Sharks face to face?

[cherinere]

This is my biggest fear, I have not run into one yet but it will bound to happen sooner or later. How do you all handle
it when you do, now please remember (unlike King-Neptune)I would NOT swim towards it but very probably use up my air source screaming because of it.

 

[dmentia]

Hi Cherinere,
From a newbie you can take this for what it's worth. The first time I saw sharks (yep, plural 3-4 of them!) it was incredibly cool! I had not really figured to be that impressed, but once I got a look at them, and saw how graceful and powerful they are, I changed my mind to "This is amazing!"

The sharks I saw were 4-6 footers, called caribbean black-tip reef sharks.

Now, I have to admit that I did not have a fear of meeting a shark before the encounter, so the comparison might not be valid. But I really do believe you will be overwhelmed at how beautiful they are, so you won't be as afraid as you think!
dmentia

 

[Mario S Caner]

Hello Cher, it only takes that one "first" time to realize that they are not the mindless killers some people think they are, but they are quite magical. Sharks are magnificent creatures that many cultures have actually worshiped throughout time.

When you do see one, just relax and focus on the shark, it's colors, shape and movement. Take it all in and enjoy for there will only be one "first" time.

 

[Tavi]

Cherinere,
When I did my c-dives in the Bahamas. I heard other divers talking about seeing sharks. I thought it sounded pretty scary. The next day I saw sharks within 20 feet of me. The following day they were even closer. It was just cool, not scary at all. These were Caribean Reef Sharks, Some were bigger than me.I'm looking forward to seeing them again in a couple of weeks. This time I will have my wife and son with me. She's not sure that she wants to see them either.
Try to remember that what most of us "think" we know about sharks we learned on TV(read:not neccesarily true).

Relax, enjoy,

Tavi:tree:

 

[Mick]

I too have a very large fear of sharks and living here in South Aus, I have a better chance then most of running into a Great White. I had wanted to try scuba since I was a child growing up in Ireland but when we came here to Aus we found out that everything bites !!!
What I did was to educate myself on sharks first and understand them, this really worked and I now Dive without any fear at all.


Mick

 

[Walter]

Cher, as others have indicated sharks are not generally agressive towards divers. I do understand your concern. "Not generally agressive" is not the same as "never." What if you find that unusual shark that's had a bad day? What do you do? There are techniques you can learn to protect yourself in the unlikely event this happens. If a shark becomes aggressive, keep an eye on it as you swim underwater back to the boat. Present a confident image. Do not swim quickly, but instead remain calm and graceful. Do not swim with your hands, keep them to your sides or clasped in front of you. This is not the time to be flapping them around. If the shark gets too close, get back to back with your buddy. Growling will often cause the shark to leave. Take off your BC and hold your tank in front of you. If he comes in for a taste, let him bite metal. Exit the water quickly, dropping your BC if necessary. You can always fish it out with a boat hook.

WWW™

 

[cherinere]

Thanks to all for the replies, I hope they keep coming the more I hear the better I feel. As for you WWW you were the only one that answered my question. I had to LOL when reading your reply because this is exactly what I told my dive buddy I would do if that happened, at the time I thought I was being unreasonable but I felt feeding him my tank would be better than him taken any part of me. Now when you said get to your buddy (you did mean offer them to the shark instead of me)ha ha sounded good to me, but he wasn't to thrilled. I like the growling comment though, I can growl with the big boys when I have too.

 

[Aardal]

cherinere

:idea:

You ever wonder why you have that dive knife that you carry?

Here is your answer:

When you see that shark and its starting to circle you and your buddy. The huge shark eye balls you and your buddy and he flashes his, what seems to be a million razor sharp teeth. You start to shake out of fear and you wet your pants....and that shark is getting ready to come at you and your buddy for the kill !!! Take that dive knife out and stab your buddy and swim like crazy!

I'm just kiddin...take Walters advice. Just :grrr: the best you can.

Dive Safe...

Aardal

 

[Walter]

........we used to stab our buddy & pull his CO2 inflator. Now no one knows what a CO 2 inflator is...

WWW™

 

[Aardal]

Walter

's UP......

You still find them every once in awhile. Back in the day before CO2 you would cut their air line and stab your buddy and then tie your garbage bag (old school BC)to them so they would shoot to the surface. :mean: Back in the day.....

Dive Safe...

Aardal