Great White spotted at Crystal Bay

[DownUnderwater Dan]

I agree with you in principle. However, I choose not to dive in South Africa and California because I choose to avoid being in the water with a GW. By the same token, I don't seek out Tiger sharks. I don't go on feeding dives or cage dives.

I've been diving with plenty of other kinds of sharks and quite loved it.
I was very pleased to see sharks on local dives out of San Pedro, Belize for example, because it indicated a healthier system.

I'm always aware that sharks may see me but I may not see them. That's OK.

I've been diving in the Red Sea at Brothers. There were Oceanic White Tips around. While I appreciated their beauty, I was not thrilled to be in the water with them.

I don't particularly like being in the water with bull sharks either but I've been quite snuggly with gray reef sharks, white tips, black tips, etc.

Totally understand your reasoning, it's a known man-eater. I feel a lot more comfortable swimming at beaches with no recorded shark fatalities
Everyone's reasoning differs, surfers and spearfishers are more at risk from attacks but it doesn't stop them from entering shark infested waters

But if Crystal Bay is your favourite site, I think you're more at risk from the diving conditions than being taken by a shark, most definitely

 

[chillyinCanada]

Totally understand your reasoning, it's a known man-eater. I feel a lot more comfortable swimming at beaches with no recorded shark fatalities
Everyone's reasoning differs, surfers and spearfishers are more at risk from attacks but it doesn't stop them from entering shark infested waters

But if Crystal Bay is your favourite site, I think you're more at risk from the diving conditions than being taken by a shark, most definitely

Excellent point, lol. I'm thinking that the first sighting was at SD.

 

[chillyinCanada]

But really, we don't want the GW chowing down o n our mola mola either!

 

[Dan]

But really, we don't want the GW chowing down o n our mola mola either!

I don't think Mola Mola would be in GWS dietary list, too bony. They love to eat whale carcasses with lots of blubber.

This GWS may be a resident of west Australia. The water in Crystal Bay during winter time in Autralia must be cool enough for it to wonder there. As long as we are not acting like wounded fish on the surface, we should be fine.

 

[DownUnderwater Dan]

Excellent point, lol. I'm thinking that the first sighting was at SD.

Would not suprise me at all if GWS hangs around SD point too. I've heard 1st & 2nd hand reports of a Thresher and a school of Hammerheads sightings in the last 3 months. And you were also lucky enough to see a whaleshark there

 

[DownUnderwater Dan]

I've been thinking about this. Why only 2 mantas? Maybe that is why the GW looks so well fed.

I can't even count how many mantas were at manta point when I was there. Had to have been at least a dozen.

What would you estimate @Tippytoes12 ?

I've dived Manta Point dozens of times, and maybe 2-3 of those times there was only 1-2 mantas. All the other times between 5-20 mantas. I too often wondered why there were no mantas around & the very next day lots around. I looked at the tides, the time of diving or thought maybe they were all off mating somewhere.

Until I read this thread, I thought maybe orcas came into to hunt them in the early hours but concluded that it was unlikely because of the topography of the site. Now, I think it's not too far fetched that GWS might pass through the area occasionally

I know day in day out sometimes the water is bloody cold, weeks on end... between 18°C-21°C very often

 

[chillyinCanada]

I don't think Mola Mola would be in GWS dietary list, too bony. They love to eat whale carcasses with lots of blubber.

This GWS may be a resident of west Australia. The water in Crystal Bay during winter time in Autralia must be cool enough for it to wonder there. As long as we are not acting like wounded fish on the surface, we should be fine.

I won't be back for awhile yet so hopefully it will have wandered off again by the time that I get there.

 

[silent running]

I'm quite aware of those and watch for those when I'm diving with other kinds of sharks but we are not on the same page as far as believing "avoidable".

I know 3 people who have been attacked by sharks, all were doing things that put them at significant risk and diving well beyond normal recreational activities. One was not even diving and surface swimming in turbid water known to be prime bull shark habitat, one was feeding silvertip sharks in an exposed condition, meaning hovering over a reef without anything behind them, the other had a lobster in his BCD. The surface swimmer was severely injured but made a near full recovery, the shark feeder lost a chunk of their leg but recovered and the lobster guy had his BCD ripped apart but was completely unharmed, it was a strike of surgical precision. Another diver I know was circled by a GW while doing deco off Long Island NY, promptly dropped his mesh bags full of scollops and lobster, which is what attracted the GW, it dove right after the bags and he did not see the shark again.

All were doing things most recreational divers do not. Add to that the chance of seeing a GW on a tropical reef which is not their normal habitat, where the numbers of large prey are relatively low compared to their regular habitats, and you have a once in a lifetime chance that probably doesn’t last more than a few seconds.

All my close shark encounters, including being bumped by them twice, happened in remote parts of the world where humans may never have been and while diving CCR. The first time I was bumped because I was drifting in a current along a wall and I had barely moved for a long period of time. I could hear my dive buddy chuckling and couldn’t figure out why until I looked down and noticed the shark was practically between my legs. I may have actually kicked it first before we made contact but as soon we did it took off like a rocket. The other time was while “shark calling” by rubbing a plastic bottle to mimic a distressed fish and I got bumped when a silvertip came in very fast from below us and glanced off my leg. As soon as my dive buddy stopped rubbing the bottle the shark slowed down and went back to its normal patrolling behavior then swam off.

Both my bumps happened on exploratory dives in remote parts of Papua New Guinea and on CCR. In other words, we had to go to a lot of trouble to put ourselves in a position to even have those encounters. How many divers go to Nusa Penida every day? Probably near 100, I would guess. How many shark attacks have their been at Nusa Penida?

I’m not trying to make light of your fear or talk you out of it, just trying to bring my perspective...

 

[Wingy]

@silentdiver - your comment re "sizing up divers" bought back to mind a comment a Polynesian guy I met made in the context of tigers -

"Mainly they just want to take a tour of you, we go vertical and let him then he goes away"

So...not asserting dominance just increasing your size may hold some truth in it. Polynesian kids are born aquatic and locals on Rangiroa who do dive seem to have generations of knowledge passed down through the generations. He still had all his arms and legs.

Chilli - don't be wary of a GW showing up in Balinese waters. It's likely one of ours as we had one spotted and filmed off Ningaloo about 1500km North of where it's supposed to be and there is no anomaly with water temp here so only the shark knows what it's doing up there. We've had them tracked zipping over to South Africa and back, they cover long distances and they certainly wouldn't be the reason for lack of mantas...no shark is going to chomp every manta it sees..if it's the same shark it would've embarrassed itself at the all you can eat buffet at Ningaloo.

They're here, every diver knows that. I'd rather have Indo viz than Perth viz when they are in close proximity - at least you can see them. 99.99% of us are still alive with all limbs intact.

If the waters cool up there I wouldn't be surprised if it hung around for a while, also wouldn't be surprised if it's sick. If it is pregnant it knows its offspring need cool water to survive. Might just be senile....but don't be afraid of diving there

 

[Wingy]

This GWS may be a resident of west Australia. The water in Crystal Bay during winter time in Autralia must be cool enough for it to wonder there. As long as we are not acting like wounded fish on the surface, we should be fine.

The only issue with cool water at crystal bay is the 2500km of warm water it had to swim through to get from its usual range to temperatures that mirror what it is used to here. Water temp up at Ningaloo where one was filmed is toasty warm. It was not off the continental shelf/out "the back" as we call it, it was close enough to be filmed in relatively shallow water...not the usual GW route of choice.
@DownUnderwater Dan I know they have a bad rep but...they're certainly not deserving of the "known man eater" tag - it was that sort of label that got Western Australia worldwide condemnation when the previous moron sitting at the helm declared a shark cull. We don't want that sort of rhetoric around....how about....certain individuals have tasted human flesh, but like Jeffrey Dahmer are not representative of the species?