Anyone have any shark experiences at the Channel Islands

[Jackknife]

If you have ever dove the Peace boats or Spectre let'r rip?

I've read that Great White, Makos and Blues hang out there all the time. I've also heard and read that the concentration of Great White are very high there, and even have their pups there.

Anyone ever seen one?

What did you do?

 

[kelpmermaid]

But besides horn sharks, the only kind of larger shark I've seen out there is a leopard shark at Santa Barbara Island. The others may be out there looking for seals, but that's all I have actually seen.

 

[drbill]

horn, swell, leopard and soupfin sharks are found around the Channel Islands as well as blue, mako and others offshore. I've only seen great whites when in boats (including kayaks) at the surface.

There are divers I know here that have seen whites underwater but other than exhibiting some curiosity, they showed little interest in the divers. Of course I wouldn't hunt since the "smaller" great whites are fish eaters.

Dr. Bill

 

[CuriousMe]

drbill once bubbled...
<snip>
There are divers I know here that have seen whites underwater but other than exhibiting some curiosity, they showed little interest in the divers. Of course I wouldn't hunt since the "smaller" great whites are fish eaters.

Dr. Bill

What do the large Great White's eat?

Peace,
Cathie

 

[drbill]

Hope you enjoyed your dives on the CDS boat yesterday. I did two on the boat today.

At about 13 ft or so the great white diet turns to red meat. In our area that means sea lions and harbor seals. That's why you don't want to look like one of those, especially near the surface. And that may be why surfers and kayakers seem to have more problems than divers.

Dr. Bill


__________________

 

[CuriousMe]

I thoroughly enjoyed my dives yesterday. CDS does a great job. I hope to do another two tank dive with them next Tuesday.

It was my fist shot in CA waters with my camera. In I'm sure a very typical move....I have soooo many shots of kelp <grin>...mostly up shots of the sunlight coming through. I'm sure it's amusing to see all of us come through with pictures of kelp and Garabaldi's <grin>

Thanks for the shark info....now, hmmmm what can I do to look less seal/sea lion like <grin>

Peace,
Cathie

 

[JustAddWater]

I've seen horn sharks and leopard sharks often off of the Channel Islands. I saw a thresher shark from the surface, and dive buddies have encountered blue sharks. On afew night dives I've "bumped" into what I think was a seven gill, but the encounter was so quick that I'm not sure of the species. I have heard of reports of whites and makos in the Catalina area.

 

[PnL]

drbill once bubbled...
That's why you don't want to look like one of those, especially near the surface. And that may be why surfers and kayakers seem to have more problems than divers.

Great whites preferred mode of attack seems to be a fast surprise attack from below, i.e., you don't want to look like a seal as drbill stated. But another interesting tidbit is that surfers spend a significantly larger amount of time sitting on their surfboards than divers do underwater. Recreational divers are probably in the water ~2 hours a day (3 dives @ 40 minutes each, depending on depth) on a boat dive, and that's spread out throughout the trip. Surfers can be on the surface a lot longer ... tempting those hungry sharks

Just another statistic to throw in there

 

[Arnaud]

drbill once bubbled...
...At about 13 ft or so...

As in "safety" stop?

:wacko:

 

[PnL]

Arnaud once bubbled...


As in "safety" stop?

LOL ... I'm not sure if you meant this as a joke, but just in case I think he was referring to the size of the animal, not depth