Great White Vs. Divers.....gone too far!

[ScubaBaby]

They other day I was reading about this diver who was soo eager to dive and be towed by a Great White.

At first I was just annoyed that he was sooo eager to interfer with the creature by pulling on his fins for his own pleasure...then it got be thinking.

When the films Jaws came out thousands of unwarratted killings of sharks due to the misunderstandings of the shark. And so much effort has gone in by thousands that the shark isn't all about killing, and alot of the Great Whites killings have been down to believing we were seals etc.

Now, I can only see us getting back into the same situation as when Jaws was first released but in a slightly different manner.

Has anyone actually considered what they are doing? They are trying to tell people that the Great White shark isnt dangerous. Is it just me who sees this leading to a hell of a problem...?

Surely we are pushing the bounderies now? It is one thing diving and enjoying seeing such magnificent animals but by interfering with them....surely this is asking for attacks. People seem to forget that this is there space....and we are in there territory! They might not mind us being there, but interfering with them is something completely different.

Also, what is this giving out to the public. Seeing some guy stroking and playing with sharks on TV. A thread a few months ago talked about how a boy decided to snorkel and hassle a nurse shark....which are normally pretty timid, but it attacked cause it was bothered. I can only see this problem growing.

Is it just me whos worried about this getting out of hand??? Eventually, when people come to the stage of excepting sharks and tormenting them due to the lack of fear or true knowledge, there will be more attacks and more fear invoked!

 

[Mario S Caner]

Ark! Getting towed by a Carcharodon Carcharias!!! That's gotta be the craziest thing I've ever heard. He might as well staple a steak to his ars while he's at it. Brilliant I tell you! Simply brilliant!

The white is one shark you don't mess with. You admire it's beauty from a safe distance, snap some pictures if you're lucky, but you don't taunt it! Sheesh!

 

[jbd]

One of the world renowned underwater videographers did some research with great white sharks. He found that if he moved directly at the shark when it got a little close to him the shark moved away. When the diver stayed still the sharks would come in closer and closer and as soon as he moved directly towards them the sharks would move away. Given this I can't see how anyone would be able to grab a hold of a great white sharks fin and be towed. Maybe you could bait them in like other shark feeding situations but then I would think the diver might too closely resemble something that needs to be eaten. Sounds like the Darwin factor will be involved with guy.

 

[Mario S Caner]

Ark! That's even better. Dangle a piece of meat in front of a hungry predator, and then bother it while it's chomping. I'd like to see that on video! Watch, the idiot will get bit in half and then the poor shark will get the blame!
:fury:

 

[joewr]

Mario,

I liked your first suggestion--the one about the arse! "Arse", that's a technical term, isn't it?

Joewr

 

[Warhammer]

The guy in Deep Blue Sea seemed to be pretty good at it. Maybe the idiot should take lessons from him.

 

[crabman]

Some people just don't get it. You don't play with things that can eat you!

 

[Kane(adian)]

Well, why not slather oneself in barbecue sauce, and go looking for predators...

As a side note, I was watching a show one day called 'Natural Born Killers' on Discovery (I think) [red]NOTE: THIS IS NOT THE MOVIE!![/red] Anyway, there was a segment on it about the great white, and they dispelled a couple of myths for me. After watching Jaws, everyone thinks that sharks come cruising along the surface, dorsals out of the water, and some even think that the theme music starts playing...dum dum dum dum...dum dum dum dum...actually they said on this show, that GWs can see objects on the surface 6inches across, from 60ft,(18m). They had video of them hunting a sealion(I think it was a sea lion), and the the shark was cruising along at depth, at a good speed, the it turned upwards, into a vertical ascent, coming up right underneath the thing. When the shark broke the surface, it was probably 3ft, 1m, out of the water, with its ENTIRE body. It looked like something at the local whale aquarium. They said that after this meal the shark could go a MONTH without another meal. I think that this says for itself that sharks do not just go around looking for people to gnaw on. When you aren't hungry, you just aren't hungry.

After watching the show, I think that I feel safer under the water, than on the surface, but, whenever step into anythings home, you agree to play by their rules. I am tired of sharks and other animals getting blamed for stupid people. If some guy wants to get towed by a Great White, by all means, go ahead, just don't wear all that SCUBA gear, as it will give nasty indigestion.

 

[keralucu]

Kane, I totally agree with you. (What's with the Adian in brackets by the way??) If people are stupid enough to actually WANT to get up close and personal with a creature such as the Great White then let them get what's coming to them.

I used to be as terrified as the next person of any large life in the sea, but since learning how to dive, and watching so much material on sharks on TV - specially GW's - I now feel I understand them a little better and know that 9 times out of 10 attacks are not really attacks but exploratory 'nibbles' that unfortunately can go very wrong for the nibblee. As Abby says, we are in their environment and must have total respect for them because they are the lords of the ocean.

(Joe & Mario... in Thailand we have an insect repellent by the name of Ars (sic... see Mario's spelling! ) Makes you wonder, don't it? Hmmmm, did Gasman have anything to do with this product, I wonder?)

 

[Mario S Caner]

Sorry if I misspelled Arse guys, I guess I should have stayed with Butt, Rump, Bootie, Caboose, Hiney, Tail or one of the many other available colorful words I do know how to spell. LOL