Great white charges at divers in cage... ends badly for the shark

[RangerRick]

I was rooting for the Shark. Meanwhile, 3 heavily soiled wetsuits for sale...

 

[pauldw]

Exactly. I really think baited observation should be vigorously discouraged by organizations that can bring pressure and resources to bear on the matter.

I don't know enough to have an opinion on this issue, but it so happens I read an interesting view just this morning, from an interview with Chuck Nicklin: "If you don't feed sharks...there won't be any left. Look at the places where they feed sharks: they are protected. And where they don't...they are fishing them for fins."

 

[drrich2]

That's a good point! If you want something to last, find a way people can make money off it. Crocodilian hides, for instance...and so we get crocodile farms. You see anybody farming spotted owls? The idea that a live shark beats a dead one is gold for conservation; I think Palau has that mindset.

Richard.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Shark wouldn't be there without bait.

At Guadalupe Island? It's a major seal colony and the seasonal population of whites there is dense enough that some researchers believe the smaller individuals are being pushed out. On my trip last year we counted two dozen individuals the space of three days; I think some trips have reported 40 or more. The baiting is pretty restrained; in fact the wranglers on deck try not to let them get the fish at all. Unfortunately what's happened at least twice now is that a shark has gone after bait with the cage right behind it and well, they don't have a reverse gear - once they get their head jammed in the cage, they can only go side-to-side or forward.

After the last viral incident when a white shark actually got into one of Solmar V's cages and exited out the top hatch, they were supposed to have all made changes (and when I was on Solmar V, they briefed us on them pretty thoroughly). A minimum size was set for the cage openings and the baits are not to be pulled directly towards the cages. Whether those measures were in force on the vessel that caused this incident should be determined.

Generally in the last decade or so the former "Wild West" practices out there have been curbed - free swimming outside the cage is banned except by a very hard to obtain permit as is use of the "top deck" some operators put on their cages. In this case one of two things will happen - either it will get swept under the rug, or the operator will be facing some questions and possibly penalties. Unfortunately, I suspect the former.

 

[Steve_C]

Something is missing. We see shark trying to get into the cage streaming blood. Then we see the shark sinking but with no blood streaming that I could see. What happened during that time which could have been several minutes. Was the shark dispatched and then left to sink once freed?

 

[CuzzA]

I would imagine it drowned which took several minutes and doesn't make for good video and then it fell free or was pushed out of the cage. Perhaps just raising the cage was enough to send the shark out.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Freed? Not sure if that is the right term. Jettisoned, maybe. Probably dumped.

I don't disagree with the conservation argument. Same concept works in the amazon rain forest with the monkeys but it's still a horrible thing to witness. Measures should be taken to ensure this doesn't happen again.

What about plexi enclosures or an inflatable clear balloon that is puncture resistant? I'm not saying I'd get in one but....

 

[CuzzA]

I don't know enough to have an opinion on this issue, but it so happens I read an interesting view just this morning, from an interview with Chuck Nicklin: "If you don't feed sharks...there won't be any left. Look at the places where they feed sharks: they are protected. And where they don't...they are fishing them for fins."

The two are unrelated and make no sense. There aren't any shark feeding operations that I am aware of on the Gulf Coast of Florida, but we banned long lining and now have a ton of sharks. If they aren't fished, they don't die. Shark feeding is a for profit tourist attraction, nothing more.

 

[CuzzA]

Freed? Not sure if that is the right term. Jettisoned, maybe. Probably dumped.

I don't disagree with the conservation argument. Same concept works in the amazon rain forest with the monkeys but it's still a horrible thing to witness. Measures should be taken to ensure this doesn't happen again.

What about plexi enclosures or an inflatable clear balloon that is puncture resistant? I'm not saying I'd get in one but....

free
/frē/
Learn to pronounce
verb
past tense: freed; past participle: freed

1. • release from physical obstruction, restraint, or entanglement.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

I thought freed at least suggested still living.

No need to get snarky.