Question on diving with sharks

[sharky60]

Very unlikely, they usually keep a good distance between you and them. They really don't want anything with some alien creature blowing bubbles, most of the time they will swim by sometimes just within eye shot and take a look and then be gone as quick as they appeared.

 

[drbill]

I try to avoid diving with lawyers any time and any place. However I've never had any problem with the fish version of sharks.

 

[ineedgills2]

sharks wont bother u, they are no more dangerouse than a dog, if u take the right precautions the n you will be fine. I have been on many shark dives, and i have also had several run in with shark unplanned. they are more interested in what u are , then they leave.

 

[sharky60]

this close enough for ya?

 

[CaptSaaz]

I got to dive with Sand Tigers off the coast of North Carolina. Sitting at a depth of 70ft, they would swim by and just check us out. They just seemed curious. One came particularly close, a foot away as he circled around me and swam off. Thye never made a threatening move but was close enough that I had to remind myself to relax and just keep breathing.

A few pics in this gallery if you are interested....

North Carolina Sand Tigers

 

[simonspear]

Even the so feared Great Whites usually leave divers alone. This also matches with my recent encounter. As far as my research went there is only one reported attack on a diver in scuba gear by a Great White worldwide. This was in 1991 when a diver got attacked at the surface (after being there for quite a while). The attack happened next to a seal colony off Mossel Bay / S.A. which is famous for hunting Great Whites.

There are a few more reports of Great Whites attacking divers, but like you said they are very rare.

If you're interested take a look at http://www.zoo.co.uk/~z9015043/medsaf1.html for one example.

 

[2Tours N Iraq`]

I've only had one encounter with a shark where I felt I was in imminent danger and it was totally my fault. I was skin-diving after a fresh accidental cut on my knee was still bleeding a little and I was catching lobster. I had the scent of lobster on my gloves mixed with the slightest amount of blood in the water (a shark can smell a drop of blood in 10,000 gallons of water). After circling me for a little bit, the bull shark came directly at me and opened his jaws as if to get a taste. I thumped him on the nose with my tickle stick which kept him at bay. Thankfully I knew what to do: not panic and swim as rhythmically away from the shark as quickly as possible WITHOUT splashing. Sharks get into a frenzied state when they detect a potential prey is in peril. By remaining calm and cool (even though every ounce of instinct in your body tells you otherwise) you shouldn't ever end up being dinner of the denizens of the deep.

 

[Green Hand]

Even the so feared Great Whites usually leave divers alone. This also matches with my recent encounter. As far as my research went there is only one reported attack on a diver in scuba gear by a Great White worldwide. This was in 1991 when a diver got attacked at the surface (after being there for quite a while). The attack happened next to a seal colony off Mossel Bay / S.A. which is famous for hunting Great Whites.

I wish this was true but the little buggers have been fairly busy in Australia this year. Some attacks that come to mind are; man taken on knee board being towed behind a boat; a couple of surfers taken on the surface; and most recently a marine biologist taken at surface heading for his boat in scuba gear [5klms.off shore in South Australia].

The big three to be wary of are Great Whites, Tiger Sharks, and Bull Sharks. You avoid the first two by not diving in their waters [Tigers are little less predictable, but Great Whites are so rare that you really have to go looking for them]. Bull Sharks are a bit more scary. They travel from salt water into fresh water fairly comfortably, love murky waters [i.e.inland rivers] and are aggressive. They are responsible fo attacks on dogs and people swimming in frsh water estuaries and rivers in Queensland, Australia.

As I have said in other posts, there are lots of places to dive where you are extremely unlikely to encounter one of the big three - so just do your research and be conservative.

Personally I love diving with sharks - on the evolutionary scale of perfect design for their given profession [killing stuff] they are nearly perfect.

 

[Daxter]

Just got back from Fiji, one of the dives we went on was at the supermarket called the shark encounter. Saw 4 reef sharks at about 70ft they stayed fairly far away, but on the accent ran into 2 under an overhang the surge pushed two of us trying to get photos almost into them all they did was move out, swim around wait for us to settle and go back in. And yes I felt stupid for getting pushed but glad I wasn't the only one in our group to not pay attention to the surge:bonk:

 

[sharky60]

I've been a diver for over 24 years and have dove with many, many sharks of all kinds and have never been threatened by one or even had aggressive behavior shown around me.
Swimming with sharks was one of my biggest incentives to learn to dive. Fortunately for me I learned to dive while stationed on Midway Island in the Navy and we had a very large shark population, one of the largest in the world from what I've been told. We would see at least one dive on almost every dive.