What kind of shark would make you get out of the water?

[jeffcali]

though only seeing a few nurse sharks in coz, and one HUGE horned shark at catalina i must say i'm anticipating my first real encounter of a big nasty looking shark. i've always respected nature and what it represents, so i would say no shark would scare me in or out of the water as long as it wasn't showing aggresive behavior.

i've seen film of some people freediving amongst great whites and how they just cruised by the swimmers to see what was up...frig'n ballzy mo fo's...but it was so beautiful to witness the interaction between man and the top of the food chain great whites...some came close enough to touch and i even think one dude took a great white for a cruise on his dorsal fin! radical stuff...

most important thing to remember is to stay calm!!! easier said than done i know, but you have to remember these and many more animals sense and even smell our fear eminating throughout our body's...

 

[Depth Gauge]

Great White and Tiger in that respective order!

Depth Gauge

 

[PhotoTJ]

Bulls, tigers, Oceanic White tip, Great white.

 

[drbill]

I've dived with a number of different species: blues, white-tip, black-tip, lemon, gray reef, leopard (two species), and of course horns without any incidents. There were about 100 sharks of at least four species all around us off Moorea. Awesome.

I have friends that have dived here on Catalina with whites as well as some in South Africa (sans cages). Their response was the sharks were curious but not aggressive.

I have an easy way to prevent whites and others from approaching too close... I take my video camera on all dives. I know the first time I don't I'll have a white swim within a few feet (it will probably have a big smile on its face).

No desire to mess with bulls or tigers though- I was nearly upended by a 22 foot tiger while kayaking in the Sea of Cortez 30 years ago.

Dr. Bill

 

[nolediver]

In order:
1. Bulls
2. Tigers
3. Hammerheads

I've seen several different species of sharks while diving in the Gulf of Mexico off the North Florida coast, but Bull sharks make me the most nervous. On one dive, my dad and I had 4 Bull sharks approach us 5 min. into the dive. Three were about 8 feet long and one was about 11-12 feet long. Fortunately, we hadn't speared a fish yet on the dive. We saw the 8 footers first and they showed no agression towards us. However, when we saw the "big one," we decided to terminate the dive. It goes without saying that spearfishing at that point was out of the question....

 

[annie]

When I was diving in Western Australia I was concentrating so hard on doing my divermaster job right that when I came across a tiger my first reaction was to make sure the Germans got a photo of it. But it was very obviously not aggressive - it didn't actually make me uneasy at the time, but on the way back to the boat later I kept thinking it was stalking us and would come back . . . .if that happened now I would make my slow way back to the boat and end the dive once it moved off.
I've seen a grey reef acting very strangely indeed - are they dangerous . . . .any attack statistics?

 

[danielle]

i do not like bullsharks... thats really one of the only sharks i would NOT want to see in the water

great whites are up there too ... unless i am in a cage... than i would love to see one!

maikos aswell... there is just something about them that creeps me out.

i think its the fear of them though that makes me love them.

 

[PhotoTJ]

Snip

 

[Krisscuba]

Bulls or Lawyers

 

[FredT]

He was on scene and quite interested about 30 seconds after I hit an AJ in 6' vis. We all got on the boat with no injuries, including the AJ, but he bumped me several times. It's bad when you can't see both both ends of the shark at the same time.

This shark has associated the sound of divers with lunch. Sounds like it's time to remove him to a freezer.

FT