Shark Feeding worries

[AliKat]

It's been about 8 years, but I did the shark feeding with UNEXO, and saw nothing wrong with their dive operation. I too have trouble with my ears, and was one of the last ones down. The sharks are used to being fed, and were much more interested in the platform where the feeder was going to be than in any of the divers. We also had a couple of DM's with mesh gloves ready to run interference if the sharks got too close. The dive was great, and I found myself way too in awe to even thing about being worried about all the sharks around me.

 

[scuba-punk]

What's the worst thing that can happen on a shark-feeding dive? You die. What's the worst thing that can happen on a non-shark-feeding dive? You die. Hmm, if you are willing to take the risk either way, the ultimate price is the same. Shark-feeding dives are pretty safe. Just pay very close attention to the dive briefing - they do this stuff a lot, so they know what's going on - and stay calm. Enjoy it! I loved every minute of the one that I did.

-Frank =-)

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

Safe for the divers that are on the tour maybe. Safe for other individual divers that come on their own....maybe not. Shark-feeding is just like feeding bears. You go camping in the woods where bears are fed and you don't have food to feed them, it creates potential for problems, serious ones. Shark-feeding not only causes sharks to rely on people for food and changing their behavior, it also creates a potentially dangerous situation to those people who dive the site without food on hand. Not safe. Shark-feeding bad. Sharks good.

 

[travelem]

I did a 2-tank dive with Caribbean Divers and I highly recommend them. The dives are not real shark-feeding dives. We went to the feeding site and saw many sharks around us.

Caribbean Divers also picked me up at UNEXSO free of charge.
Here is my trip report:
http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/tripreports.php?s=1053

 

[MAGELLAN]

Well, It's been a few weeks now, but I had a great time. We didn't do the shark dive till the last day, and by then my ears were doing a lot better. We used Xanadu for most of our dives and I liked them a lot. We got a discount too for reserving the dives on line. One day we used Unexso because I had bought a voucher for them through Expedia. Their boats were a lot nicer and the guides paid a lot more attention to you. We had one really nice guy for a guide and one really rude girl dm/guide. Go figure, she really irritated me, so I was glad to go back to Xanadu the next day. Unexso is geared more towards those who need to have their hand held i.e. less experienced. Fortunately, I was able to take off on my own for the second dive, and we dove Shark Junction, the place where other dive operations do the feeding. I did have an encounter with a shark on that dive that spooked me a little. I was coming through an opening between two clumps of reef when I saw I was on a head-on collision with two other sharks, and my Wife and anthor diver were behind me. Well, the two sharks turned to avoid each other and the smaller one began to go under me, only about 10 feet under me! Well, he didn't like the idea of me swimming over the top of him so he turned sharply and jerked himself around a few times. Freaked me out! I stayed as calm as I could though and just stopped myself from going forward and kind of pulled back and up then turned out of the way over the top of the reer. He was a little guy though, maybe only 5-6 feet, but he had been follwing us during the whole dive.
So, I understand Naturediver's point he was following us because we looked like a potential meal, but I still went on the shark feeding later that day. Too hard to resist, y'know

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

MAGELLAN:

So, I understand Naturediver's point he was following us because we looked like a potential meal, but I still went on the shark feeding later that day. Too hard to resist, y'know

My point wasn't that YOU look like a potential meal. My point was that the sharks at a site frequented by sharkfeeders come to you expecting to receive food from you. This could cause them to get unnecessarily close to you and become a dangerous situation. This could also mess up their eating habits. When I used to work in the VI, the other divers would always take crackers down to feed the many many fish that were always on the reef. This was off season so there were times that we wouldn't work for four or five days at a time. When we would come back after a long stretch like that, the fish would be practically eating our hands because they were so hungry after so many days. The fish were relying on the divers for food instead of obtaining it themselves. That is not safe for the environment in any way. It's conditioning the fish to our schedule. Now what if the same happens to the sharks? After a few days of not getting any action from the divers, do you think they might be a little more.....bitey? Think about it.

 

[MAGELLAN]

Maybe I should have phrased it differently, I meant the same thing. I realize were not that tasty, just that they end up getting too comfortable with divers and perhaps eventually, a little aggressive like a bear.

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

Alrighty then. We're agreed. Shark feeding bad....shark watching good.

 

[CD_in_Chitown]

Where they ring the bell and chum for sharks below the dining room? There's a nice jetty there you might dive during the day