Question...

[dive_lover88]

ok i have some questions that have been bugging me,
Can sharks detect a small cut on a peson's body even when the peson is wearing an exposure suit?? Will the blood be able to pass through the neoprene material of a wetsuit?? And also...what is the chance that a diver will get attacked on the surface before decending and after ascending and waiting for the boat??

 

[miketsp]

ok i have some questions that have been bugging me,
Can sharks detect a small cut on a peson's body even when the peson is wearing an exposure suit?? Will the blood be able to pass through the neoprene material of a wetsuit?? And also...what is the chance that a diver will get attacked on the surface before decending and after ascending and waiting for the boat??

Most of the answers are "depends".

A shark’s nostrils can detect smells from over 1/2 mile away, because 2/3 of their brain is devoted to olfaction, which can detect one part blood per billion parts of water (1ppb).

So, how much blood are you losing from the cut?
How well-fitting is your wetsuit. The looser the fit the more circulation of water and the higher the probability of blood transfer from inside to outside at the neck, wrists, ankles & zipper. The blood will not normally pass through the neoprene unless it is damaged (cut/torn) or there is a cheap seam construction.

Most attacks by sharks on divers are at the surface so you should minimise your time there if you believe there are sharks around.
Sharks do not deliberately target humans as prey but you could be mistaken for a seal or sea lion.

 

[Wijbrandus]

I've read that human blood is not nearly as attractive to sharks as fish blood is. As a result, it's not likely to interest them. It probably smells to them like a glass of spoiled milk smells to us.

Of course, I probably read that on the Internet, so take it for what it's worth.

On the other hand, I've been in the ocean with many different kinds of cuts and scrapes, and never have I seen a shark while diving. Maybe they aren't fond of my blood type.

 

[jonnythan]

The blood won't move out *through* the neoprene, but it *will* get washed out of the wetsuit through normal water movement.

 

[dive_lover88]

Thanks alot guys for helping me answer my questions!!

 

[saildiver]

ok i have some questions that have been bugging me,
Can sharks detect a small cut on a peson's body even when the peson is wearing an exposure suit?? Will the blood be able to pass through the neoprene material of a wetsuit?? And also...what is the chance that a diver will get attacked on the surface before decending and after ascending and waiting for the boat??

Its extraorrdinarily rare for divers to be attacked by sharks period! Most shark attacks happen to surfers,waders and swimmers,spearfishermen towing bleeding fish,or occassional divers who are diving in areas frequented by Great Whites. Obviously,if you are bleeding so badly that it is leaking from your wetsuit and you don't have enough experience with sharks that you have to ask this question-I would reccommend that you get out pretty promptly. Use common sense -but ,even if you are bleeding badly,I think your risk is quite low,unless there just happens to be an aggressive shark in the area...and there are less and less of them around these days....Peace...Saildiver

 

[dive_lover88]

Yup!! i 'm a noob diver who onli have 21 dives under my (weight)belt, i have never seen a shark before

 

[Mike Veitch]

Buddy of mine stuck himself with a knife while we were doing a shark feed, he was bleeding like a stuck pig, ie over 30 stitches to his hand. Obviously as we were doing a feed the sharks were being rather agitated and aggressive. Guess what? They didn't look at him twice, he swam a little ways away and surfaced, sharks couldn't have cared less about his human blood.
I have been in the water hundreds of times with 100+ sharks with many a cut, scrape etc (and the girls with me at that time of the month) and the sharks couldn't care less.

The moral of this story is....Don't worry about it, go diving and have fun!

 

[dive_lover88]

thanks everybody for your help, i appreciate it!
Happy diving and dive safe!

 

[BKDiver]

To further dispel the idea that sharks are attracted to our blood.... Four years ago, I was spearfishing in the Bahamas when I got hit by a bull shark. I lost most of my left calf plus the fish that I had on the end of my spear. I had over a 100 yd swim back to the boat and interestingly enough, despite the chum line's worth of blood that I left in my wake, not a single other shark showed up. My experience has certainly changed my perspective on what sharks are attracted to and we're definitely not part of their menu.