Shark attack in Hawaii

[mars2u]

Not that I'm worried :wacko: ...ahem...OK...so I know that it's a rare thing....but anywho...I'll be in Palau and then Oahu starting this weekend and I read this...



http://starbulletin.com/2003/05/11/news/index1.html

How about them statistics?

 

[Pez de Diablo]

I had no idea there were that many shark encounters each year in Hawaii. It's still low and not a concern IMO.

 

[gfisher4792]

I'm a little surprised that the number of attacks is so low, considering how many people go into the water in Hawaii (hundreds of thousands a year, perhaps?) There are better things to worry about in Hawaii than a shark attack (like eating too much, getting indigestion and missing out on vacation time while you're laid up in bed waiting for the Pepto to do its work)

 

[suzyb808]

The stats aren't high to me. Compared to other places (FL) they are pretty low considering the amount of people in the water. Also...not really an issue for the diver...very rare. I think I only heard of one attack on a diver when I was there (and the attack was several years before I arrived) and that was a diver who was also spearfishing and instead of having the fish on a long line had them attached at his waist (duh).

Usually is the surfers, bodyboarders that would have the most worries and if you take the number of surfers, bboarders and just plain tourist and locals swimming and splashing around these stats are VERY low. We had more people get hurt and die from hiking in HI (on Oahu) than shark bites.

 

[SCUBedoobedoo]

theres nothing to be worried about. if you focus on the possibility of shark attacks then wheres the fun in diving?!

 

[docmartin]

in my view the biggest danger for divers in hawaii is that they for get about the flying and diving lesson. in hawaii you may go diving in the morning and then feel like touring inthe afternoon. some of those volcanoes are more than 10,000 feet. you can easily drive around and find yourself above 8,000 feet which corresponds to the airplane cabin pressure. in other words, you are flying after diving without realizing it. something to keep in mind.

 

[IslandDiversHI]

White tip reef sharks are the most common on Oahu. On certain dive sites you have a very good chance of spotting one.

Tiger sharks are the bad boys here. However, in the three years we've been operating none of our crew has seen or heard of any recreational diver having an encounter.

The statistics reported in the article referenced are most likely from spear fisherman, surfers, and windsurfers.

When we see sharks, it one of the highlights of the dive!

 

[Barracuda2]

Remember----Anytime you enter the Ocean anywhere, whether swimming or diving, you become part of the food chain :wacko:

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

We've been diving on Maui for several weeks now. We enjoy viewing the sharks. Yesterday we did see a tiger shark and thought it was great. We don't turn our backs on them ever. When we did a second dive in a cave we were happy to see 2 large white tips in there. They just cruised around us while we snapped pictures. Fun stuff.

Remember more people are killed yearly by falling coconuts. Just stay away from those dangerous trees.

 

[Otter]

Don't confuse watching and 'enjoying' White Tip Reef sharks and Tigers. White Tips are nocturnal feeders and, unless harassed, are generally a non-issue to humans. Tigers on the otherhand are not particular about what they eat and can be VERY aggressive.

One statistic I came across a number of months ago, of all of the fatal and non-fatal shark attacks, about 50% are on surfers, 25% on freedivers, and 25% on divers (usually provoked). I am sure part of that is that there are more surfers than divers, but its also about being on the surface. The only time I really think about sharks are at the surface on a night dive. I would much rather be at depth than on the surface.

Otter

P.S. How is the shorediving on Maui? Last two years, viz was not as good as usual when we went over in August.