Great White Sharks Questions!!

[drbill]

v4nity- I've dived the waters of southern California for 37 years. Great whites are here but they seem not to like the sound of SCUBA bubbles. I've never seen one underwater in all that time.

Guadalupe Island has a high concentration during the fall months (Sep-Nov). I only cage dived there as that population is somewhat unpredictable in their behavior.

Jean-Michel Cousteau was free diving in South Africa and when a great white swam right beneath him, he gently grabbed its dorsal fin and was towed around by the shark without any sign of aggression.

I would not worry so much about great whites unless you are diving with seals or sea lions (or surfers are above you) in murky water. There are worse sharkjs in my mind like tigers and bulls.

We have done FAR more damage to shark populations world wide than anything they have done to us. Even if a great white attacks here in SoCal, it very rarely kills.

 

[drbill]

100 million? Do you have some documentation? It just sounds like an unbelievable number.

I've heard the same number from several sources although I can't remember any of them or assess their veracity.

I do know that blue sharks which I used to see frequently in our inshore waters are now largely non-existent close to shore. We used to count them on our 20-min boat trips from the school I taught at to the town of Avalon.

 

[Jcsgt]

Also, stay away from divers who are spearfishing, etc.

If you do happen to see a shark in the water, you should feel privileged. It doesn't happen often.

 

[Packhorse]

100 million? Do you have some documentation? It just sounds like an unbelievable number.

http://www.kellytarltons.co.nz/aquarium-attraction-sharks-penguins/64/Sharks.aspx

I heard it on a radio add for Kelly Tarltons Aquarium. ( so it must be true!)

http://www.sharkattacks.com/sharksvictims.htm

Heres anothe site with the same figure.

It looks like the confirmed yearly death rate from sharks is more like 7 - 10.

Uneducated boaties who dont know what a dive flag looks like kill more divers than sharks do.

 

[Scubagolf]

For LOTS of information (more than you will want ) go to SharkAttackFile.com. (http://www.sharkattackfile.com/)

Also, information is found here: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/ISAF/ISAF.htm

The largest GWs are found in the Farallon Islands, just off the coast from San Francisco. You can do a cage dive and "commune" with these guys. http://www.cagediver.com/california-cage-diving.html

 

[Diver Dennis]

Thanks Bill and Packhorse. Wow, that is incredible that we could slaughter so many in just a year. I had no idea the number was so high.

 

[lock_washer]

If you ever get a chance to see a great white shark...you are lucky. The way we are decimating the shark populations...they will be gone someday. They are not the evil demons that the media loves to make them out to be. Normally they are a coldwater shark, but they have been turning up in places you would never think. The ones they have tagged off the Fallon Islands in Northern California...have showed up in Mexico and off the Northern Hawaiian Islands. Check out this link: www.hawaiisharkencounters.com The owner of this outfit free dove with a 14 footer there. They are the top apex predator of the ocean along with the orca and sperm whale.

 

[all4scuba05]

I would love to do a shark dive someday...hope they're not anywhere near extinct anytime soon. Does anyone know what benefit they provide for the ocean?

 

[philipo]

I did some research from Wikipedia... There are different kinds of sharks that you have to look out for.

Great White Sharks - they're harmless, unless they mistake you as a seal. Most surfers are, anyway cuz of their fins on surfboards. Also they tend to bite first and see if they like what they found. So if they bite you at first, they will not attack anymore cuz they don't like human flesh compared to seals.

Oceanic White Tip Sharks - this is definitely a shark that you have to watch out for! They're known for attacking and eating human at deeper depths. Here's some more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_white_tip_shark. The information there says it all.

Tiger Sharks - They're also known for unprovoked attacks. I cant' find any reasons why they tend to attack, or how they attack. Maybe a link from Wikipedia will help, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Sharks.


So, I highly would recommend doing research on sharks. It's a fascinating topic... Did you know that you're more likely to die from lighting bolts than by a shark? That's a serious fact. Man, sharks really are harmless. It's just that movies and media and other stuff make sharks look bad. *sigh*



Phil

 

[Zeeman]

I'm looking into a trip right now thats being put together by a pro photographer named Mauricio Handler. It leaves from San Diego and goes to Guataluppe island. He claims its the best place in the world to see great whites, hands down. However South Africa is world reknown for a high population of whites. It's apparently the only place in the world where great whites actually leap out of the water to attack surface swimming seals.

this has been observed in Aus too, but on nowhere near the same scale.

z...