Peeing in my wetsuit attracts shark ?
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That was a sad and terrible event, these were oceanic white tips as I recall, sharks are scavengers and they will find easy prey, the unfortunate sailors were in the water for a long, long time. I still stand by my statement that we are not part of their food chain and human blood does not attract sharks.
I am not saying that sharks will not eat people as obviously this has happened but if we were part of their natural food chain you would be reading about a lot more shark attacks. I have personally been diving with them for years (knock on wood) and I am here to tel the tale. Just think how many people pee in the ocean when they are swimming and sharks are there all the time.
You seem locked in on your beliefs so just don't pee in your wetsuit, I am not going to debate ad infinitum with you on this.
The sharks did not attack as soon as the men were in the water it took a while for them to figure out that they were prey. They are scavengers and they do what they do very well.
I was diving with Great Whites, and spearfishing with Raggies, Zambezis and Tigers in SA without a cage years before the hype of cage diving started. In California in the kelp we dive with sharks all the time. Virtually every beach has sharks it is their territory. In the Carolinas we dive with sand tigers every ocean in the world has sharks and we dive with them all the time.
Regarding your statement about cage diving when we start messing with sharks and chumming we are going to get them excited once again we are interferring with nature, in their natural habitat for the most part they do not consider us part of the food chain which is why a lot of people survive shark attacks because they spit us out.
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smellzlikefish
Contributor
Hey Luku-I've done the Hawaiian shark dive without the cage. No biggie. My friend even hitched a ride on the dorsal fin of a big galapagos shark.
Oceanic whitetips (and many pelagic sharks in general) are attracted to anything different in the water because there really isn't much else. One person peeing in their wetsuit is probably not enough to attract sharks over many miles, but hundreds of sailors peeing in the water combined with the oil and excitement of a shipwreck is bound to draw some attention.
Oceanic whitetips (and many pelagic sharks in general) are attracted to anything different in the water because there really isn't much else. One person peeing in their wetsuit is probably not enough to attract sharks over many miles, but hundreds of sailors peeing in the water combined with the oil and excitement of a shipwreck is bound to draw some attention.
Peter_C
Contributor
One of the largest attractants in that case is going to be vomit. Many of the soldiers started getting delirious and drinking the salt water that caused them to vomit. That is a known attractant of sharks.
There really is only one shark that eats mammals as it's primary diet in adulthood and that is the Great White shark. For those that claim to have done shark dives without a cage, was that in the Landlords territory? If not then it probably doesn't count.
Bull sharks eat pretty much anything, and Tigers take bites out of any potential food. I would venture to guess a Great White is more predictable, and less likely to bite a human, but I am not willing to be part of any experiment, other than diving in the Red Triangle 90% of the time.
I'll quote myself since we at the point in this thread where I need to repeat myself.
When a group of divers (not in a cage) are being circled by several Oceanic Whitetips when the boat is miles off shore in the middle of the night and Pacific, the prudent thing to do is to pull the divers. Especially when the Oceanic's are seen arching their backs and lowering their pectoral fins.
Reducing the chances of seeing sharks is in everyone's best interest when diving these particular dives. If something could have the slightest possibly to attract sharks cautious dive ops and DM's recommend against doing it.
Discharging of any bodily fluids (vomit, urine, and blood for example) when doing these dives is usually discouraged for the above mentioned reasons.
That's a big "probably" to risk a dive over.
Hey, pee all you want or, like someone else said, crap in your wetsuit for all I care. The boat crew will still get paid if the divers get pulled or not. Are you so stubborn about needing to pee in your wetsuit that you are willing to risk your dive and everyone else's.
When a group of divers (not in a cage) are being circled by several Oceanic Whitetips when the boat is miles off shore in the middle of the night and Pacific, the prudent thing to do is to pull the divers. Especially when the Oceanic's are seen arching their backs and lowering their pectoral fins.
Reducing the chances of seeing sharks is in everyone's best interest when diving these particular dives. If something could have the slightest possibly to attract sharks cautious dive ops and DM's recommend against doing it.
Discharging of any bodily fluids (vomit, urine, and blood for example) when doing these dives is usually discouraged for the above mentioned reasons.
That's a big "probably" to risk a dive over.
Hey, pee all you want or, like someone else said, crap in your wetsuit for all I care. The boat crew will still get paid if the divers get pulled or not. Are you so stubborn about needing to pee in your wetsuit that you are willing to risk your dive and everyone else's.
Doubler
Contributor
Well sorry I don't have any links to back it up but I was recently told by a well respected Divemaster that urine is a sign of distress to sharks in deep, open ocean waters. We were doing an open ocean night dive over about 8,000' of water off the coast of Hawaii. We did see sharks but I SWEAR it wasn't me that peed in the water.You can read the trip report here. Whether it had anything to do with someone in the dive party peeing or not is up for discussion.
I had never heard this claim before this and didn't take much stock in the claim at the time. But after confronting an Oceanic Whitetip I can't help but wonder.
At any rate having dived many different and varied geographic locations and conditions I can not say that this statement is consistent with my own observations. I would venture to guess that for most of the diving community at large, diving in relatively shallow waters, relatively close to shore, it should not be a matter of great concern.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ha...big-island-divers-black-water-night-dive.html
I read the post to which you are referring and I believe your DM is completly wrong. As I recall they divers were on a night dive, open ocean, very deep water and the DM was banging on his tank to point out things to the divers. Oceanic White Tips are the first to respond to ship disasters because they are very sensitive to sound. I don't believe peeing in a wetsuit had anything to do with the attraction. It was "ringing the dinner bell" and probably the high frequency sound of strobes charging up that attracted them. They feel the vibrations of underwater explosions for miles and swim to it looking for a meal. About a year ago I was watching a program with divers off of Oahu diving with OWT's, everything was going just fine until a diver turned on his strobe. That shark nailed that strobe in about two micro seconds. Getting in the water with OWT, at night, banging tanks and charging up strobes is an accident waiting to happen IMHO.
smellzlikefish
Contributor
"Especially when the Oceanics are seen arching their backs and lowering their pectoral fins."
This is a common misconception and grates at my ears when I hear it. It seems everytime I hear of someone new seeing a shark, they include the line "and it dropped it pec fins and arched its back." There are two reasons a shark might bite a human. 1) the diver has gotten too close and the shark wants to fend them off, in which case the shark will put up a warning display. I have dived with hundreds of sharks of every ilk and have seen this display twice. 2) The shark sees the diver as potential food, as in the case of the oceanic whitetips, in which case it doesn't make sense to warn the diver that they will be eaten.
I have also been on the blackwater dive and agree with the majority. The number of people peeing in their suits every day without issues is a statistic that speaks for itself. In fact, if anything is attracting the oceanics to the blackwater dives, it is the presence of the boat itself. The lights attracting the plankton, the lines giving fish cover, the divers, the splashing, all this makes for plenty of cues to attract sharks. You are basically creating a temporary FAD every time you go out. The effect that a bit of urine will have is negligible. It is a risk most people who go on these things are willing to take but they are billed as a bit out of the ordinary. If you don't want to go on the blackwater dive, then don't.
You seem to have an agenda against peeing in wetsuits. To me, it is a personal choice instilled when I was diving colder water and it served as a way to initially warm the water in the suit. Some people decide what they are going to believe first, then go looking for proof without ever questioning again if they are right.
This is a common misconception and grates at my ears when I hear it. It seems everytime I hear of someone new seeing a shark, they include the line "and it dropped it pec fins and arched its back." There are two reasons a shark might bite a human. 1) the diver has gotten too close and the shark wants to fend them off, in which case the shark will put up a warning display. I have dived with hundreds of sharks of every ilk and have seen this display twice. 2) The shark sees the diver as potential food, as in the case of the oceanic whitetips, in which case it doesn't make sense to warn the diver that they will be eaten.
I have also been on the blackwater dive and agree with the majority. The number of people peeing in their suits every day without issues is a statistic that speaks for itself. In fact, if anything is attracting the oceanics to the blackwater dives, it is the presence of the boat itself. The lights attracting the plankton, the lines giving fish cover, the divers, the splashing, all this makes for plenty of cues to attract sharks. You are basically creating a temporary FAD every time you go out. The effect that a bit of urine will have is negligible. It is a risk most people who go on these things are willing to take but they are billed as a bit out of the ordinary. If you don't want to go on the blackwater dive, then don't.
You seem to have an agenda against peeing in wetsuits. To me, it is a personal choice instilled when I was diving colder water and it served as a way to initially warm the water in the suit. Some people decide what they are going to believe first, then go looking for proof without ever questioning again if they are right.
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