Q re: best combo of shark likelihood and depth out of Morehead

[dlwalke]

Am visiting Morehead City towards the end of the month and have a couple of dives booked. My main goal is to see some SandTigers. I just got my EANx cert and am having my tanks cleaned as I type. Unless I call them and switch, they will be filled with a 30% mix, so I don't want to do anything too deep (plus, I'd like to stay down as long as possible). So, I am wondering what sites I might suggest in order to have a good probability of seeing some sharks, without going any deeper than is neccesary.

Thanks for any suggestions,
Dave

 

[BabyDuck]

30% will be about right for offshore nc. most of the popular wrecks are slightly shallower than 120, like 115-ish. the sharks can (of course) move around - your boat captain will have a pretty good idea where they're hanging out based on where they've been the last few days. the way the boats operate is that they have a general idea if they're going onshore or offshore, and kinda take suggestions and vote on which wreck to hit while on the way out, so make sure you're heard about your wishes to see sharks during this conversation so they take what you want into consideration.

lots of luck & i hope you have a blast! last november, there were piles of sharks on the papoose, which was a great wreck...

 

[fireflock]

You will probably enjoy this page:

http://members.aol.com/fpsndiver/fpsn11.html

The wrecks mentioned are in the Wilmington area, but Sand Tigers are common off Morehead too. The Papoose and the Caribsea are two favorites for Sand Tigers. The Papoose is ~120ft to the sand, but there is a lot of relief and you can do a shallower dive if you want. The Caribsea is ~85 or so to the sand, but close to the shoals so viz can be variable. Like the above poster mentioned, let the Capt. and crew know you want to see sharks and they will probably hook you up. Also ask them where on the wreck to find sharks. For example, there are sometimes SandTigers inside the Aeolus or the Indra and people never see them because they never look (I'm not saying you should penetrate the wreck without training, you can just look inside).

If all else fails, head over to the newly remodeled aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. They have a nice tank with a replica of U-352 and Sand Tigers (I have never seen a Sand Tiger on the real U-352, BTW).

I think shark sightings become a little more variable as fall rolls along, so you might have to get lucky. You might also see something like a Sandbar or Bull Shark.

Rich

 

[divekraz]

If you want to see a Sand Tiger up close and personal do a search for Sand Tiger Shark or Divekraz and see my post of 8-29-06, go towards the bottom and see my second post on 8-30-06 and click onto the web link to see a Sand Tiger coming at me off of Hatteras N.C. on the Dixie Arrow. This was definately the exception, We went diving 18 times, saw 50-100 sharks and never had any come at me like this one did. Have a great time.

 

[KazInAz]

We did the papoose sept 1 and saw about a dozen Sand Tigers ranging from 4-8ft in length. Most were at the stern of the boat. I have a tooth to prove it!!
Great dive.