Red or yellow drysuit while shark diving?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I posted this in the shark forum but no one ever goes to that forum! Now I am posting it again in this one.

I wanted to buy a drysuit that was red or yellow because these colors are more visible. My friend got into a debate with me saying that if I want to do shark dives (galapagos, australia and South Africa) then I need black! She was saying that a lot of shark dive operators do not allow you to dive from their boats if you are not all black! Also ... she argues that there is scientific evidence that sharks would bite bright colors in curiosity bites more often than black!

While both of us understand that shark attack is such a remote possibility that it does not matter but she insists that if you wear red or yellow then the possibility is not THAT remote.

Who is right? I believe I saw in mythybusters that this was a myth that they busted? If there are people on this forum who have direct experience in shark diving and have experimented with different colored wetsuits or dry suits then we would like to hear from you.

Cheers -

Sinbad

 

[scubamarketing]

If you want red because you think it's very visible, let me be the bearer of bad news: red looks brown at pretty shallow depth. Red filters out (why filters for cameras are reddish orange) and that suit that's a nice shiny red on the surface isn't shiny underwater. My old roommate and fellow instructor dropped almost $2k on a custom red suit and after his first dive with it was very upset.

I would check with places that do shark dives, but when I worked on a liveaboard in the Bahamas, we did shark dives each week and we never told someone they couldn't go based on their equipment colors and we never had a problem.

 

[Mr.X]

As mentioned - red looks brown, and yellow trilaminate gets stained easily. As per diving with sharks - I'd have some type of electronic repellent / body guard with me if I were doing anything scientific with sharks vs diving in a darker colored suit. I know some pros who wear chain mesh.

X

 

[billtodive]

More importantly, not many people can pull off a red or yellow suit..

If you look really good, someone may try though

I do hesitate to wear my neon green fins when diving with sharks, though; They resemble a few fishing lures I have in the box..
Welcome to the underwater world, and enjoy!

 

[knowone]

And if the shark bites you a bit deeper, it looks like you are bleeding oil
as more red is leaving the spectrum. Shark forum? What shark forum?

 

[DMDavid]

I have been to several feedings in the Bahamas and wetsuit color was never an issue.
However, several dive operators did make it mandatory to wear a wetsuit regardless of water temp.

 

[tstormdiver]

I wore a Yellow/ Orange Trilam drysuit in the Galapagos (tons of sharks- hammers, silky, Galapagos, reef (& a whale shark) sharks) & none of the sharks showed any more interest in me, than anything else. Yes, yellow can stain, but red is discernible at depth of 30ft or more without lights.

 

[romad119]

I've seen operators list no white or yellow fins, mask etc and prefer dark colors on their shark dives.

 

[romad119]

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bahamas/345708-no-white-fins-shark-dive.html

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Thanks for the info everyone. I am more concerned with surface viz than underwater viz because I was doing drift dives and had to carry a red or yellow safety sausage. One guy was diving in a red DS and did not seem to need it. Boat in flat surface would see him before they would see me.