously consider what the pro.s and con.s are, for them, and make their own decision.
Shark-feeding is just one of those activities some consider acceptable, and others high-risk (at least for themselves). There are things that can be done to mitigate, but not entirely eliminate that.
Johnoly
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I know this will be unpopular.....But I blame the diver.
Those of us that dive with them regularly are TOLD and Practice Rule # 1 >>>>>>
Never take your eye off the Tiger !!
Lemons, bulls, hammers are not 'taste-testers'. The tigers taste EVERYTHING and always ambush us. The diver didn't keep the tiger in eye sight the whole time.
Never take your eye off the tiger.
nippurmagnum
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The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
We had seven tigers... I guess this is great advice if you had seven independent eyes. The wranglers were in a line behind us with aluminum 'shark prods' that they kept fending off the sharks when it got wild. It got a too bit wild, and they shuffled us out of there. For the most part, I was first in, so I was also last out. They had everyone hanging on a tag line (safety stop) and the tigers were still circling. Yeah, I cut over to the reef and hovered three inches above it. Let them get those dangling morsels first!
It was cool to see the tigers, the bulls and the huge potato cod off to the side. However, I had to lie on the bottom. That's not how I dive and though I was given another opportunity to dive with the sharks, I declined. It's not really my cup of tea. I am an outlier among our group in that regard and most everyone commented on how professionally the dive was conducted and how safe they felt.
Caveat... I had to abort my participation on the first shark dive. Somehow, my BC was broken at the hose flange among other things. Rather than lose all credibility, not to mention self-respect and use a poodle jacket, I simply removed the bladder and went back to how I first dove back in the 60s/70s. I got in a few 'bladderless' dives after that and felt great about my buoyancy control before I did the shark dive. No bladder? No matter.
Caveat part deux... having successfully escaped the sharks, I managed to break my leg by stepping into a dark drainage hole. It's always something.
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
This.
Dive and let dive. I don't enjoy shark feeding dives much at all. I felt a bit of group pressure to do this one, so I did. Meh. After doing the most extreme version of shark feeding dives, it's still not for me. If you like it, or like the thought of it and realize this ain't Sea World and that you're exposing yourself to a nip or worse, then fine. I'm not going to try to stop you or legislate you out of your dive. Dive and let dive.
On the other side of that coin. If you spear fish and get attacked by a shark: DON'T BLAME THE SHARK FEEDERS. Sharks have been attacking spearos since way before shark feeding was a thing. Being opportunistic is a part of their DNA so don't blame others for your bad luck and/or lack of shark awareness.
Johnoly
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You know I'm a Jupiter spearo and we deal with all of them on every dive. We're only 6 months into 2019 and already I've called a half dozen dives shortly after getting to the bottom. It just gets to that point of taking bigger chances than it's worth. Any diver can call any dive at any time. So I head back up to the surface and we'll just move the boat to a new location, it's a big ocean.
I've done the wrecks feeding dives so many times that I'd rather go look for lobsters and lions instead. Nothing against feeders and they are some of my best friends. I'd rather go do something more fun to me, no different than taking macro pictures versus taking wide angle picts. Photogs would rather do one over the other.
But to jump in the water with a known tiger(s) present, a diver needs to watch them all the time because they taste everything. Last week one of the girls bit my friend's gun and cut 6 bands in half,,,,Why??...she just wanted to taste it.
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