Reaction to Shark Approach Fear poll options?

[John from the burg]

I love seeing sharks, they are so damn cool i follow them around and pet them while they try their best to get away from me. Back diving spots is almost always a waste but tell me there is a hammer and I'm going back down to give her a look. That said polls are tough, I'm happy as hell to see the shark but very anti feeding them. Scared doesn't happen with normal sharks so cant even say i would be cautious, i normally kick my ass off toward them as long as I'm not holding a fish... Grinning like an idiot.

Would i be as happy around a shark diving spot? Hell no, people screw with nature enough without **** like this adding to it. I also don't think this is even the main issue, i think the main issue is changing the habits of the areas top predators no matter its effect on local people.

 

[TheOnlyRae]

I live and dive in South Florida. I have been fortunate enough to encounter some biggies over the past few years.

Had a bull approach in Pompano, circle and stay close by for an entire dive. I was not spearing or lobstering, but my buddies were spearing lions and catching lobsters.

Had a hammerhead approach off West Palm, was amazing - but she only did a drive by.

Had a hammerhead approach off Stuart. Again - amazing! She did a drive by, then turned around to pose for my camera.

Each encounter was pretty fantastic. The bull was a little nervewracking - because he stayed the whole dive. But I figured my buddies had a bigger concern than I did. My camera wasn't bleeding.

 

[drrich2]

In retrospect, I probably should've left out how people would react to shark feeding in response.

My main concern was how the general diving public would react to being approached by medium to large 'man-eater' (yeah, I know, bad term) species on standard recreation dives. You can imagine a group of divers on Molasses Reef down in Key Largo ambling along when suddenly a 14 foot tiger shark swims right through the middle of the group.

Such divers might also include a few who would panic and bolt. The shark may not be after humans, of course, but when someone bolts to the surface in a panic & starts thrashing and beating the water screaming for the dive boat, well, that might not be the brightest thing to do.

Richard.

 

[Arubandi07]

Based on my one and only Shark encounter, a few years ago, somewhere between 3 and 4.

@ Richard; in the scenario you described in #6, I'd definitely be quite a bit more apprehensive about things, for the following reasons:

a) a little too close for comfort; 20' or so would make me a whole lot happier.

b) species and size; call me weird, but if this did happen, I'd probably prefer a GW or Tiger of that size to a Bullshark ...

Keep in mind, that I'm a freediver, so for me, timing is also a factor. If this encounter were to occur toward the end of a dive, I won't have the option to delay surfacing for a couple of minutes to let the situation play out. With 'my' Shark(Blacktip, around 5'), as soon as I noticed it, I went back up to about 20', level with the approaching Shark, and stayed put to watch. At ~ 40' distance, the Shark ended up changing its approach angle from head-on to perpendicular and down toward a sand channel leading through the reef into open water ... gone ... The whole thing took about a minute and a half, no biggie, just a surprising and interesting experience. Big Bull coming in for a closer look, with me running out of gas? Different story ...

 

[victorzamora]

I'm a big ol' 2 from the original list. I've got two shark stories related to fearing them.

One was in Belize. We were on a big shark dive....not feeding them, just an area known for them. I was told there were 250 total sharks in the area. Mostly nurse. It was unbelievable. There were some reef and whatever, they were mostly 5-7ft sharks. Well, the DM looks at me and says "shark." I'm like, "DUH. Okay, cool? Shark - there, shark - there, shark - there." He interrupts me, says "NO. SHARK SHARK - THERE" As he says it, a bigger reef shark swam past me. I was like, "Yeah, cool. Okay. Shark." Then he hid behind a bit of reef. At about this time, a 357ft long bull shark (maybe slightly exagerating) swam like a foot off of my shoulder. Not at me, or interested in me....just past me. It had a look in its eye like, "I could eat you. I'm not hungry, and you don't look tasty....but I could. I just thought you should know." CLEARLY apex predator. After I performed a Warhammer maneuver and restarting my heart, I was amazed by the grace of the shark. Such a giant creature was being so effortless.

My other story, and the only time I got nervous for more than a second, was in NC on a wreck. We were at 80-90ft on a wreck that was being circled by Sand Tigers. My buddy and I got close to the bow to watch the sharks, as we were done checking out the wreck. Suddenly, I realize I'm in a school of tiny fish. No biggies. Then the tiny fish start getting replaced by bigger fish. No biggies. Then big fish. Then I see a shark take a swipe at one of the big fish and realize I'm in the middle of them. THAT made me nervous. I backed out of the school of fish, then watched the sharks swoop through it a few times. Then we continued on the wreck. Once I cleared out of the middle of the buffet line, I was fine.

Having said that, the nurse shark in that video was too interested in those divers. I'm afraid that one person with the wrong reaction could have a hugely negative impact on sharks....and people that chum waters and feed them speared fish are making it worse. Yeah, they're awesome creatures....until they start gnawing on divers and dive gear on a daily basis.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

Hi Richard,

The problem is that not all approaches are created equal. Feeding is a factor, because feeding affects how the shark approaches. Unfed sharks tend to stand off or actively avoid people. There might be a leisurely swim-by but that usually is it and the shark's attention is not focused on "you." Fed sharks will approach more directly and closer. They might also be swimming faster with their fins and body in a stimulated pre-feeding posture (fins down, faster swimming and back-and-forth movement) and they are definitely interested in "you." This can be disconcerting to those not expecting it, and even for those who are.

 

[danvolker]

Another issue of concern.....On a feed, even on a bait only dive, the sharks come in, and if they come in too close, too curious, the divers ALL have either a decent sized camera to push the shark off with, or a pvc pipe...or in Emerald's case it could be a speargun...any of these work fine, and are easy enough to do....However....there are many "Sight-Seeing" divers with nothing in their hands, maybe not even gloves on.

Exactly how are they going to "push off" a curious shark intent on a test bite, and not meaning any harm ?

The point here, is the potential need for all the non-shark feed boats, to begin equipping their sight-seers with PVC if they drop on some of the wrecks or other areas that are now populated by the newly "educated" sharks, that think divers mean a free meal.

I shoot video, my wife has a big camera...it is not really an issue to us at all....but I have to consider what these novice sight seers are going to do to fend away a curious shark...I don't think it is smart that we expect them to use their hands for this...just because Randy and a few oher Shark Wranglers enjoy doing this

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

That's why I ask that the feeds be moved elsewhere. After abernethy's trip, I am comforable enough to fend off a close approach with my camera, but, really, I don't want to deal with stimulated sharks at my goliath dives, nor do I care for Maribi to become my "bodyguard" ready to fend off sharks with a pipe if I am looking through the lens at something.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Including the feeding aspect kind of skews the poll. The issue is - how do you know the shark has been fed, and that is why it's approaching you?

As far as fending off a shark, well I've only ever done that once on my first shark feed on the Emerald. Out on the 130' ledge we had a gaggle of sandbar, dusky, and silky sharks turn up (along with one very shy scalloped hammerhead). One of the silkies, whom Randy termed "Bling-Bling" as she had about three fishing leaders in her mouth (probably a good sign she was rather inquisitive to begin with), came up to me on two occasions. In hindsight it wasn't an issue - I observed her doing the same to some of the other divers who had bigger cameras; she would leisurely approach, almost nudge a flash, and then turn away. The issue was that on two occasions (this being my first dive with the new still camera) I had my head down fiddling with the settings and looked up to see Bling-Bling's nose within arm's reach. Not particularly liking the idea of having a shark mouth pointed in my direction at close range, I gave her a firm, open-palm shove to the top of the head and she got the message. I've sunk about a grand into my Olympus setup at this point; bludgeoning nosy sharks was not one of the intended uses of that investment.

 

[drrich2]

I finally got around to getting a poll up, here.

I think I'd enjoy seeing the sharks on one of Randy's dives, when I was there with that in mind. Being 'buzzed' by an 8 foot tiger shark on a 'normal' reef dive where I was not anticipating such an encounter, wasn't in the company of seasoned crew accustomed to dealing with sharks in close quarters, and might even have been assigned an instabuddy I just met, don't know and can't predict the reaction of, and with no PVC pipe or similar object to discourage close encounters, I'd find it quite anxiety provoking.

Richard.

Richard.