Tiger, tiger burning bright!
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Vicky is right. A lot of divers misidentify creatures. This was actually the case, I thoght, when a friend came home from Sharm El Sheikh a few weeks ago and claimed he had seen a tiger shark at the straits of Tiran. He is also an unexperienced diver - so I thoght he maybe had seen a leopard shark and mixed up the names. But then I have now heard from several sources that a tiger actually has been spotted a couple of times near the straits of tiran. Very unusual.
When it comes to bull sharks, there are no verified sightings of bull sharks in the entire Red Sea, from Bab El Mandeb to Aquaba. There are some verified sightings of Ambon sharks in the Gulf of Aden (Somalia/northern Indian Ocean) which could be mistaken for Bull sharks. However it is of course possible that a bull could appear in the Red Sea but not very likely. They preffer staying close to fresh water rivers that run into the sea, of which there are none in the entire Red Sea.
Belushi, I would be very intersted in the film of the tiger. When you have it digitalized I would very thankful if you could mail me a copy.
Cheers
Christian
When it comes to bull sharks, there are no verified sightings of bull sharks in the entire Red Sea, from Bab El Mandeb to Aquaba. There are some verified sightings of Ambon sharks in the Gulf of Aden (Somalia/northern Indian Ocean) which could be mistaken for Bull sharks. However it is of course possible that a bull could appear in the Red Sea but not very likely. They preffer staying close to fresh water rivers that run into the sea, of which there are none in the entire Red Sea.
Belushi, I would be very intersted in the film of the tiger. When you have it digitalized I would very thankful if you could mail me a copy.
Cheers
Christian
clive francis
Guest
Christian, I not saying you are wrong, but there are lots of bulls on the east coast of africa, what is to stop them swiming up a little further, it not like they need a passport.
i even read a story a few years ago of a diver that was attacked by a great white in the red sea while swiming with dolphins.
there was a program on cable the other night and it showed the places of sighting for great whites, and they are all over the place, even here in the UK, west coast of france, so they (sharks) do travel.
i even read a story a few years ago of a diver that was attacked by a great white in the red sea while swiming with dolphins.
there was a program on cable the other night and it showed the places of sighting for great whites, and they are all over the place, even here in the UK, west coast of france, so they (sharks) do travel.
Rockhound
Guest
to properly identify a lot of animals. But, I would be surprised that folks would confuse mantas (Atlantic, Pacific, etal) with other big rays.
However, I HAVE witnessed confusion in identifying sharks. I have a degree in Marine Science (geology/geophysics), but I also have an "unused" degree in biology, with an emphasis on Marine Biology (and an interest in the same). I still have trouble with sharks, especially when they are swimming at me and I am with a faster buddy (you NEVER have to be faster than the shark, just faster than your buddy. A slow buddy provides me with a measure of security. Ha!).
For example, there is a shark on a local dive site that I see almost every trip. I am not certain, that he is the same shark, but the repeitive occurences suggest it.
I have hear him variously identified by other divers as a "big bull", a "tiger", a "sand tiger". a really big "silky" and a "lemon". He is, in fact, a bull, but I only know that because I took a trip with a marine biologist who saw him up close and got a positive ID.
About 3 years ago, I saw what I thought was a bull shark on a winter dive at the Flower Gardens. He was so big, he looked like an airliner bearing down on me. He had a big broad head and a thick body--what I thought was a classic profile of a bull.
When he turned, I snapped off a shot of him with my Nikonos at a distance of about 3'. When the slides were developed, I noticed that he had some faint striping along his side near his tail. What I saw was a Tiger, not a bull, but probably not fully mature.
As for the area in question, the Red Sea, I have no knowledge (I am only jealous that I may never go there). I can't defend the identification of all the critters reported to lurk in that one spot, but I can say that "anything is possible".
I once had someone tell me that "There are no whale sharks, mantas or sharks in concentrations worth seeing offshore Texas.
Yet, on a single winter trip off our coast, I have "communed" with a 12' Manta, drifted off the bottom beneath huge schools of eagle rays and hammerheads, swam in the midst of hundreds, if not thousands, of silkies and heard tales of other divers on the same trip who swam with a 30' whale shark (alas, I missed that...). These trips were "planned" to see these creatures, and while such experiences are not guaranteed, there are common enough for us to reasonably hope for them.
Anyway, anything is possible. Just maybe not always probable.
However, I HAVE witnessed confusion in identifying sharks. I have a degree in Marine Science (geology/geophysics), but I also have an "unused" degree in biology, with an emphasis on Marine Biology (and an interest in the same). I still have trouble with sharks, especially when they are swimming at me and I am with a faster buddy (you NEVER have to be faster than the shark, just faster than your buddy. A slow buddy provides me with a measure of security. Ha!).
For example, there is a shark on a local dive site that I see almost every trip. I am not certain, that he is the same shark, but the repeitive occurences suggest it.
I have hear him variously identified by other divers as a "big bull", a "tiger", a "sand tiger". a really big "silky" and a "lemon". He is, in fact, a bull, but I only know that because I took a trip with a marine biologist who saw him up close and got a positive ID.
About 3 years ago, I saw what I thought was a bull shark on a winter dive at the Flower Gardens. He was so big, he looked like an airliner bearing down on me. He had a big broad head and a thick body--what I thought was a classic profile of a bull.
When he turned, I snapped off a shot of him with my Nikonos at a distance of about 3'. When the slides were developed, I noticed that he had some faint striping along his side near his tail. What I saw was a Tiger, not a bull, but probably not fully mature.
As for the area in question, the Red Sea, I have no knowledge (I am only jealous that I may never go there). I can't defend the identification of all the critters reported to lurk in that one spot, but I can say that "anything is possible".
I once had someone tell me that "There are no whale sharks, mantas or sharks in concentrations worth seeing offshore Texas.
Yet, on a single winter trip off our coast, I have "communed" with a 12' Manta, drifted off the bottom beneath huge schools of eagle rays and hammerheads, swam in the midst of hundreds, if not thousands, of silkies and heard tales of other divers on the same trip who swam with a 30' whale shark (alas, I missed that...). These trips were "planned" to see these creatures, and while such experiences are not guaranteed, there are common enough for us to reasonably hope for them.
Anyway, anything is possible. Just maybe not always probable.
Clive,
You are correct about Bull Sharks off the coast of Africa. They are there. In fact, I think they account for more attacks on swimmers/surfers/"sea going humans" than any other shark in the area, including the Great White.
If you want to see aggresive Bull sharks, dive off the coast of Kenya.
As for Whale Sharks, they are "rare everywhere, so of course they would be considered rare in the Red Sea. I've seen one so far (at a distance) while in the Similian Islands off of Thailand.
As far as Orcas go, I have never heard of them in Thailand. That doesn't mean they are not there. But I have never even heard a hint of them there.
Red Rover
You are correct about Bull Sharks off the coast of Africa. They are there. In fact, I think they account for more attacks on swimmers/surfers/"sea going humans" than any other shark in the area, including the Great White.
If you want to see aggresive Bull sharks, dive off the coast of Kenya.
As for Whale Sharks, they are "rare everywhere, so of course they would be considered rare in the Red Sea. I've seen one so far (at a distance) while in the Similian Islands off of Thailand.
As far as Orcas go, I have never heard of them in Thailand. That doesn't mean they are not there. But I have never even heard a hint of them there.
Red Rover
Yes, there are a lot of bullsharks of the east coast of Africa. But there are no, according to Rick Martin (one of the leading authorities on sharks), verified sightings of bull sharks in the Red Sea. Divers have claimed to have seen bull sharks a few times, but since sharks are very tricky to identify and even experienced shark specialist can have troubles, their claimed sightings have not been accounted for as credible. I did some research regarding bull sharks in the Red Sea about a year ago when a couple of divers on a trip that I organized claimed to have seen two bull sharks of the Sanganeb atoll in Sudan. So I know there are some claimed sightings in the Red Sea, but none of them are verified (e.g. caught by fishermen, filmed, picture taken or observed by an shark expert).
As I said, it is of course possible, but not very likely. If you want to see bull sharks better go further south down the African continent. Bull sharks start to appear of the Kenyan coast and then down to S.A. Places like Protea Banks and Alliwal Shoals are supposed to be great for watching bull sharks (locally called Zambesi Shark). Mocambique waters also have many bull sharks. As I said, they normally hang around fresh water run offs, of which there are none in the Red Sea.
When it comes to GW in the med, there is nothing strange about that. It is since quite some time a known fact that the med holds a population of Great Whites (however very small in numbers).
The story about the divers being attacked by a GW in the Red Sea is unknown to me. I would say the "attacked" part is just a story. Anyway, oceanic white tips, silkys and sometimes silvertips are known to follow pods of dolphins. I talked to Jeremy Stafford Deitch about a situation which he had on Sha'ab Rumi South in 95, when he was intimidated by four silkys. There had been some dolphins in the water just before and it seems like this can make sharks more aggressive. However I heard people have claimed to have seen a juvenile GW near Eilat (with photos). Still I have not seen any photos of that shark, and it is possible it is a mix up with a shortfin mako (same family). Hans Hass did the same mix up at Sanganeb in the late 40's on his first expedition to Port Sudan.
BTW
Check out Rick Martins page:
www.reefquest.com
cheers
Christian
As I said, it is of course possible, but not very likely. If you want to see bull sharks better go further south down the African continent. Bull sharks start to appear of the Kenyan coast and then down to S.A. Places like Protea Banks and Alliwal Shoals are supposed to be great for watching bull sharks (locally called Zambesi Shark). Mocambique waters also have many bull sharks. As I said, they normally hang around fresh water run offs, of which there are none in the Red Sea.
When it comes to GW in the med, there is nothing strange about that. It is since quite some time a known fact that the med holds a population of Great Whites (however very small in numbers).
The story about the divers being attacked by a GW in the Red Sea is unknown to me. I would say the "attacked" part is just a story. Anyway, oceanic white tips, silkys and sometimes silvertips are known to follow pods of dolphins. I talked to Jeremy Stafford Deitch about a situation which he had on Sha'ab Rumi South in 95, when he was intimidated by four silkys. There had been some dolphins in the water just before and it seems like this can make sharks more aggressive. However I heard people have claimed to have seen a juvenile GW near Eilat (with photos). Still I have not seen any photos of that shark, and it is possible it is a mix up with a shortfin mako (same family). Hans Hass did the same mix up at Sanganeb in the late 40's on his first expedition to Port Sudan.
BTW
Check out Rick Martins page:
www.reefquest.com
cheers
Christian
OP
As far as our debate goes on the residence of big stuff in the Red Sea, I wrote back to my man Chad to ask for more details, here is his reply
"Rest assured, there are both bull sharks and whale sharks in the Red Sea, and they've both been seen in Sharm. I personally saw both last year and got the usual response that there aren't any bull sharks here. Wrong. This year a bull shark has been spotted twice - by those that can tell the difference - and a whale shark's been seen and filmed several times, usually off Ras Ghazlani in RasMo. Even though the bull shark sighting could, and doubtless will, be argued as wrong identification, I don't think that there's any mistaking a whale shark. Very large great big spotty fish that looks like a shark.
So, you can tell your guys that apart from the expected grey reef, white tip and black tip, we've also got hammerheads in Tiran, although since the appearance of the tigers they seem to have dissappeared, ( surprise surprise ), bull sharks, whale sharks, silkys and a monster oceanic white tip hanging around RasMo.
I went for a plop yesterday, 3 dives on Shark reef and each one was different. Massive schools of snappers and barracuda, bat fish and unicorn fish everywhere, excellent currents ( full moon ) and a water temp of 28 degrees.
My favourites, of course, are the sweet little orange gobys. I don't understand why people are interested in the sharks."
As far as showing the video goes, I can only show you a small clip, as it has been sold to the National Geographic for broadcast, and they get a little upset with copies of their stuff. If you want the small clip of the Tiger, then mail me. It is a fairly large file though
"Rest assured, there are both bull sharks and whale sharks in the Red Sea, and they've both been seen in Sharm. I personally saw both last year and got the usual response that there aren't any bull sharks here. Wrong. This year a bull shark has been spotted twice - by those that can tell the difference - and a whale shark's been seen and filmed several times, usually off Ras Ghazlani in RasMo. Even though the bull shark sighting could, and doubtless will, be argued as wrong identification, I don't think that there's any mistaking a whale shark. Very large great big spotty fish that looks like a shark.
So, you can tell your guys that apart from the expected grey reef, white tip and black tip, we've also got hammerheads in Tiran, although since the appearance of the tigers they seem to have dissappeared, ( surprise surprise ), bull sharks, whale sharks, silkys and a monster oceanic white tip hanging around RasMo.
I went for a plop yesterday, 3 dives on Shark reef and each one was different. Massive schools of snappers and barracuda, bat fish and unicorn fish everywhere, excellent currents ( full moon ) and a water temp of 28 degrees.
My favourites, of course, are the sweet little orange gobys. I don't understand why people are interested in the sharks."
As far as showing the video goes, I can only show you a small clip, as it has been sold to the National Geographic for broadcast, and they get a little upset with copies of their stuff. If you want the small clip of the Tiger, then mail me. It is a fairly large file though
I have personally seen a whaleshark (only once), oceanic whitetips, hammerheads, threasher sharks and many other ... There are a lot of big stuff in the Red Sea if you know where to look. But I am still VERY sceptical towrads the bull shark claims. There just aren't any suitable environments for these animals in the Red Sea. No matter what Sharm El Sheik divemasters say. From my experience most of them can't even tell a silky from a silvertip.
/christian
/christian
I met a couple of dive guides who work out of Sharm recently and they said that two large tiger sharks had established themselves as regulars in the area. Because of this, apparently some people have refused to go near the water.
On a liveaboard in the south (Marsa Alam - Fury Shoal - St John) a few weeks ago, I saw loads of hammerheads. I was hoping to see an oceanic whitetip or a Manta but that didn't happen (saw about 80 dolphins but that's hardly a concillation prize).
Happy diving
On a liveaboard in the south (Marsa Alam - Fury Shoal - St John) a few weeks ago, I saw loads of hammerheads. I was hoping to see an oceanic whitetip or a Manta but that didn't happen (saw about 80 dolphins but that's hardly a concillation prize).
Happy diving
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