Shark Feeding Dives...Yes or No

[johndiver999]

Sounds may be effective to draw in sharks. But actively feeding them is going to keep them closer to divers and for longer. Feeding is very effective in altering their behavior- or it would not continue to be done.

Hand feeding them brings a whole additional element of showmanship to the spectacle, although a good shark wrangler can help modulate the energy, intensity and aggressiveness of the aggregation by limiting the food distribution - unless of course there is a mistake or a momentarily loss of focus and then someone might loose the better part of an arm.

People are paying for a show which consists of dive operators doing certain activities which cause sharks to behave in a very unnatural way- this is thought by many to be a very effective means to educate people about sharks and to show that they are wonderful creatures that are not to be feared.

The picture of a mass of reef sharks swarming bait serves as a great example. It is about as natural as some tourist feeding a bag of French fries to a flock of screaming sea gulls.

 

[drrich2]

I don't understand why feeding is even necessary, sound is usually enough to bring sharks in if any are around.

Baiting more reliably brings in more species for closer encounters. Some sharks don't seem to come in unless they've been fed, either on the current dive or others. This is a good thing. I think one of the concerns with shark feeding out of Jupiter was that tiger sharks might start approaching random divers and swimmers hoping for handouts (and maybe on occasion take a test bite in the absence of their usual treats) - thankfully I've not heard of that becoming a problem.

I don't know how well which sounds work on which species, but it's something to be careful of. A few years back I wanted a video from a deep dive at some overseas location where a guy tried the bottle trick, and things got wild. It may've been this one, Shark Attack at 57 meters in Papua New Guinea (if you're impatient, drag the slider to 1:15 and the action starts seconds afterward).

Unless I were with at least one buddy I trusted to watch my blind spots, I'd be leery of trying that stunt (but, much like with feeding dives, I'd be game to watch someone else do it).

Now if you're talking about using a pole to loudly poke a rock so area sharks will think a speargun went off, that might be conditional on what the area sharks have grown accustomed to (e.g.: is there much spear fishing?).

 

[Dan]

If you have, post your dive report and please -- Flame Away that you hated it....Or love it.

Love it!

Trip Report - Tiger Beach October 2021

Summary This is a liveaboard diving trip (23-29 October, 2021) to Tiger Beach, Bahamas, with M/Y Dolphin Dream. The itinerary, as shown in Table 1, includes 5 days of shark diving, 1st diving day is without bait. We did a total of 13 dives. Figure 1 shows the M/Y Dolphin Dream ~80 mile (130...

scubaboard.com

 

[Dan]

@Dan and I dived in Malpelo last July with Sten Johansson. Sten made a variety of noises with a plastic water bottle and the Galapagos Sharks would often show up soon thereafter, often in large numbers

I had it recorded in my Malpelo trip video beginning at time stamp 4:45, below

 

[Dan]

After watching shark scaremongering movies like Jaws and seeing shark overfishing for their fins, shark diving to me is a positive way for changing people’s attitude towards shark and for supporting shark conservation. Having a life shark is more valuable than a dead one, so to speak.

 

[drrich2]

Having a life shark is more valuable than a dead one, so to speak.

This is very important. It applies to conserving a range of creatures - alligators and crocodiles (e.g.: the skin/leather trade), sharks (e.g.: drawing tourists in Palau). If you want to preserve something, one of the greatest acts of conservation you can do is this...

Monetize it (alive).

Find a way people can make substantial money off it. In the past, there was concern over the future of the American alligator. Now there seem to be plenty. There are crocodile farms. Palau benefits from shark-driven tourism income. Ducks Unlimited is funded at least in part by duck hunters and works to preserve wetlands.

Conservation is not always about cordoning off a big area and trying to get the human race to leave it strictly alone.

 

[mcohen1021]

i'll join the convo.

There is one thing I have wanted to see at least one time in life since I was a kid - a shark feeding frenzy. The chances of that happening on its own without having a job as a marine biologist is slim to none.

So, I was ok with experiencing it once, which was last year on the Roatan Aggressor at Cara a Cara.

Would I do it again? Probably not, like I would not go out of my way to dive the Great Blue Hole in Belize again. If I was on the Belize Aggressor and we were at the Blue Hole, I wouldn't not dive it, I just would not make the 3 hour trip there from Ambergris. And I would not do Cara a Cara if I was staying at Anthony's in Roatan (which I did not in 2015).

So to see it once, I say go for it, but personally, I have seen it once, no need to go again.

The followup question I have however, what about baiting them, but not feeding them?

Example, on the Bahamas Aggressor I was just on, they toss a baited triangular prism into the water to bring in the sharks. It's not feeding, but the experience with the sharks is no longer 'by chance'

MC

 

[Johnoly]

So to see it once, I say go for it, but personally, I have seen it once, no need to go again.

Perfectly said by you.....Been there, done that. You actually did the dive.

The followup question I have however, what about baiting them, but not feeding them?

In Florida, chum baiting with fish heads in a mesh bag is perfectly legal and that's what many hook & line fisher's do. The sharks are usually gathered at select well known sites. The other type of baiting is The "party boats" with 10-30 passengers who will lower their baited hooks over the side of the big boat's rail to bottom fish. That's alot of bait. The sharks wait until a small fish takes the bait and starts to get reeled up to the surface when the sharks chomp the fish in half leaving only the head to be pulled on the deck. Diving behind a party boat is pretty risky because the sharks are really hyped up and pissed.

Putting a chum crate on the sand by a DM so the sharks circle is about the same. But the photogs hate it. That chum crate also brings in hundreds of small scavenger fish who swarm the crate and the sharks can't "see" the food inside. No food to eat > sharks leave right away.

 

[drrich2]

The followup question I have however, what about baiting them, but not feeding them?

I prefer they be offered food it baited in. I have an ecological reason, and a selfish reason.

1.) Ecological - the animals departed from its typical routine and locale, expending energy, as a result of being baited in. At least if it gets a piece of food, there is some kind of recompense for that investment.

2.) Selfish - if a hungry shark is baited into my immediate vicinity, I want it to have something else to gnaw on besides me. This is all the more important if we're talking a tiger shark instead of reef sharks.

 

[Skeptic14]

After watching shark scaremongering movies like Jaws and seeing shark overfishing for their fins, shark diving to me is a positive way for changing people’s attitude towards shark and for supporting shark conservation. Having a life shark is more valuable than a dead one, so to speak.

This is very important. It applies to conserving a range of creatures - alligators and crocodiles (e.g.: the skin/leather trade), sharks (e.g.: drawing tourists in Palau). If you want to preserve something, one of the greatest acts of conservation you can do is this...

Monetize it (alive).

Find a way people can make substantial money off it. In the past, there was concern over the future of the American alligator. Now there seem to be plenty. There are crocodile farms. Palau benefits from shark-driven tourism income. Ducks Unlimited is funded at least in part by duck hunters and works to preserve wetlands.

Conservation is not always about cordoning off a big area and trying to get the human race to leave it strictly alone.

I'm all for conservation not just of sharks but marine environments in general, and nature above water too.

And as much education of the general public on sharks (and other species) is a good thing (it's a shame shark week has gotten so goofy... and jumped the shark) too.


But I think that the idea that shark feeding dives furthers conservation and shark education is a stretch and it's at the risk of negatively modifying local human-shark behavior.

The portion of the human population that actively participates in ocean activities is small. It's smaller those that spend the time and money to get SCUBA certified and continue diving. And it's smaller still those willing and desiring to participate in a shark feeding dive.

Seems to me the venn diagram of those with a negative opinion of sharks that would fit into the final (or even last 2) categories above is pretty inconsequential.


I think footage showing natural shark encounters and behaviors is just as powerful as video of shark feedings.


I wouldn't say I have a strong opinion on the matter, if some people want to do it within the defined rules let them have at it. I've done stingray city in GC, was cool, but I'd probably not do it again, natural encounters for me are more interesting.