Do Tiger Sharks like inflatable kayaks?

[MauiScubaSteve]

The other issue is I think its breeding season. The females are usually famished before and after birth.

It's really not that hard to yahoo or google something before you blindly type. Yahoo-ing tiger shark mating season gives a very relevant document as the second listing; Reproductive biology of the tiger shark in Hawaii, from the University of Hawaii.

According to Whitney and Crow's Sept '06 publication, mating appears to occur in Jan and Feb in Hawaii and jestation is 15-16 months, so Oct is not considered puping season according to the most recent studies. June-July would be pupping season (for the math challenged). :no

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I know, sorry. It was in north Kihei fronting the new parking spots about here: 20°46'28.23"N 156°27'49.96"W

My skin itches just thinking of getting in the water north of sidewalks, yuck!

 

[KrisB]

My skin itches just thinking of getting in the water north of sidewalks, yuck!

Did I mention I was planning on wearing a drysuit?

 

[PhilEllis]

In 1997, I was diving about two miles of the coast in Panama City, Florida. The visibility was only about 20 feet. I had a VERY close encounter with a tiger that I would estimate to be about 18 feet long. He swam directly toward me and only turned when he got about 3 feet from my face. He continued to swim around and circle for about 15 minutes. I REALLY dreaded surfacing. Somehow, I didn't feel threatened while I was underwater with this shark, but the thought of doing a safety stop at 20 feet and swimming on the surface back to the boat really worried me.

Obviously, my fears were unfounded. I am, after all, typing this almost exactly 10 years later on a Saturday morning.

Note: We returned to that same place (Phillips Inlet) regularily for the first three years we operated our scuba store. On almost every trip, our customers were able to experience the amazing site of tiger sharks in the wild. Pretty cool.

Phil Ellis

 

[bobmaggi]

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ch...aboards/201991-jim-abernathys-liveaboard.html

Here's a link to a thread about the liveaboard we were on in July'06. Also has Jimmy's website in the thread. VERY popular and booked far in advance. We had a wonderful time and would do it again in a second. But the prices have really shot up- almost double the price now. We have come to respect the tiger shark.. .
BUT we had plenty of people there and NEVER felt in danger.

In July '05, we were on a regular trip with JASA, and while on a regular dive(tho with a crate of fish parts on the bottom to attract reef sharks), a tiger came in unexpectedly. We kept our distance esp. when the tiger shark took the crate in his mouth and shook it! THIS made me more nervous than the following year. Like Bob says, we became one with the coral and didn't move. :11:

Maggi

 

[scuby-doo]

In 1997, I was diving about two miles of the coast in Panama City, Florida. The visibility was only about 20 feet. I had a VERY close encounter with a tiger that I would estimate to be about 18 feet long. He swam directly toward me and only turned when he got about 3 feet from my face. He continued to swim around and circle for about 15 minutes. I REALLY dreaded surfacing. Somehow, I didn't feel threatened while I was underwater with this shark, but the thought of doing a safety stop at 20 feet and swimming on the surface back to the boat really worried me.

Obviously, my fears were unfounded. I am, after all, typing this almost exactly 10 years later on a Saturday morning.

Note: We returned to that same place (Phillips Inlet) regularily for the first three years we operated our scuba store. On almost every trip, our customers were able to experience the amazing site of tiger sharks in the wild. Pretty cool.

Phil Ellis

I would have tried to hide in the brown cloud that was rapidly forming around me

Patrick

 

[gary-ramey]

It's really not that hard to yahoo or google something before you blindly type. Yahoo-ing tiger shark mating season gives a very relevant document as the second listing; Reproductive biology of the tiger shark in Hawaii, from the University of Hawaii.

According to Whitney and Crow's Sept '06 publication, mating appears to occur in Jan and Feb in Hawaii and jestation is 15-16 months, so Oct is not considered puping season according to the most recent studies. June-July would be pupping season (for the math challenged). :no

You got to love people who scold you for not doing your homework. :11:Here's from the link you provided.
"that the gestation period is 15–16 months.
Mating scars were observed in January–February
and sperm is presumably stored for 4–5 months until
ovulation takes place in May–July. Gestation begins in
June–July and pups are born in September–October of
the following year."

Not that I profess to be an expert anyway my post stated I think as I was drawing off of a recollection more than from first hand knowledge of Tigers. Moreover, it was my fascination with the tiger rampages that have taken place in Hawaii and how determining the birthing cycle also helped bring about an understanding of why attacks seemed to be spread over a couple of months. My memory is that those months were in the late fall.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[diverdiane]

I was diving Makena Landing (my first solo ocean dive) this afternoon and having a great face to face interaction with a large turtle when I turned my head a saw what appeared to be a ten foot tiger about 30 feet away. Sucked down about half my air in the next 5 minutes!

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

You got to love people who scold you for not doing your homework. :11:Here's from the link you provided.

Man you got me good, nearly as good as I got myself. That's some crazy doo doo, humping in Jan-Feb to give birth two Sept-Oct later, and after all that it's only 18" long.:dork:

I am profoundly impressed that you took my stupid crap as well as you did. The cool thing is I am happy every time I learn something neat and fairly unique about sharks, even when I am the monkey's behind that causes us all to remember it in a way that many of us will retain for years to come, if not fore-ever.

19-21 months, and we seem to have a pretty health tiger shark population. I almost have to wonder if we are not screwing up as bad as I thought. Still white tip reef sharks in similar looking numbers as I remember a decade ago. Possibly more mantas, plenty of spotted eagles, consistantly rare sting rays, more turtles, more monk seals (in the main islands), more humpbacks.

I remember seeing the stored sperm words but obviously I did not fully comprehend the whole sentence. Seems like a silly time of the year to bring a pup into the big blue, but I really should read all of the pages I link before I shoot my keyboard off like that!

Cheers back at ya Gary,
Steve

 

[gary-ramey]

I am profoundly impressed that you took my stupid crap as well as you did. The cool thing is I am happy every time I learn something neat and fairly unique about sharks, even when I am the monkey's behind that causes us all to remember it in a way that many of us will retain for years to come, if not fore-ever.

The reason I even bothered to go to your link was to learn something. BTW, you did nail me on the lazy issue. I typically will shoot something from the deep grey matter before doing a simple google. I'm like you, I get a kick out of learning something new about these apex predators. I'm quite certain I wouldn't mind a guided dive with these guys but just as certain I wouldn't want to be padding an inflatable when a big one was around. A simple taste and you're no longer paddling!!


Dive Safe,
Gary