Would you do this?

[highdesert]

In a New York minute ... but as others have said, in a natural setting, not a staged feeding. Two of the best dives of my life were at Malpelo, finishing a dive through a rocky canyon (Cathedral), exiting out into the blue, and being "found" by a school of maybe 200 silky sharks, doing a slow circle around us, just satisfying their curiosity. Great memory!

 

[billt4sf]

In a New York minute ... but as others have said, in a natural setting, not a staged feeding. Two of the best dives of my life were at Malpelo, finishing a dive through a rocky canyon (Cathedral), exiting out into the blue, and being "found" by a school of maybe 200 silky sharks, doing a slow circle around us, just satisfying their curiosity. Great memory!

That sounds GREAT ! But I don't think I would jump in if I saw the sharks topside. Well, I'm not sure how big silky sharks are.

- Bill

 

[highdesert]

That sounds GREAT ! But I don't think I would jump in if I saw the sharks topside. Well, I'm not sure how big silky sharks are.

- Bill

Not huge by sharky standards ... maybe eight feet. But if you figure gross tonnage for over 200 of them, and each one with a mouth full of teeth, it adds up.

Silky Sharks, Carcharhinus falciformis ~ MarineBio.org

But bear in mind that they're really nothing more than curious. They sense us long before they see us, and are just checking out the "foreign body" in their neighborhood.

 

[billt4sf]

Had never heard of them. Thanks for the info. Here is a quote:

Silky sharks, Carcharhinus falciformis, are considered dangerous to humans because of their aggressive nature and size. Silky shark have been observed with their head raised, back arched and tail lowered, a posture believed to be a form of threat display

Would love to see one in the wild, briefly. But personally, I would never seek them out to dive with.

- Bill

 

[highdesert]

Well, there was no threatening stuff going on when we saw them. There are seventeen of them in this shot (most just barely shadows, viz was not amazing), and it was more or less the same density of them all around us as well as below. I suppose they could get dangerous if they wanted, but eight divers in a group is probably not a very attractive target to them.

Just because an animal, or event, or situation has the "potential" of becoming dangerous, is that really a reason to avoid it? We could do things far less interesting than diving with sharks and incur serious consequences. I say assess the risk and go for it.