Oh my, its a big shark...breath slowly

[got4boyz]

I always thought that you probably wouldn't have to worry about a shark attack while diving. I figured the bubbles and the sound of the bubbles would scare them off.

Does anyone know of any divers ever being attacked by sharks? If so and you have a link that talks about it I'd be very interested.

Thanks!

 

[gerardnealon]

Roak-
Heh, you have more balls than me bro. I would be on the wall.

EC

Yea Ill second that. Eklipso I dive on LI all the time since Im from Massapequa. Your getting me nervous man!! Actually Hampton Dive Center occasionally hosts shark dives off Montauk. They are caged dives and I believe they are feeding the sharks also. Sounds like fun.... WHEN THERE IS A CAGE!!!

 

[adder70]

Not all sharks are scavengers, and certainly not exclusively scavengers. Think of the shots of sharks slashing through schools of fish to injure some and then coming back for scraps a moment later.

Divers have definitely been attacked by sharks, though most were the direct result of diver idiocy. I saw film of an idiot who had heard that Nurse sharks don't bite, so he was harrassing a nurse shark to get good pics. Well even a well trained Golden Retriever will bite if you piss him off enough, so sure enough, the shark finally turned around and took a chunk out of the guy's thigh. I obviously wouldn't say the guy deserved it, but he certainly took his chances.

 

[SeaJay]

Not all sharks are scavengers, and certainly not exclusively scavengers.

Rather, I think your point is that scavengers have been known to attack and have predatory traits... Which is true. Coyotes and Hyenas are also scavengers, but can be dangerous for the same reason.

I'm not saying that you'll never see a shark attack, and I'm not saying that you're going to wake up in the middle of the night with a shark in your garbage cans. What I'm trying to convey is that sharks are picky eaters - generally opportunistic and usually looking for the dead and dying. Sharks are the Darwin machines of the ocean. Don't be "dead and dying," and you're much less likely to be attacked (as if you had much of a chance to begin with).

Think of the shots of sharks slashing through schools of fish to injure some and then coming back for scraps a moment later.

I've seen that behavior from barracuda, but I don't think I've ever seen it in sharks.

Divers have definitely been attacked by sharks, though most were the direct result of diver idiocy.

For some real information on shark attacks, check these links out:

Mote Marine Lab's (the world-recognized shark experts) perspective on shark attacks: http://www.marinelab.sarasota.fl.us/~rhueter/sharks/attacks.phtml

Florida Museum of Natural History's perspective on shark attacks: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/Attacks/perspect.htm

A statistical comparison of the possibility of being attacked by a shark vs. being struck by lightning, broken down by State and degree of lethality: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/attacks/relarisklightning.htm

By the way... The figures for 2003 are in... There were four fatalities last year due to shark attacks, worldwide. Compare that to the number of auto-related deaths, food poisioning deaths, cancer-related deaths, or deaths from slipping and falling in the bathtub. A fear of sharks is simply not rational - although real in many people. Compare the number of shark attacks on humans to the number of sharks killed annually by humans... And tell me who the predator is.

Over the 1990's, there were an average of 51.4 attacks each year, resulting in about eight fatalities annually. Of those 51.4 individuals, a little over 3% of them were scuba diving or snorkeling at the time... So there's been an average of one or two reported shark attacks on divers and snorkelers (the figure's so low that the files don't differentiate between the two) per year - none of which resulted in a fatality.

Interestingly, those fatalities which did occur (the files seem to reflect that sharks attack surfers most often) were almost exclusively fatal attacks because of blood loss after the victim got out of the water. In other words, the concept of "being eaten by a shark" is statistically unrealistic.

More of this sort of information can be had at http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/sharks.htm

 

[jeadiver]

or even a bored Mako or Blue. I don't think the Sandtigers make it up that far north during this time of year, I think they like the water just a bit warmer (could be wrong, but I seem to remember preferred temps in the 60's F or higher).
Anyway, it is a treat to see any big shark in the water like that.

By the way, someone in this thread said that Sandtigers only get to 10Ft. I know I've seen them bigger than that, many in the 12 ft. range, one at least 15 ft. Anything that big is an awe inspiring sight.

 

[got4boyz]

Thanks for the websites SeaJay. Very interesting. Looks like people in Florida need to be afraid of lightning! Wonder what makes it such a lightning prone state?

So who's afraid of the big, bad shark? Doesn't sound like us divers need to be.

My first shark accounter was while diving at Bonneville Seabase in Utah last summer. I'd taken my two oldest newly certified sons there. Seabase is a couple of natural salt water ponds whose salinity is close to that of the ocean, so they have imported many tropical fish and 3 or 4 nurse sharks there.

Anyway, on the dive with my second son we dropped down and he was suppose to use his compass to navigate us through a culvert to a second pond. He started off but then stopped. He kept pointing ahead of him and visibility was so low I couldn't see anything until I got a little closer. Then there 2 feet away was this big dorsal fin. There was this 6 foot or so nurse shark just laying there on the bottom. We were actually able to touch him. He felt really cool. He just laid there the whole time while we checked him out. It was really weird to see my first shark in UTAH!!!!

After five years of diving I finally saw my first shark in the wild in Cozumel last month. It was also a nurse shark and it went swimming right by me five feet away. I was so excited I swam along side it and got a pretty decent shot of it with my camera.

It swam away from me then so I kept my eye on it and it went to this hole and was shoving it's body into the hole. It kept trying to shove itself harder and harder into the hole. It was obvious it was after something. We all swam over there to see what was going on and he left when a group of 6 of us or so were nearby.

Looking in the hole we found a very large green moray eel. Was he trying to eat him??? It was so cool!

Anyway, I hope to see more sharks someday. I think they are awesome.

 

[H2Andy]

hi beth...

(a) it is surrounded by water (lots of moisture); and

(b) it's hot (lots of convenction activity)

equals...

daily thunderstorms in the summer months

 

[got4boyz]

hi beth...

(a) it is surrounded by water (lots of moisture); and

(b) it's hot (lots of convenction activity)

equals...

daily thunderstorms in the summer months

Thanks, makes sense!

 

[archman]

By the way, someone in this thread said that Sandtigers only get to 10Ft. I know I've seen them bigger than that, many in the 12 ft. range, one at least 15 ft. .

That was me. 10 foot is the maximum documented size according to FishBase. In order to document a size you must have proof in the form of photographs and/or direct measurements. The maximum documented length of a great white shark for instance falls short of some of the more wild reports heard every year, even on this board.

Don't forget to factor in the 25% magnification a diver will have when viewing marine life. Flood your mask and look again, if you're obliged to stick around.

 

[adder70]

Rather, I think your point is that scavengers have been known to attack and have predatory traits... Which is true. Coyotes and Hyenas are also scavengers, but can be dangerous for the same reason.

Depends on the shark: http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/Sharks&Rays/diet.html

Don't be "dead and dying," and you're much less likely to be attacked (as if you had much of a chance to begin with).

From the seaworld page: "A cookiecutter shark (Isistius spp.) uses suction to attach itself to whales and large fishes; it carves out a core of flesh with its large triangular teeth."
You might also want to avoid looking like a whale (time for that diet! )

I've seen that behavior from barracuda, but I don't think I've ever seen it in sharks.

I saw it just yesterday on TV, but I didn't catch the species name. You could see several sharks swimming through large schools of fish. It was almost like an amoeba the way the dark mass of fish shifted to avoid the incoming sharks.

By the way... The figures for 2003 are in... There were four fatalities last year due to shark attacks, worldwide. Compare that to the number of auto-related deaths, food poisioning deaths, cancer-related deaths, or deaths from slipping and falling in the bathtub.

Also, compare the number of shark encounters to the number meals eaten, the number of intersections driven through, and the number of shower entries and exits. No, I don't have a significant fear of sharks, but those numbers are somewhat misleading.