Marine Life Shark bite at Grand Bahama

[Nemrod]

What are the usual means of diversion that you are referring to?

The usual means he referred to is making and keeping eye contact. Sharks do not like eye contact and will, as a rule, abruptly turn away. The problems with rules are exceptions to rules. My experiences with sharks is that eye contact makes them leery and they will attempt to get in behind you, even if not being aggresive. Of course as a diver, I kind of think something with teeth trying to get in behind me is aggressive. This more often happens with sharks that are not accustomed to people, wild sharks, who are mostly curious. I am not offering a solution, just answering your question as to what the usual means referred to is, it is eye contact.

Prayers for the diver lady who was bitten.

 

[johndiver999]

Yeah thanks. I have had many hundreds of interactions with sharks. Keeping an eye on them is beneficial, but if they are at the surface and excited, the situation rapidly becomes out of anyone's control. It bothers me when people provide (in my opinion) simplistic and impractical suggestions, that are not necessarily going to work reliably.

 

[ChuckP]

If you're comfortable sharing which dive site folks are feeding sharks I'll be happy to request to go elsewhere. All we ever see are nurse sharks these days and that's a-ok with me.

Cedral in the park - kinda hard to not go there. Any of the northern sleeping shark sites - some chum feed up there - we do not feed anywhere.

Kill a lion fish, very cool but leave it lay on the reef and don't sit and wait for something to eat it.

Do you remember the turtle in Columbia that used to search divers for lionfish? It's dead now, but that thing quickly learned that divers provide food.

 

[Kimela]

Cedral in the park - kinda hard to not go there. Any of the northern sleeping shark sites - some chum feed up there - we do not feed anywhere.

Kill a lion fish, very cool but leave it lay on the reef and don't sit and wait for something to eat it.

Do you remember the turtle in Columbia that used to search divers for lionfish? It's dead now, but that thing quickly learned that divers provide food.

I think I've only been on a couple of dives in Cozumel when someone brought a spear for lionfish - and I don't remember that turtle (I keep watching for Charlie and I never see him but I know he's out there).

You're right, it's nearly impossible to not got to Cedral. We don't go north - and there are only a couple of dive ops that do, right? Chumming is such a bad idea for the area. A few shark hits could be devastating to the Cozumel economy. It DEPENDS on water activities.

 

[tarponchik]

In Tiger Beach, the situation is a bit different. When Tiger Sharks are present, you can ignore the Gray Reef, Lemon, Bull, Nurse Sharks, etc., and keep eyes on the Tiger Sharks or you’d get bump like this diver, below:



In Bimini, you can ignore the Nurse, Bull & Gray Reef Sharks (no Lemon showed up when I was there) and focus on the star of the show, Princess, the Great Hammerhead, as shown, below:

At Bimini, we only saw Nurse Sharks and one Sandbar (very briefly). The Hammerheads never showed up.

My point was, though, not whom you should watch, but who came to the party.

 

[Green Frog]

On my dives at Nassau recently, the Caribbean Reef Sharks showed great interest in us and what we were doing in spite of us not feeding them nor doing any spear fishing. After a while, they became so familiar, I think we all cot pretty comfortable with having them around. I have to admit that it got to the point though that we began to almost ignore them… ALMOST! My personal feeling is that a diver in a wetsuit, kitted out with fins, tank, and BCD appears to a shark as an equal. In nature, predators are interested in prey that presents minimal danger to them. If you become disabled or, as the latest victim, present bare white skin, you then become a potential meal.

Once the feeding “frenzy” begins, you’re only safe in a cage or in a boat. Remember, even a shark becomes a potential meal to his mates if he becomes wounded.

 

[Dan]

you become disabled or, as the latest victim, present bare white skin, you then become a potential meal.

When I went diving with Dolphin Dream in Tiger Beach and Bimini, Captain Scott emphasized to us all to wear dark color glove, hood, wetsuit and fins. Nothing yellow nor bare skin exposed for that same reason.

 

[scubadada]

When I went diving with Dolphin Dream in Tiger Beach and Bimini, Captain Scott emphasized to us all to wear dark color glove, hood, wetsuit and fins. Nothing yellow nor bare skin exposed for that same reason.

Here is Dan, all dark except for his cute tutu

 

[Dan]

Shucks! I wish I got your picture on tutu too @scubadada

 

[rmorgan]

Yeah thanks. I have had many hundreds of interactions with sharks. Keeping an eye on them is beneficial, but if they are at the surface and excited, the situation rapidly becomes out of anyone's control. It bothers me when people provide (in my opinion) simplistic and impractical suggestions, that are not necessarily going to work reliably.

Point taken, John. I certainly have no experience dealing with sharks at the surface and excited, especially when that's apparently due to people throwing them food nearby. Perhaps, given your extensive experience and expertise in interacting with sharks, you could comment on what you think is the best, and most practical, course for a responsible operator to follow when such a situation is encountered? It would help me, and perhaps others, to learn your thoughts.