Shark Feeding

[BDSC]

I do. Spend enough time in the animals environment and be unobtrusive or become invisible. Any hunter knows this.

Ah yes. The old "Romulan Cloaking Device" to hide oneself.

 

[Mayor]

My wife and I will never use any op who offers the shark feed dive.

 

[SDAnderson]

For what it's worth, I find the idea of a structured shark feeding dive kind of juvenile and I've never been on one. Then again, I think quarries are boring and stupid and won't find me in the tank at Mall of America or the Georgia Aquarium. Heck, I even thought the dives at Bonne Terre were kind of silly. I'm not bothered by the fact that others don't seem to mind the numbing effects of these kinds of pseudo-diving, however. Neither people nor sharks are getting hurt in significant numbers and, selfishly, it's better for me if the sheep are kept distracted and never get the opportunity to silt up the real life wild world.

One dead guy too many, don't ya think.

No, I don't. Besides, you aren't thinking, you're emoting.

My wife and I will never use any op who offers the shark feed dive.

This is an appropriate and rational response, given opposition to shark feed dives. They're an ersatz experience but that's no reason to prohibit the unimaginative from enjoying them.

The correct way to punctuate a sentence that starts: "Of course it is none of my business, but --" is to place a period after the word "but."

Shark feeding is none of my business. No but.

 

[docmartin]

One dead guy too many, don't ya think.

i assume that was meant to be a joke - otherwise, you better get out of diving.

 

[piffle]

Sorry, I meant not enough dead guys. Better?

 

[docmartin]

relieved to see that you are funny and that it was a joke

 

[docmartin]

just came across a case study that provides an interesting perspective:

Water Column: Fiji's Bull Sharks - DIVE Marine Life

 

[Jeff Toorish]

According to various people who posted in threads related to that incident, there are minor incidents with these dives that go unreported because nobody is seriously hurt.

Not to be arguementative, but if we are going to stop doing some thing because of minor indicents during which no one is seriously hurt, we should all consider not diving. There are minor incidents every day in diving, especially on boats.

I think the benefit of shark feeding operations is they give people a close glimpse of sharks and can be extremely beneficial in teacking people about these majestic animals. Raising awareness of the plight of sharks right now is critically important and nothing is going to do that better than helping people get up close and personal.

Clearly there are legitimate differences of opinion on this issue, and reasonable minds can differ on this. But many of the things that people state with alacrity and absolute certainty do not seem to be backed up with any actual factual data. One thing seems pretty empiracally clear, there are a lot of shark feeds all over the world every day and very, very few serious accidents.

Jeff

 

[dumpsterDiver]

It is illegal in Florida and for good reason I think. A guy just died about a year ago from a bite during a feeding in the Bahamas that was being run by an extremely experienced operator. QUOTE]

I agree,this is out of control....

1 guy out of the THOUSANDS per week died doing this..... 1 guy, I wish everything else I did was this safe, like walking to work, bowling, petting dogs, bike riding, making toast, etc.......

the sharks will be wiped off the planet by fin and long line fisherman WAAAAYYYY before this will endanger them, and if you dont hang your catch on your leg, usually a spearfisherman is pretty safe too

Your comment about spearfisherman being pretty safe if they don't hang their catch on their leg is NOT true in some areas, Particularly in the Bahamas where their are a lot of sharks. People (particularly spearfisherman) have many dangerous encounters with sharks that all too frequently result in harm to the shark or diver. I myself have narrowly excaped being bitten on two occasions and I have witnessed a few others situations that were very scary.

Off the top of my head, I know three "shark feeders" and each of them has been bitten. Most of them now wear some sort of chain mail mesh protective gloves at the very least. It is not a "safe" activity and it takes skill, luck and experience to manage the shark feed to keep the energy of the sharks controlled and to present food at the right time and in the right quantities. I have personally been involved in managing shark feeds (a little) and it was not something that I really enjoyed. The situation is to some degree out of control and accidents will happen sooner or later, even if people do what they are supposed to.

 

[trogloxene]

I think the benefit of shark feeding operations is they give people a close glimpse of sharks and can be extremely beneficial in teacking people about these majestic animals. Raising awareness of the plight of sharks right now is critically important and nothing is going to do that better than helping people get up close and personal.

I agree and I support "eco-tourism". I went to Isla Guadalupe last year to see the great white sharks for this reason.

Sean