Shark

[Tigerman]

I disagree with the premise that sharks are afraid of bubbles - I haven't seen any documentation or studies that suggest let alone conclusively show that they are. Whereas I have seen quite a bit of evidence that shows that sharks will approach and look at divers who are on scuba.

I can appreciate what rebreather divers say regarding their ability to approach fish. However, I think there is a huge leap from that to sharks being afraid of bubbles.

In my experience there is BIGGER factors than bubbles with regards to sharks getting close or not for sure.
Moving fast towards sharks or excessive limb movements is not good things if you want to have a close look at them and the infernal tank bangers and low pressure duck quacker **** that people is using seems to be MADE for the purpose of keeping them away...

 

[dmoore19]

If I was dealing with an aggressive shark I would be willing to give it a try, if it didn't work what have I lost?

 

[Tigerman]

Ive never had to deal with an agressive shark.. Agressive triggerfish however I HAVE had to use my camera rig to push off..

Barracudas, as some has mentioned... NOT something I trust...

 

[dmoore19]

Barracudas look evil and untrustworthy but I have never seen one get aggressive.

Ive never had to deal with an agressive shark.. Agressive triggerfish however I HAVE had to use my camera rig to push off..

Barracudas, as some has mentioned... NOT something I trust...

 

[swimrundive]

Here's a discovery channel fact to remember. Men account for 90% of shark attack victims. Apparently sharks are sexist.

Maybe this idiot knows the freediving idiot in the video above?

[video=youtube;7pjbH5OuBc4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pjbH5OuBc4[/video]

I have to say as a local floridian finally I found someone who is a shark realist. We need to dive sometime.

*NOT SNARKY* (Long story but I saw it in a thread somewhere)

I think personally just being around the things is asking for a Darwin nomination. Even the shark fiddler says the conditions have to be right and perfect.

I doubt homeboy mr fiddler would shoot his smb and wait at the surface for the boat around those animals much less some shark dives with ridiculous amounts of "less" aggressive species trolling by.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Wild predators are nothing to be trifled with. Those who think they can safely mess with them IMHO are likely to suffer from an unpleasant shock sooner or later like Why Was the Grizzly Man Eaten by a Bear? (Film review and commentary) ? Greg Laden's Blog

 

[kelemvor]

Wild predators are nothing to be trifled with. Those who think they can safely mess with them IMHO are likely to suffer from an unpleasant shock sooner or later like Why Was the Grizzly Man Eaten by a Bear? (Film review and commentary) ? Greg Laden's Blog

True, but unless you deliberately go looking for them it's hard to even find a shark. In all my diving (which is admittedly about what some divers here do in 3 months) I've only seen two sharks. They could not have cared less about me. I attribute this to the facts that I don't chum where I dive and I don't deliberately go to areas known to be full of sharks. However, the Jupiter ledge chum-free shark dives are intriguing I have to admit. Bottom line is statistically you've got a better chance of being stuck by lightning than you do getting eaten by a shark. Unless you chum. Which I would liken to walking around with a lightning rod in a Florida thunderstorm.l

Do I worry about sharks when I dive? Only occasionally. Sometimes you just have to identify it as an irrational fear born from movies like jaws and put it behind you. As I said I do worry about barracuda. It's probably also irrational but I can't seem to get past it. I did search for barracuda attacks and only found one or two stories on the internet. I suspect that means they're fairly rare. So when I see a school of barracuda between me and the dive boat I tense up, tell myself to man up, and I ignore them. When I see a shark? I swim toward it hoping to see it for an extra second as it swims by.

Or you could not dive.

Or you could carry a bangstick. There's a diver out of my LDS that could tell you how well that worked out for him - I think he's almost got some of his hearing back now.

 

[mrdre]

...
Do I worry about sharks when I dive? Only occasionally. Sometimes you just have to identify it as an irrational fear born from movies like jaws and put it behind you. As I said I do worry about barracuda. It's probably also irrational but I can't seem to get past it. I did search for barracuda attacks and only found one or two stories on the internet. I suspect that means they're fairly rare. So when I see a school of barracuda between me and the dive boat I tense up, tell myself to man up, and I ignore them. When I see a shark? I swim toward it hoping to see it for an extra second as it swims by....

BTW, if barracuda is following you and you look it in the eyes it will increase the distance and possible swim away. But you have to look at it and follow it with your eyes. Same with most of the sharks..

 

[oszillodrom]

I think a lot of it has to do with animals being fed. In about one year as a diver and DM in Indonesia and Malaysia, i have never seen a moray eel or a barracuda become aggressive, and there were loads of both around.

 

[EFX]

I can't speak from experience but I read Erich Ritter's book "Human-Shark Interactions". He dispels some common myths and offers some advice. He recommends if a shark comes close punch it in the gill area as this is what sharks do to chase away another shark. After watching the discovery clip you're probably thinking he should take his own advice, but being at the surface he and the host are in potential danger. Sharks view anything at the surface as potential prey. They see what looks like two "drumsticks" sticking down from the surface. As previously mentioned sharks make exploratory bites to taste with their gums out of curiosity. The problem is the teeth have a nasty habit of coming between the flesh and their gums. The incident with Ritter reminds me of that fatal sting to Steve Irwin. When you have that much contact with potentially dangerous predators sooner or later you end up getting hurt. IMO, all these shark feeding dives are asking for trouble if sharks associate food closely with humans. It's just a matter of time....