Divers Riding Whale Shark

[IncreaseMyT]

Yea but you can't prove thats why the shark died. Honestly I am extremely suspicious.

We are gonna have to agree to disagree on this one, a lot of claims but none based on any experience or data at all.

As many people that do this you would think there would be whale sharks floating up on shore all the time, if it were in fact harmful to them.

 

[CuzzA]

When the day comes that a whale shark swims over to my boat to hang out with me, there's a pretty good chance I am going to put on my mask, snorkel, fins, weight belt and slip into the water to freedive with it. If it lets me hold on to its dorsal fin I will go for the ride. Knowing many will get upset on ScubaBoard, I simply won't post the video here. I thought the divers on the fish's back were being a little excessive in the earlier video.. Not very graceful that's for sure.

 

[Tom_Ivan]

Meanwhile... the Fukushima nuclear power plant is still leaking tons of radioactive water into the ocean. Has been doing so for 7years.

But hey, let’s get worked up over some bloke riding a whale shark.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

Meanwhile... the Fukushima nuclear power plant is still leaking tons of radioactive water into the ocean. Has been doing so for 7years.

But hey, let’s get worked up over some bloke riding a whale shark.

It won't even peak output for a thousand years or so, were just getting started. Since it melted through the floor of the protection container, there is no way to fix it either.

 

[Sam Miller III]

I have a friend who teaches a Library Science Research course at Cal Poly University San Luis Obispo in California.
One of his first assignments is for the students to visit the library and research a particular subject. The majority ignore the instructions and go directly to Google which contains incomplete and incorrect information.

They submit their Google based research and all receive a fail for not following instruction and submitting incorrect information.

The course of least resistance in researching is a few taps on the key board to take the researcher to Google.

A long time ago in 1948 - 70 years ago- before most of you were born and were certainly were not dives

The first documented person - diver - swimming with a whale shark was the late great Hans Hass.
In his 1948 B& W movie "Under the Red Sea" he is shown with an O2 rebreather swimming along the back of a whale shark terminating by hesitating momentarily and looking to the large eye of the shark. At that time approaching a giant of the sea was unchartered territory-- would the diver be swallowed or bit or harmed in some unknown way

It was a unexpected thrill for the movie audiences then and if the movie was currently available would still be a supper thrill.

A B&W picture of the same event was also included in one of his books, ether

Men and Sharks published in 1949 and Manta in 1952​

I personally have never seen a whale shark and if I did I would swim a respectable distance away to respect their territory and hopefully they would respect mine. In the beginning divers were very few in number and marine life flourished , now divers are plentiful and we should all do our part individually and collectively to protect what remains of out marine life for all to enjoy

@boulderjohn often quotes from recently published books... a list of the late great Hans Hass books
which were published in America-- perhaps will expand his and the readers horizons a wee bit
:
Men and Sharks 1949
Manta- 1952
Diving to Adventure 1952
We come from the Sea 1959
Challenging the deep 1971
Men beneath the sea 1971

(all of the books have been personally escribed to me by Dr Hass and his diving partner and wife Lotte)

For those of you who are fluent in German may I suggest
Hans Hass:
Ein Leben Lang auf Expedition (a life of expeditions )
ein portrat
By Dr. Michael Jung
1994, Stuttgart
336 pages, hard cover with dust jacket , Illustrated
(personally inscribed by Drs. Hass & Jung - It paid to be a bibliophile )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For you budding UW photographers with your Go Pros
"Fotojagd am Meeresgrund "
by Hans Hass
1942 (recall history - WW11 was on and German was being bombed day and night )
223 pages hard cover (no dust jacket)
Illustrated with B&W and COLOR UW photographs
(Extremely rare book)

Ich Tauchiet in den 7 meeren
(I dive in the 7 seas)
Dr. Hans Hass
1957 Leipzig
164 pages - hard cover no dust jacket
Illustrated with B&W and color UW photographs

Enough for one California morning- the sun is shining brightly it is time for a walk on the beach with little dog Lucky

Sam Miller, 111

​

 

[WetSEAL]

Humans ride horses and nobody minds. I don't see how that's any different from riding a whale shark, except that the whale shark being not in captivity could avoid it if it wanted, whereas horses are whipped into captivity and submission.

Divers regularly snatch marine life from their local habitats and kill them to eat (lobster).

Fisherman also catch and eat fish. If you're ok with killing marine life, why aren't you ok with people merely playing and sharing a bond with it?

People hunt and kill deer and elk etc...why is it that their lives don't matter, but merely touching a shark is wrong?

We touch and pet dolphins and nobody seems to have a problem with that. Many people have known to swim with dolphins including Robin Williams.

In my opinion on the rare occasions when humans encounter an animal in the wild, and instead of merely slaughtering it or enslaving it (which are FULLY accepted behaviors in our society, as evidenced by fishing, lobstering, hunting, horseback riding, animal husbandry, domestication of house pets, meat eating, etc), they form a harmless bond and enjoy some inter-species play, it's a beautiful thing that reminds us that we are all just animals on this planet...and can help lead to more respect of animals in general.

Getting angry at people for playing with whale sharks just strikes me as people either being jealous, or getting off on the power trip of being able to get someone else in trouble. Is there even a law against it?

 

[Bob DBF]

Fisherman also catch and eat fish. If you're ok with killing marine life, why aren't you ok with people merely playing and sharing a bond with it?

Being a hunter, I understand your point, however should you catch the wrong fish, or too many you can be arrested and go to jail.

Laws and enforcement can be whimsical, but it is what the government requires, and unless it is changed it would be in ones best interest to comply. Change the law or be much more circumspect in breaking it.

Perhaps what is more interesting is filming and advertising on on the internet that one has broken the law and is providing evidence, and expects to walk. If this was not the exact turn of events, there is enough of it going on to make me laugh.


Bob

 

[TMHeimer]

Being a hunter, I understand your point, however should you catch the wrong fish, or too many you can be arrested and go to jail.

Laws and enforcement can be whimsical, but it is what the government requires, and unless it is changed it would be in ones best interest to comply. Change the law or be much more circumspect in breaking it.

Perhaps what is more interesting is filming and advertising on on the internet that one has broken the law and is providing evidence, and expects to walk. If this was not the exact turn of events, there is enough of it going on to make me laugh.


Bob

Yeah. That's why I only collect shells where it is either legal or I know there is no way I can be caught and fined.

 

[Ghosty]

I am an Aquarist Assistant to one of the curators of the Denver Aquarium, Jessica Miller, but not an expert myself. She is a degree'd Biologist and former Senior Aquarist at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. I will have her join the board (she's an avid diver, but avoids web forums, probably for good reason). Maybe she can provide some insight on the video, as an actual marine conservationist and professional.

In my OPINION, the divers in the video are complete idiots and inconsiderate of marine life. Diving or snorkeling with and taking photos/video is one thing, but actually handling them (especially a bunch of them on one at once), riding them around, etc., that's asinine, use some common sense. In Hawaii you can get in deep **** touching Sea Turtles, and for good reasons. You shouldn't be riding around hanging onto their shells either. Don't be a human idiot.

Being arrested and jailed does sound excessive, but did they get any actual jailtime? I think a HUGE fine (like in Mexico) is appropriate, even in the $1k's, make them PAY TO PLAY. You do stupid things in a National Marine Reserve, you deserve harsh fines the first time, and maybe actual jailtime if you repeat your offense. I'm curious what they do in Mexico for repeat offenders, where they are VERY protective of the Whale Sharks, by law. Here are the articles about the idiots in question:

Scuba Divers Filmed Joy-Riding Whale Shark Arrested

DIVERS ARRESTED FOR RIDING WHALE SHARK - DIVE Magazine

Whale-shark joy-ride ends in arrests - Divernet

From Sea Safari Cruises: “This is one of those regrettable incidents when experienced divers, with a higher certification level, decided on their own to not act according to the instructions in the dive-briefing and not follow the guidance of the divemaster.”

 

[DButton90]

If the law of the land stated this was an illegal practice and they were briefed on these rules then I see no problem with slapping them with fines or even jail time. I agree with @IncreaseMyT that jail time would seem ridiculously excessive, but I've heard of worse for lesser crimes. If that is what the local jurisdiction decides is necessary to deter offenders from breaking the law then they have every right to enforce it. I know jail time isn't worth it for me, so I'll respect the law and avoid touching a fish lol.

However, I don't entirely understand the significance of interacting with wildlife and its negative effects. As a fisherman, albeit a bad one, I constantly catch fish. Now these fish get caught with a hook that pierces their flesh, inflicts pain, and then gets released back into the wild. Essentially, I trick them into believing they are getting a free meal and instead I remove them from their habitat, strip them of oxygen, and inflict pain all for the enjoyment of sport. I thought I was doing them a favor for throwing them back in the water. And yet we are arguing about a giant fish being touched by people while keeping it in its habitat without them inflicting pain on to the creature. Maybe it was frightened for a minute or two, maybe it was distressed, maybe it was trying to escape, maybe it wanted to yell at them and tell them to leave it alone, maybe...............Maybe I'm just ignorant, as I know I can be at times, but I'm not convinced the whale shark will hold a grudge and let it ruin the rest of its life.