Epic Lemon shark dive today on Emerald Charters +

[patrickusaf08]

ok cool i dive in nc haven't been to the hyde yet but have talked to the guys that have been there and say there are always sand tigers there. i feel that cuda would be more of a problem since i have d rings all over my dive rite bc. they have vids of the sand tigers coming really close and just cursing by. I think the only real shark id be scared of that they have seen before is mary lee the 16 foot great white that came into our nc waters last year according to her tag. I always wear a wet suit no matter what temp. i have been messed up by jelly fish before and it is def not fun for me.

 

[Amazz]

The sharks were really thick in August with tons of baitfish. They are docile and lazy. Nothing to worry about as they are not aggressive. It's a must do dive and in the top 10 of my all time shark dive favorites. We had at least 40 sand tigers and a manta. Do it.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

Angie, what op did you use for the Hyde? That is a dive I am interested in.

 

[Amazz]

Angie, what op did you use for the Hyde? That is a dive I am interested in.

Out of Wrightsville Beach. We liked them. The Hyde is 20+ miles offshore. We did both dives on that site. They don't babysit nor limit your time. I think late summer has the best sand tiger shark activity and that's also when the bait balls arrive. I 'd do it again in a heart beat.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

The one sandtiger trip I did in NC was one of the few dives that was up with this last one at Jupiter in terms of shark excellence. I still remember coming up the ascent line and noticing the tail of an ~8 foot female sandtiger right in front of me. She was just keeping station right next to the line, didn't mind when I swam around taking a few snapshots before continuing my ascent.

That was on the Dixie Arrow back in 2010, with Outer Banks Diving which was run by Jon and Amy Pieno. 2011 I wasn't so lucky; we dove the Arrow's sister ship F.W. Abrams and didn't see any. Sadly, Amy died in a dive accident in the fall of 2011 and Jon closed up shop - can't say I blame him. My only time diving out of Hatteras since then was in 2012 with Captain JT and the Under Pressure, and due to weather and a pair of cancellations we stayed closer inshore. Hoping to go out again this July; last year work and a lack of PTO got in the way.

 

[Murfdizzle21]

Lemon shark action was bonkers this weekend, got some great footage with Randy!

 

[John from the burg]

How about this one? I'm Addicted!!! Emerald Shark Diving 1 5 14 - YouTube

I know i sure love it when people feed seagulls around me, constant noise and **** all over everything but if there is food to be had the birds will come... and stay. Feeding bears? Gators? Sharks in fl waters? Why are these things illegal? Why does he have to zip out of FL waters to do this ****? Sharks are one of if not the most evolved predators on earth, and you think these fish aren't going to associate divers with food? After constant interaction and feeding/teasing? This activity doesn't just put the people there in risk, it puts every diver there after in danger too.

I know you guys have no love for spearfishing but how about this perspective; Johnny Spearo shoots a fish and gets rushed by a trained shark, (in the spearing community its a huge no no to feed your fish to sharks for what i thought was obvious reasons) the shark gets too aggressive and close scaring johnny spearo enough to put that next spear right in your pet sharks gills. Now johnny is freaked, your pet is dead and worst of all the shark is gone. This will and has happened, every single person when faced with their own mortality will kill, its human nature.

In closing, i want to give a visual indication of the type of guys doing this ****. Loaded speargun, pointed at himself, with a fish on a hoop stringer dangling right by the trigger. Darwin award goesssss to!!!! This guy VVVVVVVVV

 

[100days-a-year]

So that gun is cocked?And pointed at himself?While feeding sharks?Wonder if his insurance company has been sent a video of this yet,if they are insured.Cause that guy....is an idiot.

 

[scubadada]

Wow!! (needed 5 characters to post)

 

[HalcyonDaze]

How about this one? I'm Addicted!!! Emerald Shark Diving 1 5 14 - YouTube

I know i sure love it when people feed seagulls around me, constant noise and **** all over everything but if there is food to be had the birds will come... and stay. Feeding bears? Gators? Sharks in fl waters? Why are these things illegal? Why does he have to zip out of FL waters to do this ****? Sharks are one of if not the most evolved predators on earth, and you think these fish aren't going to associate divers with food? After constant interaction and feeding/teasing? This activity doesn't just put the people there in risk, it puts every diver there after in danger too.

I know you guys have no love for spearfishing but how about this perspective; Johnny Spearo shoots a fish and gets rushed by a trained shark, (in the spearing community its a huge no no to feed your fish to sharks for what i thought was obvious reasons) the shark gets too aggressive and close scaring johnny spearo enough to put that next spear right in your pet sharks gills. Now johnny is freaked, your pet is dead and worst of all the shark is gone. This will and has happened, every single person when faced with their own mortality will kill, its human nature.

In closing, i want to give a visual indication of the type of guys doing this ****. Loaded speargun, pointed at himself, with a fish on a hoop stringer dangling right by the trigger. Darwin award goesssss to!!!! This guy VVVVVVVVV

View attachment 175498

Interesting.

First off, that was a LOT crazier than it got on New Year's Day. I think I saw a shark actually take a fish off Randy a handful of times (that's from reviewing about 2 hours of footage while editing clips). There was only one point where I saw one actually start thrashing; at that point I backed off just in case. Otherwise - quite a calm bunch. I'm not sure if a week later the differentiating factor was that the sharks had gotten habituated or (more likely, methinks) that there was more bait available. In that video it looked like there was a lot of fish to be had; what Randy had on hand for our three dives combined probably added up to 2 or 3 of those gulps in that clip. Of course, that was something else I found out from editing - in there you have ~3 minutes of video from about 180 minutes of dive time. Anyone want to bet on what the other 177 minutes looked like?

Second, sharks go after wounded fish. Period. They don't need a diver to "train" (using the quotes since in behavioral science terms, this is not a "trained" action - "conditioned" or "habituated" are more accurate) them to do this; they've been at it for the last 400 million years or so. "Johnny Spearo" was getting harassed by sharks for his catch long before dive guides started giving handouts. Struggling fish + blood = feeding opportunity. The sharks don't need a primer from Randy or anyone else to figure that one out. Likewise, they're highly evolved enough to know that if the clumsy bubble-breathing thing doesn't have a wounded fish with it, it's not worth bothering. I haven't heard any of the other dive ops in the Jupiter area complain about their people getting mobbed. To my knowledge, no scientific study has shown that shark feeding operations increase the risk of attack for other humans in the area. Show me some evidence to the contrary and I'll revise my opinion. Given that the "Johnny Spearos" in the Jupiter and West Palm areas are still fond of shooting cobia off the backs of bulls and tigers, I don't see them getting friskier towards divers in general.

With all that said - yeah. Using a loaded and cocked speargun as a feeding stick? Dumb. Really dumb.