Why the fear of Great White sharks?

[robbcayman]

To be fair, Jaws alone didn't scare people. A huge apex predator with massive jaws in an alien environment is scary. Granted, Jaws certainly did amp up the fear level that was already there. Plus, we all know they have confirmed kills on humans.

I think it's human nature to feel vulnerable in a vast ocean where we aren't naturally equipped to deal with predators. Lastly, unless you have a speargun or some shark mace handy there's really nothing you can do to thwart an attack. The sense of being totally at the mercy of an apex predator is unnerving to say the least. A GWS is the biggest of the sharks and humans naturally equate size with power. That's not to say a tiger or bull couldn't kill you as easy, but they aren't as big or as intimidating. Even if attacks by GWS are rare, it's almost certainly in the back of a rational person's mind.

 

[spt29970]

A GWS is the biggest of the sharks and humans naturally equate size with power. That's not to say a tiger or bull couldn't kill you as easy, but they aren't as big or as intimidating. Even if attacks by GWS are rare, it's almost certainly in the back of a rational person's mind.

I agree with much of what you said, but GWS are not the biggest, by far. Basking sharks and whale sharks are MUCH bigger, but then again, the don't prey on marine mammals.

 

[down4fun]

I think if everyone saw these creatures in their environment, their fear would quickly turn to fascination.

i would disagree. I can't speak for a GW but I can tell you I had a 6ft mako scare the piss out of me. I have always enjoyed seeing sharks on dives. Here in Florida we frequently see nurse sharks, reef sharks and some bulls. However on a deco stop coming up from a 200ft dive my buddy and I ran into a mako who was a little too interested in us for my liking. The first pass he made I was blissfully unaware as he came within 6 inches of my rebreather (according to my buddy). the second pass he locked eyes with me and headed straight for me. Not knowing what to do, and feeling like anything was better than nothing, I held out my bailout regulator and began purging. He was 3 feet or less away when the flurry of bubbles obscured my view. He obviously turned off as i am here typing with both hands. He made one more pass, grazing my buddies fins before leaving us. I assure you I was not fascinated!

 

[robbcayman]

I agree with much of what you said, but GWS are not the biggest, by far. Basking sharks and whale sharks are MUCH bigger, but then again, the don't prey on marine mammals.

I should have prefaced biggest predatory shark in terms of threat level to humans. Those whale sharks are some big suckers, but the lack of big teeth put me at ease.

 

[robbcayman]

i would disagree. I can't speak for a GW but I can tell you I had a 6ft mako scare the piss out of me. I have always enjoyed seeing sharks on dives. Here in Florida we frequently see nurse sharks, reef sharks and some bulls. However on a deco stop coming up from a 200ft dive my buddy and I ran into a mako who was a little too interested in us for my liking. The first pass he made I was blissfully unaware as he came within 6 inches of my rebreather (according to my buddy). the second pass he locked eyes with me and headed straight for me. Not knowing what to do, and feeling like anything was better than nothing, I held out my bailout regulator and began purging. He was 3 feet or less away when the flurry of bubbles obscured my view. He obviously turned off as i am here typing with both hands. He made one more pass, grazing my buddies fins before leaving us. I assure you I was not fascinated!

Wow, that would be scary; I've always said makos are little GWS. They have the same build just in a smaller and faster frame. The speed of those suckers is what scares me. They are an open pelagic sharks that rarely encouter humans and when they do can be very curious.

Did you encounter one near Florida? Manny Puig did several dives with them and I was in awe at how big some of them can get. His head was on a constant swivel, because the mako would disappear and then be coming in behind you at a high rate of speed. I can see how your anxiety level would be through the roof.

 

[drbill]

To be fair, Jaws alone didn't scare people.

True. I remember when I moved to California from the Midwest in 1969 I was quite nervous about diving in waters where great whites were known to e present. We never encountered them in our freshwater dives in the Midwest!

"Jaws" was filmed in part two miles up the coast from my marine biology lab (it was funny to see the giant kelp in the underwater scenes that were supposedly off New England). Of course we had little idea what the film would be, or the impact it would have.

Once "Jaws" was released it did create a fair bit of hysteria. Some of my students went out on shark killing sprees (we had plenty of blues in our waters back then) until I put a stop to it.

I actually stopped diving after seeing "Jaws." It didn't help that my former student who took me to see it also introduced me to a guy who had been attacked off Pt. Conception and had a huge scar that covered much of his chest and abdomen.

Back at that time I worked for Jean-Michel Cousteau on a summer program. A few years later he saw me suiting up to dive and said "Bill, I thought you stopped diving after you saw 'Jaws.' Why are you back in the water?" I told him I'd recently seen "Jaws II."

 

[drbill]

i would disagree. I can't speak for a GW but I can tell you I had a 6ft mako scare the piss out of me. I have always enjoyed seeing sharks on dives. Here in Florida we frequently see nurse sharks, reef sharks and some bulls. However on a deco stop coming up from a 200ft dive my buddy and I ran into a mako who was a little too interested in us for my liking. The first pass he made I was blissfully unaware as he came within 6 inches of my rebreather (according to my buddy). the second pass he locked eyes with me and headed straight for me. Not knowing what to do, and feeling like anything was better than nothing, I held out my bailout regulator and began purging. He was 3 feet or less away when the flurry of bubbles obscured my view. He obviously turned off as i am here typing with both hands. He made one more pass, grazing my buddies fins before leaving us. I assure you I was not fascinated!

A good reason NOT to dive a rebreather IMHO!

I've had a number of small makos in that size range swim by me on our shark dives and never had anything approaching what you experienced. They seem pretty skittish, but make for beautiful footage with those teeth showing.

 

[robbcayman]

True. I remember when I moved to California from the Midwest in 1969 I was quite nervous about diving in waters where great whites were known to e present. We never encountered them in our freshwater dives in the Midwest!

"Jaws" was filmed in part two miles up the coast from my marine biology lab (it was funny to see the giant kelp in the underwater scenes that were supposedly off New England). Of course we had little idea what the film would be, or the impact it would have.

Once "Jaws" was released it did create a fair bit of hysteria. Some of my students went out on shark killing sprees (we had plenty of blues in our waters back then) until I put a stop to it.

I actually stopped diving after seeing "Jaws." It didn't help that my former student who took me to see it also introduced me to a guy who had been attacked off Pt. Conception and had a huge scar that covered much of his chest and abdomen.

Back at that time I worked for Jean-Michel Cousteau on a summer program. A few years later he saw me suiting up to dive and said "Bill, I thought you stopped diving after you saw 'Jaws.' Why are you back in the water?" I told him I'd recently seen "Jaws II."

What type of viz do you normally have? I would be a lot more spooked if I were diving in 15 feet or less. If I can see something coming I'm not as afraid. For me, it would be the fear of running up on one at the last second and it's right in your face.

Do you never think about running up on a GWS? If I dove in So. Cal it would always be in the back of my mind. When I dive the tropics I never think about bulls or tigers. To me, the GWS is just a different deal; their size and power is very intimidating.

Lastly, you must have had a real phobia about them if it kept you out of the water for so long. That's really cool that would worked with Jean-Michel. His son Fabien is doing some interesting works with sharks i.e. the robotic shark.

 

[Peter_C]

What type of viz do you normally have? I would be a lot more spooked if I were diving in 15 feet or less.

I sure hope the vis is at least 15 feet on Saturday Would make for a nice day. Salt Point State Park aka Gerstle Cove in NorCal is where we will be diving on Saturday. The dive site is literally next to, and you could say under, a pinniped haul out (See photo below). One of the highest areas for GWS bites in CA (Salmon Creek) is less than 20 miles away. Who wants to come out and dive with us on Saturday? :cool2:

 

[fisheater]

When I first started diving, I, too, wanted to keep an eye out for a Great White. But our vis is so low, that you'd never see one coming. So, I stopped worrying about what I can't see.