Diver bit off Jupiter during shark feed.

[thoga00]

I for one would like to see a rocket surgery, that sounds cool.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

 

[sportxlh]

I for one would like to see a rocket surgery, that sounds cool.

You live in Florida and should know it happens all the time. Launch is delayed at Cape Canaveral, the tech team comes out and works on the launch vehicle: hence rocket surgery.

 

[cbm32]

I have no problem at all with shark feeding dives, but those doing the feeding have to know they are taking on some level of risk, as do those viewing the feeding. I personally feel the viewers are a a very low level of risk and so have done those dives many many times (actually almost had an opportunity to be the feeder for one such dive but at the last minute the manager of the operation was prevented from going on the dive and I couldnt do it without him being in the water. This was after I had done the dive with them about a dozen times.)

I feel a whole lot safer in the ocean than I would out in the middle of a deep woods that has bears and/or mountain lions or other large cats in any significant numbers. IMO it is much more likely for those animals to decide to prey on a human than anything in the ocean. I think the evidence is pretty clear that those types of animals, as well as wolves and alligators etc etc, are far more likely to develop a taste for and intentionally set out to hunt humans than sharks or anything else in the ocean. Even when the sharks have been subject to feeding by humans.

 

[boulderjohn]

It's shark week on TV. I just watched a story on the shark attacks 5 years ago in the Red sea--5 attacks on snorkelers in a couple of days, with one death and a number of major injuries, including lost arms and legs. They determined two sharks were responsible. One was a short finned mako, which was apparently captured and killed. It had a deformed mouth that matched a bite and made for a positive ID.

The other shark involved was an oceanic white tip, which leaves a very distinctive bite, very different from a mako bite. One large one was filmed twice in the area of the attacks during the time of the attacks, and it was veryidentifiable because of an unusual notch in its tail. They believe this shark was responsible for the other bites, including the fatality. The attacks were unusual, in that the shark persistently went for the hands and arms of the snorkelers, and in one case went for the buttocks after taking off the hand and arm in successive bites. It took a chunk out of the woman's buttocks.

The expert who was called on to investigate had a theory about it. He obtained a film of a scuba operator conducting an illegal shark feed not far from there. He could not show the film because it was being withheld as evidence. He said that the film showed the shark feeder holding fish out in his hand for the sharks to take, and then reaching back into his fanny pack (on his buttocks) to get another fish. One of the sharks being fed in the film was the distinctively marked oceanic white tip believed to have caused the fatality as well as the bites on the woman who lost her harm and had her buttock bitten off.

I'm sure you can guess what the expert's conclusion was.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

Is there any information about what happened in this Florida incident?

 

[drrich2]

BoulderJohn:

Very interesting. In the threads on shark feeding out of Florida, I don't think I've seen anyone speak of oceanic white tips as a species fed. If that anecdotal case you referenced was accurate as to causation, it would raise that question of whether that shark was 'unique' (an odd-ball, and others of the species wouldn't react that way), or whether this species may react differently than what we're used to reading about.

Big Fish Expeditions does dive trips to view them (page on that). From that page:

- Chum, hang baits and all other ingredients to ensure that we get plenty of sharks.

Does anyone know if any operators routinely hand feed fish chunks to oceanic white tips?

Richard.

 

[cbm32]

Shark week is great....but not always all that scientifically accurate either. Lots of indignation in the news this week about some claims being made about sizes of individual sharks seen that are inconsistent and inaccurate.

Any of us that have done a lot of dives around sharks see right away the sensationalism they manufacture in order to impress uninformed viewers.

One of their other shows did discuss a shark that may have been responsible for several human-shark incidents over a short period of time in the same area. The shark was finally caught when it wouldnt let go of one person and rescuers carried the person and the shark up on shore before it finally let go. When the examined the shark it had some kind of injury or something that they hypothesized made it difficult for the shark to catch its natural prey and led it to start attempting to prey on humans. This kind of thing has certainly been seen in large cats and other land species and so I have no doubt it is possible for sharks to adapt in that way as well. But, that is different than going after humans due to having been fed by humans.

They have been doing shark dives in Bega Lagoon in Fiji for many, many years and yet there is no evidence that I am aware of that it has resulted in sharks there targeting humans. As a matter of fact, the non-shark diving I have done in Bega Lagoon has resulted in my seeing very very few sharks. I have seen a LOT more sharks diving other areas of Fiji as compared with what I saw during coral dives in Bega Lagoon.

Maybe I am crazy, ok I KNOW I am a little nuts, but I would not hesitate to step up and feed sharks during a shark dive but would never think of trying to hand feed a bear, Lion, tiger, or a wolf in the wild.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

BoulderJohn:

Very interesting. In the threads on shark feeding out of Florida, I don't think I've seen anyone speak of oceanic white tips as a species fed. If that anecdotal case you referenced was accurate as to causation, it would raise that question of whether that shark was 'unique' (an odd-ball, and others of the species wouldn't react that way), or whether this species may react differently than what we're used to reading about.

Big Fish Expeditions does dive trips to view them (page on that). From that page:


Does anyone know if any operators routinely hand feed fish chunks to oceanic white tips?

Richard.

As far as I know we've never seen an oceanic whitetip off Jupiter, much less targeted them for feeds. Those are real open-water animals and they are known to be a bit tetchy. What Emerald has chummed up are tigers, bulls, lemons, great hammerheads, scalloped hammerheads, duskies, silkies, sandbars, and nurse sharks. There was also one great white they caught a glimpse of a few weeks back, but it stayed away and the footage was of the same grade as an average Bigfoot sighting. Calypso and Florida Shark Diving seem to get the same species.

And yes, I would be hesitant to use a Shark Week documentary, especially one about attacks, as hard evidence of anything. That's the first time I've heard they were able to identify the exact sharks involved in the attacks and link one of them to a feeding operation (although if it was conducted as described, the operator is a moron for strapping fish to his arse). I'd like to know who that "expert" was - on a Shark Week program, that and fifty cents might buy you a cup of coffee.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

shark week is crap. They make stuff up. Last year they used my boat (which I had just sold). They spray painted the stainless prop, scratched it up and claimed that the marks were made by a shark biting the prop and then fabricated a whole story around a shark fisherman - who was just a person they found at the boat ramp. Who knows what else they fabricate.

 

[sportxlh]

DD: wow that is crazy. You never know what to believe on Discovery anyway. The story BoulderJohn mentioned is a repeat from last year's shark week. I remember wondering about it at the time: if true, it is pretty frightening. Then you weigh the fact that you don't hear of many similar type circumstances very often and it makes you wonder, if the Red Sea story was accurate, was it just an anomaly. After your post one wonders if the analysis was simply fabricated. There's no doubt in my mind that fish can be conditioned: heck my goldfish as a kid was conditioned to look for food when I walked in the room, but I still haven't decided in my own mind if that conditioning makes sharks or fish dangerous. The jury is still out for me. (gotta say that the pictures people post are pretty impressive).

Back to the original intention of this thread: is the diver OK now..... anybody know. I hope he's doing well.