Hammerheads, 40m, no safety stop?

[victor]

So, get yourself about a 50 kg or more ballast weight (at the very least), clip it to a 7 mm line running to a surface float with 20 kg or more of lift. Set it up on the site and make damn sure it can hold a diver (or divers) in the current without difficulty. Use it to descend and "pull" back up, if needed.

Add a couple of tanks and regs at the 15ft safety stop

With the line there is no need to go to 40m, it's very likely that the HH are well above you. So hang on the line where you get the best view.
Limit the dive on time, not air, so you don't spoil the dive for the others.

With careful planing this could be a great dive.

Not happy about the rough sea's for the pickup though, I think an inflatable with a powerful motor would be better for recovery.

 

[Kim]

:lol3:

Another James Bond Fan! Actually, I think it looked more like a Mako in that scene, but I could be wrong. BTW, Jack Lord's Felix back in Sean Connery's days was much cooler...

In the book it's a hammerhead...

 

[Meng_Tze]

All big sharks kill people (great white, tiger, bull, mako, hammerhead, ocean blue, etc)..... we just dont know of all the casualties.....not enough people live to tell the stories...... we are food, just like all other mamals....

 

[jdvaughn]

No way!

 

[DandyDon]

Since this thread has gone to caca anyway, don't forget that deer, elk, and moose kill many more Americans than sharks do. Don't know about the other continents.

 

[Drewski]

...Just to clarify the descent down to 40 meters lands you on the top of a sea mountain. The down draft current I guess is at the edge of the sea mount which is where the sharks are located...

Hi Shellback:

I've been thinking about the description of your location and I'm interested in the dynamics and water properties for area.

Most seamounts are locations where upwelling occurs. Water pushes in a bottom current toward an ascending sea floor or wall face and then "upwells" toward the surface. This brings plankton upward, attracts feeders and smaller fish, ultimately attracting sharks. Surface currents flow around features but can mix violently when pushing into other currents. Large tidal changes can create salt water "wedges" that under ride lower salinity water when moving in and out, but this usually only occurs in sea bottoms with flow restrictions (bays, rivers, etc.).

A "downward" running current occurring on an open ocean seamount in tropical waters, especially a current that runs down the side of the feature, strikes me as unusual (please don't get me wrong here, I'm NOT questioning if it's actually the case, I'm just curious as to how it works).

Anything else "special" going on like two surface currents colliding or "under riding," unusual salinity, differences in water temperature, etc?

Sounds like an interesting place...

 

[victor]

Crocodile and Hippo in Africa.
Crocks are really good at it. I have heard estimates of 1 a day in some countries, but no one really knows, most of these countries have no idea what their population is in the first place.

Unless a European is taken it does not even get reported in the local papers.

As a group we were swimming in a small dam in South Africa when some locals ran over shouting. Aftre getting out we looked at what they were so excited about to find out that a we were sharing the water with a 10ft crock, no more swimming that day.

Hippos get pissed off by fishermen, one crunch of those jaws and bye bye boat. As veggies they don't eat us but one bight is more than enough to kill you.

 

[bubblemonkey]

Since this thread has gone to caca anyway, don't forget that deer, elk, and moose kill many more Americans than sharks do. Don't know about the other continents.

Crocodile and Hippo in Africa.

Badgers and squirrels in the UK.

 

[Drewski]

Drewski...
your method is acceptable.

Are you making fun of safe "enough".

Come on...If the stops are performed and a marker is used, and the divers are skilled, and the boat works...

...My point is that as a diver, you need to break the risks down, prioritize them and be comfortable affecting/ constructing the plan and not be a passive "recipient" of dive plans.

Thanks Catherine...

No, I wasn't making fun of "enough," I highlighted it because it was a key word in what you proposed.

I also agree entirely with your suggestion of risk prioritization and certainly NOT being the "recipient" of a plan, especially when you are paying for a dive. That was GOOD advice on your part.

Respectfully, however, I'm not so certain of how well keeping a group of people together in a circle during an open ocean ascent would work, even with the ascent line you suggest for a point of reference. Given the nature of the ocean in the area, what would happen if some surfaced quickly, got separated or had a mid-dive emergency? This might put the boat operator between a rock and a hard place choosing between staying where he may "think" most people are vs. chasing stragglers.

This is why I suggested the fixed point of reference for the dive, along with limiting it to pairs. Fewer people in the water at one time decreases risks and choices.

Thanks...

 

[DandyDon]

Badgers and squirrels in the UK.

You're kidding. Squirrels?! And badgers don't come thru the windshields like deer, etc. Well, neither do grown pigs, but they can certainly total a car. We have a problem with feral pigs in some parts of Texas now.

Btw, I am thinking of coming over for a drive around this winter when rates are cheap, so you may need to add Texans driving on the wrong side. I wonder if kangaroos are much of a collision problem down under? I guess it'd depend on the specie & size.