robint
Contributor
"Grab" isn't really right. These nurse sharks love to be handled and they nuzzle divers. The more you touch and stroke them the more they come back for more. I was with guests and maybe 20-30 nurse sharks yesterday, and often a shark would try to push in if it thought another shark was getting too much attention! The sharks are NOT abused.
We rarely see other sharks here though they are around and do sometimes appear. I've seen hammerheads, silky, bull, Caribbean reef, tiger, mako, but not often. You'll probably see more bull and reef if you go to the Blue Hole. There are hammerheads in the BH, but I've never known them come shallower than about 250', so you won't see them. You can quite often see bull sharks inside the lagoon at dusk and early night, swimming around the dock legs.
Up here in north Belize we rarely see whale sharks, but one swam between me and my boat yesterday morning when I was just about to board! Wonderful experience.
What I really dislike and regard as dangerous in both the short and long terms is formal shark feeding, such as you are recommending in your post. To me it's irresponsible and stupid, and even if no-one is hurt at the time the sharks' behaviour is changed so they lose their fear of man, leading to risky encounters later on. Far from promoting this I would like to see it banned. There has been a lot of talk about this on another thread here, about a shark attack that (I believe) ended tragically.
well, we could argue about this for days but i don't want to go there. I believe the "shark handling" is conditioning no different than the feeding in some ways. It teaches divers that sharks are cute and cuddly, not dangerous creatures to be observed but not touched. The sharks didn't just one day swim up and say "hug me", they have been conditioned to do it whether they like it or not. I have been in the ocean with nurse sharks before and they immediately flee when divers approach, they never asked me to cuddle. So let's just agree that feeding changes behavior and cuddling changes behavior. I at least thing feeding teaches a healthy respect for these amazing wild creatures.
As a point of why this really bothers me is that a student recently told my husband, an instructor, that she petted a shark in Belize. She wanted to get certified to dive so she could pet sharks. When he explained to her that sharks are not something to be petted, you don't chase down a shark to touch it, she was appauled and upset to the point she almost cried. She was sure it was okay... but then realized how stupid that was and that most sharks would take your hand off if you tried to pet them. Sad, but when she realized that the ocean wasn't a big petting zoo she decided she wasn't sure if she wanted to become a diver. It turned out to be the only reason she was in the class. After two days and taking tests (which she passed) she got in the water for pool sessions and everyone realized she was terrified of the water, I mean she couldn't get her head under water for more than 30 seconds without bolting into full panic attack. My husband offered her some private sessions in the pool to work with her fear but she decided she had no interest anymore, it was too hard and you can't pet the fish. I know this is an extreme case, but I think it shows where I am coming from. I think it gives people the illusion that sharks can be tamed, and I don't believe they can any more than any other wild animal.
robin