Shark etiquette

[jbd]

UW videographers did an experiment with great white sharks(I think it was great whites). He got out of a cage after enticing a shark into view. Whe the shark would get too close he would charge the shark and it would dart off. He found he could keep two sharks at bay like this but had to give up when three sharks were involved. As I recall the sharks were quite curious(stalking or hunting) but not in a definite aggressive(or feeding) mode.

Very interesting to watch.

 

[Rick Murchison]

jbd once bubbled...
UW videographers did an experiment with great white sharks(I think it was great whites). He got out of a cage after enticing a shark into view. Whe the shark would get too close he would charge the shark and it would dart off. He found he could keep two sharks at bay like this but had to give up when three sharks were involved. As I recall the sharks were quite curious(stalking or hunting) but not in a definite aggressive(or feeding) mode.

Very interesting to watch.

This clearly falls into the "don't try this at home" category.
Rick

 

[jbd]

this this at home activity. The guy that did this experiment based it on observation of predatory animal behavior both on land and UW for a couple of decades. He observed the hunt, the final stalk and the attack behaviors of many animal species before coming up with the theory.

I wish I could remember the guys name.

 

[socaldiver]

for the predator that they are, keep an eye on their every move and be ready to repel with them with some kind of an object other than your body.

I would have to put the Mako in the aggressive category (along with the Great White, Bull and Tiger) just from my own experience. When we were diving off Catalina with a few blue sharks we were enjoying the dives while the blues were swimming around. Unfortunately a Mako showed up and was very aggressive. Our safety divers distracted them while the divers that were in the water at the time boarded the boat.

 

[DivingDoc]

Laurence Stein DDS once bubbled...
I would agree that for unpredicability, bull sharks are up there. However, there are probably more shark attacks by nurse sharks on divers. They are so docile that it is tempting to touch them. [QUOTE/]

Huh? I didn't know that nurse sharks even had teeth! I thought they just kind of sucked on things. They actually remind me of catfish with their little things in the front.

If you've ever had a moray eel swim through your BC it's the same thing. You just stay real still and usually, nothing happens but a rush when it's over. [QUOTE/]

Eek! How do they get THROUGH your BC? Mine fits pretty closely.

I've had several bull shark encounters. They are sneaky. They will come up from behind or they will hang at the edge of visibility until they are ready.[QUOTE/]

Not to belabour a point, but the Discovery Channel piece said that Bull sharks are so aggressive because they have higher levels of testosterone.

My worst encounter was in Bimini. I ran into a 14 foot Great Hammerhead. It was nearly 3 feet from eye to eye. I was right next to the boat spearing fish. I handed the line to my buddy on the boat and he began to pull up the speared fish. The hammerhead started up too--in an aggressive posture. Needless to say, I started to pull the line down into the water to get the fish and shark away from me. My buddy on the boat wanted to know why I was pulling the line INTO the water. Try saying shark through a snorkel!

Then, my buddy offered me...ready for this...a speargun. What the heck was I gonna do to a 14 foot pi**ed off shark with a speargun?! [QUOTE/]

Believe it or not there are a number of Great Whites in Australia (where they are protected) who have been killed by spearfishermen in self-defence. How, I wondered, does one kill a Great White with a speargun!!!!?

if any of you saw the latest Shark Week, this week on Discovery, you saw one of my dive buddies. Kent. He lost 80% of his calf to a bull shark in the Bahamas. The dramatization was factual and the wound was horrendous. The bull shark missed his artery by 1/8th of an inch. He really does get back into the water at Walker's Cay with 9 bull sharks 3 months later. [QUOTE\]

Yes, I did see that! Gaursh! You know someone famous -- have you gotten his autograph yet? Does he still dive?

I have generally been fairly impressed with the scientific nature of most Discovery Channel shows. Yea they have to hype it up a bit to get people to watch the shows, but the shows themselves present fairly accurate information.

ET

 

[DivingDoc]

Oops! I didn't get the syntax right in that last post. I hope you all can figure out where the quotes are and where they aren't.

 

[Walter]

Al Giddings produced a series of TV specials called Oceanquest back in 1985. It was while filming this special that he noticed how the Whites reacted to the tiny ROV. He decided to leave the cage to check his idea. Luckily for him the correct answer was to charge a White Shark.

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

DivingDoc

Nurse sharks do indeed have teeth. Perhaps that is part of the problem. They seem so tame, you can lay next to them. Their mouth looks sort of like a ray's--its underneath and doesn't open wide. But there ARE teeth inside and they are razor sharp.

I've had moray eels that have appearantly been fed on wrecks actually come up to me--non aggressively, and literally swim through the shoulder openings of my BC and out the front. I didn't know what to do so I just stayed real still and it simply tickled. My heart was pounding. I was sitting on the deck of a wreck and the tank was partially supported so the shoulders opened up.

Don't know about the bull shark's testosterone. Mike Tyson, on the other hand....

The speargun and the hammerhead shark thing was as it happened. Retrospectively, I wish I had something to prod the shark with just in case. A speargun or a broomstick would have been as good.

We were once bothered by a lemon shark. It literally was swimmng between our legs. It wouldn't leave us alone. We kept butting it away. Finally, we moved the boat at least a mile and within a few minutes the shark was back. My buddy unscrewed the spearhead from the shaft so he wouldn't become attached to the shark. He shot it through the gills and it bled to death. We didn't want to hurt it but our safety was at stake. Yes, a spear could kill a big shark but you better pick the right spot.

Kent is really rather unassuming and my reference was not to brag, but rather, to have you all see the show. I think it's on this Sunday again. He has been very phisophical about it. He knows he was catching fish in the sharks back yard. The shark has no malice toward humans. It tasted blood and it's instincts took over. Kent is not "mad" at the shark nor does he think they should all be shot.

It took a lot of courage for him to stand in the water with the 9 bull sharks at Walker's Cay--he was trying to face his demons. I was with him when he made his first open water dive following the injury. He was visibly nervous but wanted to break the ice again...and he did. The healed wound on his leg is amazing. I don't know how he walks--barely limps.

Larry Stein

 

[Rick Murchison]

I've only seen Bulls get really threatening once without there being blood in the water. I describe that encounter in
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2333
Rick

 

[MissAmberDiva]

I was watching the Discovery Channel most gluttonous creatures this morning and the number 10 creature was tiger sharks. Well they were saying how the tiger shark is the garbage can of the sea and they listed some of the things that they have found inside of tiger sharks' stomachs. Well anyway, the most interesting thing that they showed was a pregnant female. They took a camera scope and put it inside her and they were showing her unborn babies. Well this one baby started eating his brothers and sisters. He ate them all. That was crazy to watch. They are little devils! Did anyone else see this program? It was pretty interesting.

Amber