I was attacked by a Nurse Shark

[MrChen]

Ok, not really. But I did have a face to face encounter today with a nurse on the Juno Ledge. It broke off the ledge and swam straight at me. I put out my lionfish spear and it took a test bite. It then swam away. I did NOT stab the spear. It happened so fast and brought an underwater smile to my face . Calypso was near by... <--- They were near by, but I'm making light of everything. I'm waiting for my dive buddy to edit his version of the video, he was 5 ft from me recording it.

It slowed down as it got close to me, it was temping to try and push it away with my hands, it looked like a little puppy wanting to be pet on the head, but I thought better of it. I figured it was just investigating if we were food or not. BTW: I was not carrying any fish on me, I had not seen any lionfish. If it smelled anything, it was my wetsuit not having a chance to dry from the previous days diving.

Good stuff and again, I'm making fun of the incident. There was no panic, nor any sense of danger. It might have been cool to have let it bite my gopro, but that's far more expensive than the spear and I didn't want to chance it.

Enjoy my super duper dangerous nurse shark attack video.

[video=youtube;M6rciRoRARA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6rciRoRARA&amp;feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Are you under the impression that those sharks are harmless?

 

[sphyrnidus]

Attacks on humans are rare but not unknown and a clamping bite typically results from a diver or fisherman antagonizing the shark with hook, spear, net, or hand. The bite reflex is such that it may be some minutes before a quietly re-immersed nurse shark will relax and release its tormenter. The small teeth seldom penetrate deeply but are razor sharp. Holding still reduces damage to both shark and man. Leaving sharks alone is the best tactic.

I think so yes, unless provoked like in this film...

 

[MrChen]

Are you under the impression that those sharks are harmless?

Definitely not, which is why I didn't stick my hand out or let it bite at my gopro. It was moving nice and calm. I made a decision to use the spear to protect more expensive equipment and knew I'd have more of a deterrent in case it became more aggressive.

But lets twist this more... what a joke.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I'm not sure I see the joke in the situation.

I can only assume that this particular shark has been habituated to feeding from a pole spear. I think it is unfortunate for the shark that it has lost its natural fear of humans and is now much more likely to be killed or injured.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

I'm not sure I see the joke in the situation.

I can only assume that this particular shark has been habituated to feeding from a pole spear. I think it is unfortunate for the shark that it has lost its natural fear of humans and is now much more likely to be killed or injured.

Again ... gee, sharks aren't attracted to objects with fish blood and possibly fish bits on them naturally? Or shiny objects being waved right in their face? I've had nurse sharks hassle me for fish in the Keys plenty of times, and I don't blame that on Captain Slate's feeds. As Mr. Chen said, no panic or sense of danger.

Methinks certain divers have an overly inflated estimation of how their machismo is supposed to scare off sharks.

 

[CajunDiva]

MrChen, I have been reading your posts here for a while. You do not come across as the type of diver who would intentionally do anything to provoke or harm this creature.

The fact that the nurse shark approached you in that manner does not necessarily mean he is being fed by other divers and spear fishermen. A few weeks ago we were diving a very remote seamount at Cayos Cochinos off the island of Roatan when a nurse shark did the same thing to me. It wasn't aggressive at all...just got in my face to check me out. I am certain there are not frequent divers at that location, so I would suggest there may be some other reason nurse sharks interact with divers.

Thanks for sharing your video...

 

[MrChen]

Thanks CajunDiva. I showed the video from the moment I spotted the Nurse all the way through to it leaving. You can listen to my breathing, I didn't change my breathing pattern at all. Again, I hadn't speared anything and the camera goes wobbly because I was grabbing the spear. It was completely unprovoked outside the fact that we were there. I will reinforce the fact that I was not in fear at any time. It came up to me and slowed down. I used the word "attack" but it was not an attack whatsoever. We all know that sharks investigate with a bite and I wanted to let it know we weren't food. I also wanted something which I could use to fend it off should its actions turn more aggressive and my GoPro wasn't the answer .

 

[downto60]

Good think he went to you instead of me... All I had was my gopro... That would have "eaten" into my diving fund...


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[gfaith]

Interesting thread..
Last January in Belize my wife and I were finishing our OW dives. I was having some issues with my buoyancy while the instructor showed my wife a resting Nurse shark on the bottom. As I watched them from about 20' above another slightly smaller Nurse swam directly at my wife. Our instructor signed her to be calm and not to move, my brave little wife stood her ground and did as instructed. The Nurse swam into and bumped her right in her chest area, and she instinctively reached out and touched the shark as it swam away. Top-side she said she was a little scared, and that the shark "Looked like satin and felt like sandpaper". I would have pissed myself for sure..