Please help

[sharktale]

It is my 21st birthday on Saturday and my family has paid for me to go snorkelling with the sharks at Seaworld. However, I have my period and would like to no, if I am stillable to go? My biggest fear in the world is sharks. What should I do?

 

[SueMermaid]

Well, having your period is not going to be a problem, (if you search the women's forums about the subject, there's a lot of information), but if you are afraid of sharks, that is a problem. If this is your biggest fear in the world, why did you get this as a present? Honestly, this is nothing to be afraid of and is a safe thing to do, but why do it if you will be terrified?

Edited to add: Here's a place you can start reading.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=340

 

[NauticalbutNice]

If it's not rude to say so:

You say that your biggest fear is sharks. Are you maybe just looking for an excuse not to go?

If you are really uncomfortable about doing this, maybe you shouldn't.

Like Suemermaid says, if you are afraid of sharks, that would be the problem.

Hope whatever you do, you're happy!

Nauticalbutnice :fruit:

 

[donclaypool]

I was afraid of heights so I took up rock climbing, went skydiving, and had some flying lessons. Now I respect heights rather than fear them.

Don't let your fears outweigh your rational thought.

Don

 

[Ishie]

It is my 21st birthday on Saturday and my family has paid for me to go snorkelling with the sharks at Seaworld. However, I have my period and would like to no, if I am stillable to go? My biggest fear in the world is sharks. What should I do?

I wouldn't worry about it. If the sharks at Sea World got agitated over a little bit of menstrual blood, the company would be getting sued every other week, and they wouldn't be able to have females in the tank. Even regular blood, I suspect, won't get them too bugged. Tanks are generally populated with nonaggressive species that are well fed. I regularly dive Monterey even on my period, and though I'm not in a shark tank, we have Great Whites. There have been some studies that indicate menstrual blood is specifically unfavorable to sharks anyway.

The sharks at Sea World are generally fairly harmless species (I used to pet the nurse shark at the museum where I worked, and the only thing that managed to regularly take a chunk out of me were the frigging blue crabs), are well kept, and well fed. They aren't generally big enough to mistake humans as food anyway (like Whites and Tiger sharks), and they've been acclimated to accept humans in the tank so they don't see you as a threat to their territory.

Sharks just generally aren't altogether worried about harming us. There are publicized cases that are scary (my coast is one of the big attack coasts too), and is carried out by a very select group of species, none of which are represented in the Sea World shark tank, and even attacks by the dangerous species (whites, tigers, bulls, oceanic whitetips, makos, great hammerheads) are rare and feature dozens of passive sightings for every actual attack.

I saw my first shark on a dive (two actually, but one was a two foot horn shark dozing on the bottom) when I went to the Channel Islands. 4.5 foot shortfin mako, and that is a dangerous species. Didn't even give me a second glance.

I do understand phobias though, and they are defined by being illogical, so knowing the actual facts about the risks may not help your fear. The mako shark left me feeling awed, lucky to have seen it, and peaceful, but cockroaches will have me screaming and jumping on chairs, despite having absolutely no power whatsoever to hurt me. I can't seem to get over being afraid of them no matter how much I know about them. If you are attempting to conquer a mild phobia, nervousness, or misconception of sharks, by all means do it. If you have a severe shark phobia, you might evaluate whether or not this is something you can do. I can virtually guarantee you the sharks won't even come near you, but if you get overwhelmed by being in the tank (vs. getting to know them by being on the other side of the glass, or touching the top a nurse or angel shark while it is in an aquarium, and THEN trying to swim with them), having a panic attack is only going to increase your fear of sharks the next time.

For a moment, pretend that none of the sharks have teeth or cannot open their mouths. Would you still be afraid to swim with them? If you would still be afraid, you might want to consider other ways to get close to sharks to conquer the phobia that are a little less interactive than actually swimming with them. It comes down to whether you are afraid of sharks or afraid of being bitten.

 

[Louie]

Hello,

If it's a question of "am I in greater danger from sharks because I've got my period?" then the answer would be: "Not very likely". Now I'm not a scientist and I'm only speaking from experience - I have not noticed sharks showing increased levels of attraction to me during that time of the month.

If you are worried, mention your concerns to the staff responsible at Sea World. They should be able to advise. I imagine they would not allow members of the public to enter an enclosed area with sharks if there was even a small risk of an attack but just to make yourself feel better.

HOWEVER, a bigger question is: if sharks is your biggest fear in the world, why would you want to snorkel with them? If this is someone else's idea of a laugh, it's not very amusing. Or if it's a well-intended but not-very-appreciated gift, then could you not ask for an alternative?

Whatever you decide to do, have a nice birthday and let us know how it all goes.

Lou