What am I supposed to react when a shark is heading towards me?

[IncreaseMyT]

I would be careful hitting them hard, you never wanna do that cause they may reaction test bite. You want to blow bubbles, hard. This is usually enough to turn them away.

Another thing to do is extend your arm forward, towards them. Their ampullae pick this up as a threat to them and this alone will make them turn away.

If they are gonna come all the way in, now that you have your hand extended, place it above their snout directly on their ampullae, this will turn them away for sure.

The odds of this happening, and you seeing them coming are very small unless you have something they want, like bait.

Hope this helps.

 

[uiowa96]

Well over half of my dives (49 an counting) have had a shark encounter. Maybe I am just lucky! Some dives have had more than 10 in view. The more you are around them, the more you appreciate them. Try to relax. Soak in the beauty of the encounter. The sea is giving you a gift, not punishing you. Just let it happen.

A shark swimming toward you is NOT an attack. It is a shark swimming in your general direction. It is most likely curious or doesn't even care that you are there.

As others have said, sharks are Apex Predators. Have some respect for their skills. You probably wouldn't know if they wanted to attack. Good thing it rarely happens.

 

[Dan]

After a fatal Tiger shark attack in Cocos, DM (dive guide) carries a poking rod, as shown below. When we see a Tiger shark while diving, we are supposed to gather and keep eyes on it. When we are ready to return to the boat, we need to ascend one at a time per DM instruction, while the DM keeping eyes on the Tiger shark. As soon as you surface, you need to climb up to the boat.

 

[divad]

When approached by a group of sharks, I try to eat the head off the nearest one.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Put a stick in its mouth so it can't bite down. Didn't anyone else grow up watching cartoons?

Seriously, based on the video of the attack in the Red Sea where a sidemount diver lost a calf, watch for their behavior for getting aggressive (sudden changes in direction). Go vertical to appear large. If it wants to attack, there's really nothing you can do. We are so slow in the water. We don't have the strength, speed, and size of orcas to flip sharks over to where they go limp.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

After a fatal Tiger shark attack in Cocos, DM (dive guide) carries a poking rod, as shown below. When we see a Tiger shark while diving, we are supposed to gather and keep eyes on it. When we are ready to return to the boat, we need to ascend one at a time per DM instruction, while the DM keeping eyes on the Tiger shark. As soon as you surface, you need to climb up to the boat.

One of the reasons Tigers are like that, from what I have experienced and heard, is because they are very curious and much braver than other types of sharks.

They like to sneak up behind you, and put their face right up by yours. Remember sharks don't have hands, so when they are bumping you, think of it as a hand shake. Thats their way of feeling you out. So the reason you want to watch a Tiger all the time is so he/she cannot get that close to you to begin with, because if you spook him he may reaction test bite.

So if you always keep them in front of you, then it is going to be hard for them to startle you.

I dived with a feeder not long ago who was bit by a big Tiger named Jenny, my friend has it on film. It is not something they like to talk about or show people, because then people will say "I told you so".

What people do not realize is it was his fault, he was feeding the shark and pulled out a bait and simultaneously saw some people in the group drop down too low. This is a big no no, always give a shark room to go underneath you. He looked at them to yell at them and tell them to get back up, and only taking his eyes off Jenny for a moment she came in to grab the bait and bit his hand.

She immediately realized what she did and she swam off super fast, and didn't return. She knew she did something wrong. But if he would have kept his eyes on Jenny, it wouldn't have happened, cause he could have pulled his hand back.

 

[hammet]

free diving w/ tigers

 

[IncreaseMyT]

free diving w/ tigers

Some great footage there. You can see in some of the clips the shark, especially Tigers, will roll their eyes back as they approach. This is them telling you they want you to pet them.

 

[chillyinCanada]

@zixzax, don't worry about any of this. If you go on the dive to see reef sharks, they aren't tiger sharks nor are they Oceanic Whitetips from the Red Sea.

If you and your wife feel that your skills, especially bouyancy are good enough, go and enjoy the view. (As long as it is not a feeding dive)

 

[IncreaseMyT]

@zixzax
If you and your wife feel that your skills, especially bouyancy are good enough, go and enjoy the view. (As long as it is not a feeding dive)

Why is that?