What am I supposed to react when a shark is heading towards me?

[IncreaseMyT]

Thank you for your sage advice, I will take it onboard. Ironically a few posts back you asserted "You will never get close enough to touch sharks unless you do baited dives"......what??

I've never done a baited dive in my life and never will. Don't mistake humour as ignorance, I've worked on coastal ecology projects where our cook of all people had a weird bond with a tawny nurse he named britney ... Tonic immobility is a wonderful thing.

I don't spearfish so I'm not luring sharks to me.....think I'm just going to keep on doing what I've been doing. It's not rare at all for me to not see sharks of some species most dives but I will keep your tips in mind, thanks.

When they put sharks in tonic it is a baited dive. You may not see it in the video, but there is a bait box down there with them.

There are a couple different kinds of tonic and ways to put a shark in tonic. Silky's being the easiest, you put your hand on their head on pull on their pectoral fin.

Nurse sharks being the exception, they are not as afraid of you as other sharks.

 

[Wingy]

If you've pulled fins and touched at least 30 sharks...maybe you might wanna pull up.

 

[hammet]

 

[dmaziuk]

... pants ...

This may be time for the old one about surviving close encounter with a tiger:

what am I supposed to react in case a shark is approaching rapidly towards myself

- You take handfuls of poop and shove it in its mouth. It'll turn around and leave in disgust.
- But where do I get the poop?
- That won't be a problem.

 

[RockiesFan]

If a shark approaches rapidly, I can almost guarantee you won't see it coming... of course there are always exceptions.

 

[zixzax]

- You take handfuls of poop and shove it in its mouth. It'll turn around and leave in disgust..

A very typical answer from my little son too... haha

 

[IncreaseMyT]

Ok I went on the best shark dive I have ever been on today. Boat wasn't crowded so I got to talk and ask questions to Josh the Shark guy a lot. He has been a feeder for 10 years and has dived all over, from Hawaii to the Bahamas.

Someone ask him why he doesn't wear chain while feeding and his reply was that it is too slow. He would rather have speed and be able to pull his hand back, he said there is one exception, Caribbean Reef Sharks.

He wears chain with these sharks because they feed in groups, one will be coming for the bait and all the sudden a different will come out of nowhere and try to grab. Other sharks kind of wait their turn in line, and that is what I have personally experienced.

So I noticed a lot of examples in this thread of Caribbean Reefs approaching people when not being fed. Josh went on to explain that they are one of the few sharks that are very territorial, most other sharks are not.

Caribbean Reefs also like to work together, taking multiple runs one after another. So I think that is the explanation of why you guys are seeing that with those particular sharks, because they are territorial unlike other sharks.

It makes sense that 3 of them would approach you if you passed over their home turf. He said there are tons of them close to shore in Jupiter and in the backwater, but he won't dive with them anymore because he has been bit too many times by them.

Hope this helps.

 

[purbeast]

I did 2 1 tank dives last week at Looe Key down in the Keys, and on my very first dive as soon as I jumped in the water, within 30 seconds, a 5-6 foot reef shark swam right by us. I thought that was going to set the tone for the dive, but unfortunately, between the 2 dives, that was the only reef shark we saw. I did see 2 nurse sharks but they were resting on the bottom as usual.

When sharks swim towards me, I get excited lol.

 

[Karen Buelow]

I love sharks. I think I saw a thousand sharks on just one dive. Simply awesome. Not a big fan of feeding dives, but I'll be doing one in Fiji in the coming weeks.

If you haven't been on the fiji trip, you're in for a treat! At 100ft down I was sitting on a nurse shark while feeding seven bull and two tiger shark. What a rush! Have fun!

 

[Karen Buelow]

Now that I've read all the comments and laughed to the point of tears, I feel the need to throw in my two cents.

Keep in mind:
You are diving in their home, respect it as if it was yours.

Dont stick your arm in a hole, you dont know what's in there. (Would you put your hand in a dog bowl if a pit or chow was eating at that moment?)

If you're questioning your buoyancy, do more dives. Take the peak performance buoyancy specialty class, it will help.

Stop over-thinking and have fun. The likelyhood of a shark swimming toward you is rare. But if you should be so lucky to have one that close, take a picture!

I've been on several dives with sharks and the only thing in my mind was wow, such beautiful creatures. I also fed bull sharks and two tigers while sitting on a nurse shark; now that's a rush and unforgettable moment. I lived to share my story to family and friends.

Enjoy yourself and relax!