Sharks becoming more aggressive in Hadera, Israel. - Mediterranean sea

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

JackOfDiamonds

Jewish Space Laser Operator
Messages
4,677
Reaction score
13,781
Location
The Pub
# of dives
I'm a Fish!
*I apologize in advance for my inability to correctly write an "article", i am not a native speaker but i know my English needs some improvement. *

Growing concerns in the local scuba community over increasing shark aggression towards Divers, fisherman, snorkelers and paddle-boarders.


Right where the warm water exiting the power plant meets the cold ocean current has been a hot-spot for sharks for a long period of time.
No one really knows why they come here or why they leave, but this phenomenon draws dozens of sharks (predominantly female) to the area every winter, something which isn't seen else where in the Mediterranean.

Our best guess is the relative warmth of the water in the surrounding area during the winter, how ever this does not explain the numerous other power plants positioned close to shore that they can choose to go to.

This phenomenon as expected draws attention mainly from divers, snorkelers and paddle boarders who are eager to have a closer look at the monsters near our shores.
With an average depth ranging from just 1M-3M, insane currents that will instantly throw you in the open ocean, low visibility (1-2M at best) and a great amount of fishing garbage like nets and hooks in the area it makes for a dangerous site, most certainly not for the inexperienced divers/swimmers.

The scientists from the Moris Khan Marine Research Institute have been monitoring and researching the sharks and their behavior in recent years and have noticed (along with the divers) a change of behavior in the sharks who seem to be more aggressive then previous years.

This has lead to a stern warning issued against any diving in that site until further notice, some operators canceled any planned dives for the foreseeable future and any snorkelers or paddle boarders are advised to stay away. (Sadly how ever that is not being enforced by law atm)

A couple of days ago the concern has reached its peak when a video has confirmed what many people have been saying recently - the sharks are a lot less shy and some times even more aggressive.

In the following video (Not my video, all credit goes to maker on his YouTube account) you can see a Drone POV of the dive site, some paddle boarders along with divers and snorkelers.
At 1:25 into the video we can see the snorkelers who are caught in the perimeter of the current starting to struggle and trash around the water, the shark gets curious, circles around him and eventually bumps into him to check him out.
Needless to say, they got the hell out of the water as soon as they could but just to give you an idea of how shallow most of the site is, he is able to stand up just 5 seconds after the incident.

Most people are blaming the snorkeler in this particular situation saying he acted like an injured animal which got the sharks attention, but what everybody seems to agree on is that the sharks are becoming more aggressive.

I like many other divers are thrilled to have them visit our shores every winter and we would hate to see our beloved site spoiled because the sharks have had enough of humans, who knows one day they could leave and never come back.
Or they might become too aggressive for comfort .

Why do you think the shark aggression is on the rise? have you heard of similar events? What do you think could help reduce the hostility of the sharks and how can we improve conditions for them in the area?

VIDEO OF THE NEAR INCIDENT
(1:25) for near incident
 
That didn't look like aggression to me. It looked like some guy splashing around in the water, which made the shark curious. To me it looked like normal behaviour.

That said, there were a lot of sharks in the area. Is that normal at this location or is something unusual happening to attract them?

R..
 
....
I like many other divers are thrilled to have them visit our shores every winter and we would hate to see our beloved site spoiled because the sharks have had enough of humans, who knows one day they could leave and never come back.
Or they might become too aggressive for comfort .
....
It's pretty amazing to see these sharks.
It is their site, their environment. When people dive there, they're just visitors.
If you make a shark curious, expect a close encounter. It's not only their water, it's also their rules.
 
That didn't look like aggression to me. It looked like some guy splashing around in the water, which made the shark curious. To me it looked like normal behaviour.

That said, there were a lot of sharks in the area. Is that normal at this location or is something unusual happening to attract them?

R..

In the video there wasnt any actual agression filmed, its just a general agreement of everyone here that the sharks have generally become more aggressive and less shy towards people.
Up until recently they would swim away as soon as you got close.

As i wrote in the post, no one really knows for certain why they come and leave every winter, we guess its the warm waters coming out of the power plant but there are hundreds of those scattered around the Mediterranean shores, so why this one in particular we don't know.

If you make a shark curious, expect a close encounter. It's not only their water, it's also their rules.
While i completely agree, we all strive to reach a situation where divers can safely enjoy the sharks around the water with out causing any disturbance to them
 
What kind of sharks are they?
Mostly Sandbar and Dusky sharks
 
Yea, it looks like a normal bump test. The diver did the right thing by going vertical to stop shark further action.
 
That amount of splashing would attract me, let alone a shark.

You can see how the shark totally ignored the other person with a better swimming technique...
 
A shark will be attracted to anything thrashing the water and causing a disturbance in the water - in the same way it would expect disabled or injured prey to behave. If you are moving fairly smoothly in the water (as the other swimmer was), the shark will just see a large mammal in the water and think better of it.
 
@JackOfDiamonds - The thrust of your post seems to be the noting of an “increase in aggression”. Two or three times you used such phraseology yet didn’t cite a comparison. No one can.

I understand that comment sounds nit-picky, but the common alarm bells sound when we hear such phrasing.

An increase? Maybe there’s just a lot more tasty food out there- garnished with GoPro cameras.

I have long said- with the proliferation of cheap u/w video gear, the incidence of attacks will (seem to) be on the rise. Here you go.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom