Are sharks more likely to attack surfers, scuba divers, or snorkelers?

[Kevrumbo]

The article, Shark kills US tourist off remote Costa Rican island , mentions that the attack occurred while the group was surfacing (most shark attacks on recreational divers are usually ambush tactics happening near or at the surface).

Only a very few that I've heard of have occurred at depth -the most infamous being Brett Gilliam's account with Oceanic Whitetips on a deep dive: Shark Attack! | Gilliam

Some General Common Sense Shark Attack Precautions:
1) Be aware of unusual marine life behavior at the dive site especially around pinniped rookeries and haul-outs; if at depth there's a noticeable absence of fish/marine life or everything disappears in an instant, then that could be a sign of an apex predator nearby.
2) During ascent from a dive, continually check the depths below and behind you.
3) In preparing to exit the water onto a Diveboat, make a submerged close approach to the boat step platform i.e. -try not to have a long surface swim or loiter on the surface if possible.
4) If hunting or collecting any marine animals of any type, remove them from the water immediately upon capture if possible.
5) Try not to dive alone for numerous increasingly obvious reasons. . .

 

[Lucifer911]

heres a video of the location the great white killed a scuba diver at the bottom... I heard it was quite brutal. The problem with this dive site is there's no shelter unlike a shipwreck. A shipwreck you can put yourself in a position to make it difficult for a shark to catch you offguard. In this dive site you need 360 degree vision with good visibility to spot a shark before it spots you. I wonder if its acceptable to skip a safety stop under these circumstances...

 

[msinc]

... I heard it was quite brutal........I wonder if its acceptable to skip a safety stop under these circumstances...

"Quite brutal"??? ........is there another kind of "death by shark"??
Skip a safety stop?? are you comparing possibly getting the bends to death by shark?? Yeah, I mean, I don't know about the rest of the world, but I think I'll take the bends over a shark attack.
I am also not sure I understand folks that are willing to dive in a known dangerous shark area with no way to even try and defend themselves. I have read on here that you should "look behind and around you" and otherwise be aware of the presence of a shark. What for, if you have no means of doing anything about it???? Now, if you have a bang stick or a shark dart then yeah, you might want to start thinking about having a look around. Otherwise, lacking the means to do anything about why give a damn??
This brings to mind a scene from "The Karate Kid"...to quote Mr. Miyagi....."best block is to no be there"

 

[Saniflush]

This brings to mind a scene from "The Karate Kid"...to quote Mr. Miyagi....."best block is to no be there"

What if the shark sweeps the leg?

 

[Lucifer911]

"Quite brutal"??? ........is there another kind of "death by shark"??
Skip a safety stop?? are you comparing possibly getting the bends to death by shark?? Yeah, I mean, I don't know about the rest of the world, but I think I'll take the bends over a shark attack.
I am also not sure I understand folks that are willing to dive in a known dangerous shark area with no way to even try and defend themselves. I have read on here that you should "look behind and around you" and otherwise be aware of the presence of a shark. What for, if you have no means of doing anything about it???? Now, if you have a bang stick or a shark dart then yeah, you might want to start thinking about having a look around. Otherwise, lacking the means to do anything about why give a damn??
This brings to mind a scene from "The Karate Kid"...to quote Mr. Miyagi....."best block is to no be there"

This was no ordinary shark attack as in shark takes a test bite and diver dies of blood loss. I am talking a horror movie style shark attack. The great white entered the area and nudged his mate. The shark then turned towards the victim and got punched in the snout. The shark comes back with a vengeance and latches onto the diver and does not let go. I’ve seen videos where a spear fisher shoots a shark and the shark reacts out of fury which causes the situation to be whole lot worse.


This dive area has had a number of great whites visit the area multiple times. I do not like how there’s no shelter or reef to hide against.

As a PADI rec diver I am taught to avoid the bends at all costs. Especially 6km offshore where it would take 1.5 hours to get to a hospital with hyperbaric chamber.

 

[David Novo]

As a PADI rec diver I am taught to avoid the bends at all costs. Especially 6km offshore where it would take 1.5 hours to get to a hospital with hyperbaric chamber.

Not that bleeding to death after a severe shark bite, 1.5 hours from a hospital would be better...

 

[Wingy]

Greg Pickering was on the bottom - amazing effort & one cool customer

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

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[Mr Carcharodon]

The shark research committee has statistics for the 20th century, and for 2000 forward, that provide a breakdown of the relative numbers of attacks on divers, surfers swimmers etc. Shark Research Committee - Home This is for the pacific coast of the United States. During the 20th century divers were the most common victim group closely followed by surfers. From the year 2000 on surfers have been the most common victims. Given our relatively cold water temperatures almost all the incidents involve white sharks. Perhaps the breakdown would be different if it were more global and tigers, bulls and other species were considered.

 

[Chavodel8en]

I saw a TV program where a marine scientist type fellow theorized that surfers got attacked by sharks disproportionately bc 1) they spent so much time on the surface; and 2) their silhouette with the board seen from below looked like a nice juicy seal, especially to fish like GWS who swim mid-water and look up to hunt. He conducted experiments with a remote control surfboard silhouetted to look like a surfer, and sharks attacked it. I don't remember if this was Calif or S.Africa based, but it involved GWS.

I would love to surf, but unluckily or luckily, I just lack the athleticism to do it well. Im a mean boogie boarder/body surfer tho.

I'm not really worried about shark attacks as a diver, even with long surface swims characteristic of Monterey/Carmel shore diving. Ive never really worried as a snorkeler either (Hawaii Is., Yucatan, etc)

Shark attacks on divers are just so rare. Locally, I wouldn't consider diving in the "red triangle", as it would increase the miniscule chance of an attack, but nobody really dives the red triangle anyways (except for shark cage diving) because its not good diving - nothing to see.