The Bull Shark Dive.......

[ibj40]

Some of the people I've talked to made reference to chumming these sharks in, and in close proximity to the mainland beaches. Thanks for your post jfcl01.......

We have been diving with Dive Aventuras (Nils' shop) for about a decade. I cannot say enough for the professionalism of Nils, his divemasters, and the other members of his crew.

In those ten years, we have seen free-swimming Bull Sharks in the waters off Puerto Aventuras twice. No chum, no squeezing soda bottles, nothing but a beautiful creature swimming wild in it's environment.

Make no mistake, we have also fallen prey to the hype of diving with the Bull Sharks with a PDC shop, and regret that we did.

If you really want to see Bull Sharks, go to Costa Rica, and dive Bat Island, we've been there twice, and seen multiple Bull Sharks each time.

I applaud Nils for his courage to speak out, and I hope you take his advice.

 

[jfcl01]

I should have phrased my question as "I wonder what those more knowledgeable about these sharks than I" rather than "bullshark enthusiasts"-the latter sounds sarcastic in retrospect, and I did not intend it that way. I have wanted to believe the shark dives haven't played a role in the "harvests" that have gone on over there, but I haven't been able to find any opinions/arguments to support that
I will admit that when I had the chance to go, and ultimately declined, it wasnt because I'd heard of, or thought about, impact on the sharks; it was because it occurred to me that ifbull sharks were being fed on a regular basis, it seemed like it was only a matter of time until someone gets hit. That may or may not be true...I'm just saying, that's why I declined (aka chickened out). It was shortly after that, that there was the incident where a fisherman from Playa went out and took 6 or 8-I dont remember, but I think it was posted here and in Por Esto...that's when I started wondering about it.

 

[cvchief]

I should have phrased my question as "I wonder what those more knowledgeable about these sharks than I" rather than "bullshark enthusiasts"-the latter sounds sarcastic in retrospect, and I did not intend it that way. I have wanted to believe the shark dives haven't played a role in the "harvests" that have gone on over there, but I haven't been able to find any opinions/arguments to support that
I will admit that when I had the chance to go, and ultimately declined, it wasnt because I'd heard of, or thought about, impact on the sharks; it was because it occurred to me that ifbull sharks were being fed on a regular basis, it seemed like it was only a matter of time until someone gets hit. That may or may not be true...I'm just saying, that's why I declined (aka chickened out). It was shortly after that, that there was the incident where a fisherman from Playa went out and took 6 or 8-I dont remember, but I think it was posted here and in Por Esto...that's when I started wondering about it.

Someone told me that story about the really big grouper in Coz too. Like DM's used to feed them and they came to the boats and people loved diving with them. Then a fisherman when out and took them to town for dinner.

 

[Dhboner]

I did a Bull Shark dive with Erik Rosenstein of "Beyond Diving". Erik does not chum the water or lure sharks in any other way. We saw at least 18 sharks on the dive including one big female we estimated to be nearly 12 feet long. Erik has post graduate degrees on sharks and shark behaviour and his knowledge just adds to the experience.

 

[ibj40]

Someone told me that story about the really big grouper in Coz too. Like DM's used to feed them and they came to the boats and people loved diving with them. Then a fisherman when out and took them to town for dinner.

Back in the 80's, feeding fish during dives was very common.