Diving with Sharks at La Jolla Cove

[Sam Miller III]

Interesting....

Long before your were born and certainly involved in this noble sport on June 14,1959 Mr.Robert (Bob) Pamerin was attacked, killed and drug off to deep water by a rather large GWS while diving for abalone off Alligator point which is adjacent to La Jolla Cove.


Now almost 55 years later there is an abundance of seven gill sharks, makes one question if the presence of seven gill sharks will lead to the appearance of a GWS some time in the near future.

sdm

 

[Power Scuba]

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

Why would one event necessarily follow the other?

Long before your were born and certainly involved in this noble sport on June 14,1959 Mr.Robert (Bob) Pamerin was attacked, killed and drug off to deep water by a rather large GWS while diving for abalone off Alligator point which is adjacent to La Jolla Cove.


Now almost 55 years later there is an abundance of seven gill sharks, makes one question if the presence of seven gill sharks will lead to the appearance of a GWS some time in the near future.

Doesn't make me question it at all. One has nothing to do with the other.

Now if you were to try to assign some sort of relationship to Whites and the new Harbor Seal Zoo at Children's Pool, around the corner from the Cove, I might say you're on to something.

Bill

 

[Teamcasa]

GWS have been around SoCal waters for a long time. I'm just glad they are not hungry when I dive. - So Far. Nice Video BTW. Thanks for posting it.

 

[Ramsy]

GWS have been around SoCal waters for a long time. I'm just glad they are not hungry when I dive. - So Far. Nice Video BTW. Thanks for posting it.

Thanks for the compliment on the video. As for great white sharks, my understanding is that the Scripps Institute of Oceanography has a GWS monitoring station in La Jolla Cove and that they regularly record tagged great white sharks in La Jolla Cove. I am not too sure how excited I would be to encounter one of them though. But, if I did encounter one by chance, I do hope I capture the moment on film or video.

 

[Power Scuba]

Ramsey: Please share any authoratative data you have to back up your "understanding". I'd like to catch up on the current happenings.

As for great white sharks, my understanding is that the Scripps Institute of Oceanography has a GWS monitoring station in La Jolla Cove and that they regularly record tagged great white sharks in La Jolla Cove.

 

[EverElusiveBatStar]

Other than leopard sharks and horn sharks, are there any other common shark species around the cove? I was out kayaking there with my dad several years ago and we both saw a shark right below us. Unfortunately we didn't get a great look at it, but it definitely didn't have any markings that we could see. At first I thought it was a soupfin shark but now I'm thinking it could have been a 7 gill shark.

 

[JR Burningham]

Interesting....

Long before your were born and certainly involved in this noble sport on June 14,1959 Mr.Robert (Bob) Pamerin was attacked, killed and drug off to deep water by a rather large GWS while diving for abalone off Alligator point which is adjacent to La Jolla Cove.


Now almost 55 years later there is an abundance of seven gill sharks, makes one question if the presence of seven gill sharks will lead to the appearance of a GWS some time in the near future.

sdm

I've read on a site that documents attacks in California that this is the worst attack ever recorded, and also happened under somewhat unique circumstances.

Some fisherman had just caught a large fish (tuna, I think) nearby, and had cleaned it - sending all of its guts and blood into the ocean. Also, another free-diver had cut himself very badly on the rocks while getting out of the water, sending more blood into the water. Mr. Pamerin was with 2 other friends, all diving for abalone - I'm not sure if they had any in-hand or not, but since they were hunting abalone it's possible he had some with him which were also "bleeding". Irregardless, the circumstances were just right to bring a very large white shark in from the deep and it attacked in large part because of all the chum in the water.

The statistics say that divers are the most attacked people - but that stat includes "free divers" who are hunting (and scuba divers who are hunting). Literally every documented attack I've ever heard of was on somebody who was hunting. There isn't a single documented case on a "photographer" diver - which almost every non-hunting diver is.

I think the GWS are out there and closer than we like to admit. I've had an encounter with one at Catalina. It was scary as hell, and though it probably was only around for less than a minute, it felt like eternity. But in retrospect I wasn't in much danger. It was just curious about us and came in to take a look - absolutely no agression. That probably happens all the time, but most of us have our eyes glued to the ground looking for the little critters.