Volleyball
Contributor
@Volleyball
We were supplied with a metal pole when diving in Tiger Zoo. Had Nina Erich been holding such pole on her hand, Zesty would not have a chance to chomp on her hand in that Tiger Beach accident
So, guys, make sure you carry and hold that pole when you are diving in Tiger Zoo. Hold it vertically and point it to the Tiger Shark when it gets too close to you.
Make sure to wear dark color gloves, fins & hood (especially those blond-hair divers). My dive buddy had a blond hair and I forgot to tell her about wearing hood. Luckily no Tiger getting too close to her head and there were several guides behind us watching our backs.
With the Bahamas, many have gave their opinion on what happened with several stating based on the reluctant to "follow the rules" comment, believed she likely had something in or did something with her hand to trigger the attack, but all we can do is guess; we'll probably never know for sure. The scariest part about the story is that eye jabs, grabbing the gills, or even stabbing it had no effect
With the Maldives, interesting. We dove with Fuvahmulah Scuba Club this past August, no poles or hoods provided (I have blonde hair). I checked with the GF, we can't recall the tigers ever approaching the group head-on, they would check us out while circling; they didn't seem very interested in us divers. The largest tiger seemed to enjoy wacking divers in the face, including yours truly
Pro tip with shark dives, descend/kick slowly to get to the observation location last in hopes that you can get on the edge. You'll get "cleaner" footage from one side without the other divers