Shark

[DKL]

Personally, I would call Brody. He kicks shark butt. Either that or Chuck Norris, sharks weep when they hear his name.

 

[rockystock1]

Personally, I would call Brody. He kicks shark butt. Either that or Chuck Norris, sharks weep when they hear his name.

Love this comment,


Mike

 

[dmoore19]

 

[drrich2]

A shark is a shark.

Actually, in the Caribbean & Florida, for example, most sharks you see are fairly small (under 6 feet) reef sharks, or nurse sharks. While either can inflict injury, neither is likely to do so (assuming you're not holding dead fish, trying to kiss the shark, etc...). Depending on the time of year you dive, and where, you might see a lemon shark or one of the other species I guess could be called 'mid-sized,' but I don't think any of the above warrant a fearful retreat from the dive environment. Look at the lemon shark aggregation dives out of Jupiter, Florida, and the wreck diving with sand tiger sharks out of North Carolina, where people dive with substantial numbers of roughly 6(?) - 10 foot sharks around them.

Then you've got bull sharks and large hammerheads. Big bulls seem to inspire respect, but I don't see people posting about exiting the ocean because they saw one. And outside of a shark feed situation, I'm not under the impression a group is likely to pop up around you. From other's postings I don't think big hammerheads tend to come around divers much aside from shark feeds?

Tiger sharks and great whites are the ones that inspire the most fear. Cageless diving with tiger sharks is relevant because it's very possible; out of the U.S., it's not far to the Bahamas, where live-aboard trips to 'Tiger Beach' offer a high likelihood of being in the water with tiger sharks, and out of Jupiter Florida some people diving with Emerald Charters get to see them. I did a Jupiter trip last October and dove with Jupiter Dive Center, not shark fed dives, instead of trying to dive with Emerald Charters, as I believe I want to take some more time to 'grow into' that level of diving, and I am ambivalent about being in the water with medium to large tiger sharks right around me.

I can hardly imagine deliberately going into the water with a great white, no cage. Yes, in theory attack is highly unlikely, but in addition to the potentially massive size and sheer horrific majesty of a great white, there have been a number of accounts on ScubaBoard of whites 'messing' with people - circling, one mouthed somebody's scuba tank (imagine getting jostled & turning to see that), etc... Here's a link to 'Who thinks this Sharks was Killed (or should have been)? Be mindful that's someone spear fishing. Here's a link to a video of one showing up while 2 divers are descending the mooring line on the wreck of the Duane out of Key Largo, FL. They're not spear fishing, the shark doesn't get close and isn't threatening.

One tip I've seen on ScubaBoard is to maintain eye contact with sharks. Try to keep yourself where you are looking at the shark, and it knows you are looking at it.

One other take home lesson from the above, from what I understand from others (I don't spearfish), is that while most recreational divers have little to fear from sharks in the overwhelming majority of recreational dives (e.g.: not shark feed dives, not chumming the water, not Tiger Beach, Bahamas or Seal Island, South Africa), the issue is different for spear divers. You might do a hundred recreational dives without seeing a shark, but if you take up spear hunting, it's way more likely you'll see them. Some may contend with you for your catch. Some spear fishermen believe you should (almost?) never 'let' a shark have your catch. Personally, I can't realistically imagine squabbling with a 10 foot bullshark over a fish, but that's just me.

Richard.

 

[g1138]

G1338 as a shark biologist (absolutely loads of respect for that job)
If sharks were to become frisky, tiger, great white or any large predator. Would slicing my buddy's leg with a scuba knife and swimming away actually work??


Mike

Thank you Mike.
If you want a meat shield, koala-ing the back of your buddy's tank would be more effective.
Works well in controlling a panicked flailing diver too.

 

[Tigerman]

About big sharks and no cage...
Take a southern egyptian red sea liveaboard the right time of year and running into oceanic whitetips is pretty much routine...

 

[TMHeimer]

Yep. The only people who seem to have a false sense of security are shark apologists and the people who study them.

I, for one, will seek the quickest way out of the area if possible or improvise something to keep them at a distance. A shark is a shark.

Wow, that makes two of us (and probably 8 more in the world somewhere).

 

[Tigerman]

Ive been lucky enough on a couple of occasions to witness people who claim to be afraid of sharks to spot their first one..
Amazing how quick they forgot about being afraid, especially the girl who had 6 hammerheads hanging around for a good 10 minutes...

 

[rockystock1]

This guy would...

Shark Week: Diving With Great Whites : Video : Discovery Channel

They did not get in with the sharks, they used a robot


Mike

---------- Post added November 1st, 2014 at 10:10 PM ----------

That will be a guided dive most likely with your level of experience, so to do the correct thing, do exactly as told by your dive guide.

Deffo will remy,


Mike

 

[drrich2]

Here's a current thread with a title like 'Green Eel Attacks My Strobe' (plus some more). It has some additional green moray stories by other divers. I'm posting here partly for your interest, and partly for others who may read this thread later.

My point is, sharks are not the only concern out there, and in most circumstances, they are not the main concern. But, if you like shark stories, here's a link to a recent DAN Dive Alert magazine article called A Shark Tale where a guy was spearing lion fish in the Bahamas, a Caribbean reef shark made a play for one, and accidentally grabbed the diver's left hand instead. Not a deliberate attack on a human, but an example of how spearing (even lion fish) creates a different situation.

Richard.