Does Shark Diving equal a specialty?

[SafetyStopBait]

well, i definitely enjoy more than just shark diving but i do take a special joy in going out to seeing different specifes of sharks. i've seen a good number to this point, highlights being whale sharks, white sharks and hammerheads. my next goals are tigers and makos.

i'm wondering how other people feel about calling this a specialty or not, niche diving, whatever and also to connect to people with the same interest.

 

[Steele]

Fish ID.

 

[SafetyStopBait]

just Fish ID? that's all we get... : )

 

[Tanked Monkey]

How about "Thrilling Diving?" Or "Jaws Diver?" Maybe something like "NonDivers-Might-Think-I'm-Stupid-Diving-With-Sharks-But-They're-Very-Docile Diving" specialty?

This what you're looking for?

Mike

PS-I absolutely love sharks, and don't understand why they get a bad wrap . . . oh wait a min . . . wasn't there a movie about that several years ago?

 

[Quero]

I know of one Shark Specialty course. It's one of those "Distinctive Specialty Courses" that PADI allows instructors to design. I believe it includes specific information about shark physiology, behavior, habitat, mating, etc.

 

[archman]

You can get a pretty card from PADI for virtually anything you want. I could whip up the materials for a shark diving specialty myself, if I had the inclination.

But I don't see diving with sharks as technical diving. Nor for that funky tethered squid stuff done over in Baja.

 

[Walter]

How about, "Lack of Environmental Awareness"?

 

[Bratface]

I think the shark gets the specialty card for this one.

 

[billtylerjr]

I know of one Shark Specialty course. It's one of those "Distinctive Specialty Courses" that PADI allows instructors to design. I believe it includes specific information about shark physiology, behavior, habitat, mating, etc.

I did a whale shark distinct spec in Utila not too long ago - it was a rainy day and the boat was not going out

 

[Quero]

I did a whale shark distinct spec in Utila not too long ago - it was a rainy day and the boat was not going out

Yes, the Whale Shark specialty is now available to everybody, as PADI publishes it (saw it on the PADI Pros website). And other shark specialites, as archman points out, can be written by qualified people like him (he's a marine biologist) to focus on topics of special local interest. There's a process to it which is supposed to ensure a product of a certain standard, but as I've never attended one of these distinctive specialty courses, I can't say whether it works the way it is meant to.