Great White

[headhunter]

Wanna dive Seal Rock this weekend ?

Heeeeere...Fishy, Fishy!

Christian

 

[Zaffy]

Amazing video.

Just an observation, the area seemed relativly shallow and clear, it may not be a "hunting ground" for the sharks. even still, I'd much rather see them from the safety of my computer than face to face where a quick change of mood could mean I'm food. (heh, that rhymed)

 

[JMdiver]

Thinking out loud:

• Beautiful!! The motion! the light! the silhouettes! Jaw-dropping beautiful.
  .
• Calm. These men projected calmness and fluidity in the water.
  .
• They stayed vertical most of the time when the shark appoached.
  They moved slowly whenever the shark was "looking" their way.
  Even on the surface, they stayed vertical and kept eye contact.
  .
• Only when the shark had passed did the diver elongate and fin with strength.
  .
• Once, when two sharks were present, the diver was elongated and finning slightly toward the camera... and away from the shark.
  The shark appeared to immediately tense up and pursue.
  It was silently startling, to me!
  Then the diver stopped and turned smoothly toward the shark while getting more vertical.
  THE SHARK IMMEDIATELY VEERED OFF AND AWAY.
  .
• The shark barely reacted to the diver touching its dorsal fin. It accelerated away when the diver held the tail fin. It never turned and got aggro. I guess Superman rarely has anyone tug on his cape, and doesn't really care much. Wow!
  .
• The diver let the shark tow him only a short way and then released it. I think it was essential to stay near the one or two cameramen so that everyone had everyone else's back. They had to know when a shark was approaching so they could assume the safest body posture: Calm and vertical, still or moving toward the shark... never away.

So, what did I learn from this?

There is beauty everywhere. Look. See.

If 'Chica sees a significant shark (the kind with teeth facing forward rather than down at the sand )....

1. I'm going vertical. Rule #6 be damned, I'm going vertical.
   .
2. I'm moving gently toward the shark and maintaining eye contact.
   .
3. I'm getting buddy to do the same if possible, and we stick together to constantly scan 360 degrees around.
   .
4. I'm NEVER going to turn my back and swim away from a shark I see. Never. Especially on the surface.
   .
5. Get off the surface if possible.

OK.
That was a gorgeous video.
Oceanic Frenchmen Rule. Iron nerves, calmness, beauty, respect. Style .

The sharks aren't bad, either.

~~~~
Claudette

Hi Chica,

Very good observations.

John

 

[THelsley]

Here are my reactions:

1. DUDE! It's the Great White Whisperers! :jawsdown:

2. Just watching that gets my blood pumping a little faster! :icosm13: That video is as close as I hope I ever get to a real one! Plenty of excitement as is.

3. Dette, I think you're spot on... vertical, always face them, keep calm, and when they approach, head toward them smoooooothly.

4. Amazing how gracefully the sharks moved through the water... I have to admire with tremendous respect!

5. We know so little about them that it makes you wonder if perhaps this is more realistic behavior (when the water isn't chummed) than what the news and media has always led us to believe. It seems like everything I've seen on TV showed them bashing themselves against shark cages and in feeding frenzies... good for the media, but the provoked state isn't so realistic or good for the great white's image.

6. They certainly seemed very curious, but I can't get over how docile they were. One whiff of fear and it may have been a totally different story.

Did you notice how well they blended into the background as they swam away and below? Rather eerie.

Tom

 

[Seastarson]

Saw my 1st & only GW in Australia outside of Osprey Reef. Lots of blacktips, whitetips, whalers, reefies, etc., but only saw 1 GW... & it was quite a distance away.

One of the gals, "Munzie" (serving as Engineer this trip), was measuring bite radius of a whitetip and it chomped down on her forearm. She stayed real still, and it just hung on like a dog with a bone. Tracy, one of the gals who is a Marine Biologist went over and squeezed the shark's jaws so it would release. It bit right through Munzie's wetsuit.

She went on board ("Undersea Explorer") and put a few butterflies on it, and was back in the water the next day. Out at Osprey, it's a few days motor back to Port Douglas in N. Queensland... so "no worries"... patch it up, have a B&G, and head back out! What a great group of gals!!

If you're ever in Oz... take a ride on the Undersea Explorer! You won't forget it!!

Cheers!

 

[riguerin]

If 'Chica sees a significant shark (the kind with teeth facing forward rather than down at the sand )....

1. I'm going vertical. Rule #6 be damned, I'm going vertical.
   .
2. I'm moving gently toward the shark and maintaining eye contact.
   .
3. I'm getting buddy to do the same if possible, and we stick together to constantly scan 360 degrees around.
   .
4. I'm NEVER going to turn my back and swim away from a shark I see. Never. Especially on the surface.
   .
5. Get off the surface if possible.

OK.

... but it's usually the animal that you can't see that you need to truly be worried about

 

[johnnyseko]

Wow.....just wow....

Can learn a lot from those 'techniques' as mentioned already. Hopefully I'll never have to put them to the test.

 

[johnnyseko]

Ok, just watched again....

anyone else notice toward the middle of the vid, the diver holding 'something' in his right hand? A knife? He jabs at the shark once as it passes off to his left.

At first I thought maybe he was testing those electric shark repellent things.

 

[JDog]

I remember having seen that part. I don't know for sure, but it might be a video camera, I saw a few clips that might support that, such as the close ups of the guys' hand taking hold of the dorsal fin. And I believe he was poking around the sharks gills, which would cause the shark to become defensive to protect themselves. Are there any shark specialists out there that could comment on this?