Shark Attack - Fact

[SharkDiver36]

There are no controlled shark dives.

Understating the obvious again? lol

 

[cdreamer]

mRNA,
I think you will feel better after your first encounter.

 

[Walter]

Understating the obvious again? lol

It's obviously not obvious to everyone. Bjtros thinks he's been on two of them.

 

[Web Monkey]

you should learn something out of this thread no matter what is your diving experience is. I hope this would help a bit.

There were actually two separate thoughts in my post. The first was that if you don't want to be attacked by a shark, don't look, act or smell like shark food. Other divers, your DiveCon book, your DiveCon instructor and an Instructor Certifier all said the same thing and you still don't believe any of them.

You're getting all jammed up over a very low probability incident that's almost entirely avoidable. You might as well worry about Alien Abduction. The chances of either event seems to be about the same.

Web Monkey, if you have logged about 400 dives and then you THINK that's enough to become an underwater hero, then I'm telling you, you should learn something out of this thread no matter what is your diving experience is. I hope this would help a bit.

My second point was that SSI's 99 dive minimum requirement for DiveCon is disappointing, however their requirements aren't your fault. I never said anything about being an "underwater hero." What I learned about this thread is that some people expend a good deal of energy worrying about a very low probability event.

Terry

 

[RichnLenny]

ha! in my opinion and its just that, my opinion! i think if you feed sharks you deserve to get bitten im all for shark feeders end up shark feed... nuggets that feed them are teaching them to identify us with chow time... not cool

 

[meierdierck]

rich, i agree with your opinion to a point, feeding sharks is prob not a smart thing for most people to do, but i think more info would formulate a better opinion countless people dive with sharks on a daily basis, and the one guy in the bahamas that got bit made national news, the numbers speak for themselves, we are not and dont resemble anything they eat, almost ever bite is exploratory, and not followed up on, even they guy in the bahamas that died bled to death, he wasnt "eaten", i think it better to focus on the things that are killing divers rather is a better way to spend our energies

 

[Glock Diver]

...

If you are actually attacked by a shark, then... mostly you die - and whatever you do won't make much difference either.


That said, as a diver you have less chance of being attacked than being run over by a bus on the way to the boat.

The first part is entirely inaccurate. Check out the shark attack files at International Shark Attack File
The VAST majority of shark-bite victims survive the incident. Since 1990, the fatality rate of shark attacks is only 9% worldwide, and just 2% in the U.S. That's because, as many posters have stated, that a shark may confuse a human with food, and after the initial bite(s), sharks discover that their victim is NOT food, and disengage the attack. Also, as a diver, you're much safer than people wading at the beach, snorkeling, surfing, etc. Of all shark attacks, only 9% occur to SCUBA divers.
:shocked2:

I completely agree with the second part of your post. Extreme fear of sharks is a reality for many people, although most of us understand it to be irrational fear. Of course, some people also have extreme fear of enclosed spaces, spiders, airplanes, heights, circus clowns, cracks in the sidewalk, etc. While it makes sense for a dive instructor to accurately respond to a student's question (since they obviously have a fear about it), I don't think training on the unlikely event of a shark attack should be normal part of OW curriculum.


Some interesting factoids on what you're MORE LIKELY to die from than an unprovoked shark attack:

Annual Risk Of Death During One's Lifetime (2003)

Cause - Annual Deaths - Your Odds
Heart disease 652,486 1 in 5
Cancer 553,888 1 in 7
Stroke 150,074 1 in 24
Hospital Infections 99,000 1 in 38
Flu 59,664 1 in 63
Car accidents 44,757 1 in 84
Suicide 31,484 1 in 119
Accidental poisoning 19,456 1 in 193
MRSA (resistant bacteria) 19,000 1 in 197
Falls 17,229 1 in 218
Drowning 3,306 1 in 1,134
Bike accident 762 1 in 4,919
Air/space accident 742 1 in 5,051
Excessive cold 620 1 in 6,045
Sun/heat exposure273 1 in 13,729
Lightning 47 1 in 79,746
Train crash 24 1 in 156,169
Fireworks 11 1 in 340,733
Shark attack 1 1 in 3,748,067

Source: All accidental death information from National Safety Council. Disease death information from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Shark fatality data provided by the International Shark Attack File. Lifetime risk is calculated by dividing 2003 population (290,850,005) by the number of deaths, divided by 77.6, the life expectancy of a person born in 2003.
© International Shark Attack File
Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida

 

[MMM]

If you are interested take the PADI shark diver speciality course

Holy cow. PADI has a shark diving specialty. Who knew???

 

[RAD Diver]

We make trips to NC just so we can get to actually see Sharks in their natural environment, now Sandtigers over here are not that aggressive, but as they are called in Africa "Raggies" they have been known to attack, makes them #5 on the list of most likely to attack.
I did see a Great Hammerhead last year in Cape Hatteras, but was too slow to get a picture of it.
Bulls have their own set of rules & Walters experience proves that they don't need blood in the water from spearfishing to get riled.

From Hatteras last weekend on the "Proteus"

 

[ptyx]

The first part is entirely inaccurate. Check out the shark attack files at International Shark Attack File
The VAST majority of shark-bite victims survive the incident.

My bad - I knew about the 'taste' bite, but I always assumed that for the big sharks even nibbling would result in massive bleeding and death.
I now stand corrected, although I'd guess survival rate might be lower for divers as they're relatively further from rescue/medical care than surfers/swimmers usually are. Not that any statistics on that would be meaningful given the very low number of cases...