Epic Lemon shark dive today on Emerald Charters +

[Dr. Lecter]

I have been on all of these dives, which are still plenty risky but with a much higher level of safety and predictability due that practice, and due to strict rules for diver behavior (none of which I saw being implemented in the videos here), and being conducted in relatively shallow water as well.

Translation: 'the shark feeding dives I'm comfortable on are fine, but the ones that make me feel too scared are objectively, scientifically proven to be bat insane to do and no reasonable person could think otherwise.'

 

[scubadada]

Guy:

I think most any reasonable person thinking it through would conclude there's likely some elevated theoretical risk. Then again, we undertake some elevated theoretical risk when we dive, vs. staying on the boat.

I've read some of the postings about concerns regarding predator behavior at varied places, presumed due to lionfish feeding, for example. Predators includes sharks, grouper and even barracuda in such discussions.

That said, chummed shark dives are not new, and seem to have a good success rate. Let's say for sake of argument that someday someone does get seriously bitten; perhaps an arm or leg badly bitten, considerable blood loss, fast exit, rushed to the hospital, graphic wound photo in a thread about it posted under Accidents and Mishaps.

Is that going to prove chummed shark dives are wrong? Or too dangerous?

We've just had a big discussion in the Eagles Nest thread about keeping sites open to cave divers, despite some occasional deaths. This is a somewhat like situation. The possibility of a non-shark dive diver getting nailed would be a bit different, granted, but I would think the risks would be much greater for those doing the chummed dives, and thus far, they seem okay.

The drunken driver analogy you put forth is a good one. Yet many of us have driven while quite sleepy at points in our lives, despite perhaps similar dangerousness. Unless and until we have more hard data on shark dive risks, perhaps proceeding cautiously is a good policy?

I'd like to dive with the lemon sharks someday, and see them up close. Now, one bumping into my body deciding whether to take a bite would be somewhat upsetting...

Richard.

Folks with no personal experience should generally butt out of this conversation. Having dived Jupiter deep ledge and Hole in the Wall area many times, I can say I would appreciate the opportunity to dive with Emerald Charters in the future and will work to that end.

Good diving, Craig

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

Translation: 'the shark feeding dives I'm comfortable on are fine, but the ones that make me feel too scared are objectively, scientifically proven to be bat insane to do and no reasonable person could think otherwise.'

Sigh . . . so much for intelligent conversation. Signing off, now. Happy feeding, everyone. Membership in the Darwin Society is complementary, after all.

 

[drrich2]

Folks with no personal experience should generally butt out of this conversation. Having dived Jupiter deep ledge and Hole in the Wall area many times, I can say I would appreciate the opportunity to dive with Emerald Charters in the future and will work to that end.

Good diving, Craig

Bold emphasis mine.

Assuming that was directed at me (since it was my post you quoted), did I make some strong assertion in my post that you dispute? I did not attack Emerald Charters or what they do. I pointed out getting bumped by lemon sharks would be disconcerting to me, but that's hardly a condemnation.

I don't see where the forum section or original post confined the discussion to those who've dove with Emerald Charters or with shark dives. On the other hand, threads like this on a public forum seem designed to share info. and generate discussion amongst interested people, some of whom haven't yet been but might like to go someday.

So I don't see the rationale for your assertion. What am I missing?

Richard.

 

[patrickusaf08]

ok question. why don't you wear white? is it because they are attracted to white and might think your their normal food. only reason i ask is 1 i always like to learn. 2 if i ever go there i have a white nitrox tank a black air tank easiest way for me to color code my own stuff.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

My 0.02 wuipupi ...

I've dove/snorkeled in a few places where sharks are/were routinely fed. Triangle Rocks at Bimini and Shark Canyon at West Palm are two that I've been at both with and without bait, and I can say that the reef sharks at those spots do not associate just any human with food. If you have it, they will come in close and possibly try to take it. If you don't, they might check you out and then leave. Diving Shark Canyon with and without bait/speared fish is like night and day. While they can certainly learn that boats and divers may be bringing treats, their senses are good enough to figure out if you have food or not. If there's nothing to be had, there's no point in them getting frisky and risking being injured by another animal (you) that's of roughly equal size. The bulls we had on the Hole in the Wall were certainly curious, but they weren't aggressive. They weren't trying to mug us for something we didn't have.

I fully agree with what Angie said in the original post; the lemons were treating the rest of us like obstacles to be avoided. I didn't even get brushed by a fin, and I had to set aside a lot of pics because they were too close to see anything but sharkskin. Even with Randy they seemed to have a casual interest only; if they were indeed "frenzied" the fish would have been gone in seconds flat and I would have been crabbing away on the bottom trying to squeeze every extremity under my backplate. Instead, their movements were deliberate and controlled. It was a hell of a lot less hairy in my opinion than the common practice in those parts at this time of year of blasting cobia off the backs of bull sharks (something Randy does do, but he's hardly alone among dive operators and their customers in the Jupiter/West Palm area).

We can talk about how we should be viewing these animals without using bait and altering their behavior, but there aren't a heck of a lot of places in the world where you can go see sharks in numbers without ringing the dinner bell first. We are loud, clumsy, sizable creatures and they can easily check us out from distances beyond where we can see them. There's no point to them giving us a closer inspection. If you drop in on them while they are naturally aggregating, they may well just vamoose (which seems to be what happened with the lemon sharks; when the word first got out about it researchers on rebreathers were seeing dozens or more on one dive and to my knowledge that just doesn't happen anymore).

Is it an additional risk? Sure. As a diver, it's your responsibility to weigh that risk versus the payoff and make the choice. These are wild predators and you cannot forget that, or assume you know what they will do next. Based on my experience however, the additional risk is manageable provided certain measures are taken, the payoff is spectacular, and baiting the sharks doesn't seem to be making them more aggressive towards divers. If I see evidence to the contrary, I will revise my opinion accordingly.

 

[Amazz]

It is believe by some in the industry who bait sharks that they could indeed mistake white gear as prey because it may look like their natural prey. I'm not sure about a white tank. That's on the large side. We took our boat to Tiger Beach once and took white pvc pipe to push the sharks away. The pvc only made one dive because the lemon sharks nibbled on it the entire time.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

ok question. why don't you wear white? is it because they are attracted to white and might think your their normal food. only reason i ask is 1 i always like to learn. 2 if i ever go there i have a white nitrox tank a black air tank easiest way for me to color code my own stuff.

With the tigers, they told us that tigers especially are scavengers and that dead fish are often whitish appearing underwater, so that white might be a signal of a food source. This is also true on feeding dives, where you can see that the dead fish chunks are white. I think they don't want an accidental bite on a diver who is wearing white but is not actually dead

I don't know what the thinking is on white tanks, but all dives I have been on, with different operators, were very strict on "no white" as far as clothes, fins, snorkels, etc. My wetsuit has white patches on the chest and I bought a black lycra tee shirt to wear over it.

 

[drrich2]

Does everyone wear wet suits on these dives? In some places the water temp.s from what I understand might be high enough that some people wouldn't need them for thermal reasons, but at least with pale-skinned ethnicities an arm or leg could look enticing in theory.

Richard.

 

[Amazz]

The sharks were interested in my Ikelite strobes, which are light gray. I wonder if it's the color or if it's because of the electric?

---------- Post added January 4th, 2014 at 07:13 PM ----------

With temps in the mid 70's right now, everybody wears wetsuits and for the most part hoods. Even in the summer at Tiger Beach, Bahamas, I wouldn't attempt to have any flesh showing. Do sharks see color? If they do, solid black is not typically on their menu.

---------- Post added January 4th, 2014 at 07:18 PM ----------

There are a lot of great pictures from various talented photographers on the Emerald Charters Facebook page. It's definitely worth a look. I'd post more of mine but having difficulty doing it here.