OP
Florida to Bahamas liveaboards
- Thread starter dashark
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robint
Contributor
okay.........deep breaths people!
Doing a liveaboard from Fla to Bahamas does not mean you are going to be killed by a shark. That particular liveaboard (Shearwater run by Jim Abernethy) does nothing BUT specific trips for people to encounter tigers, hammers, etc. It goes to a specific area and chums the water to draw them in for adv photographers, videographers, etc. They are the boat used by people like Howard and Michelle Hall, National Geographic, and others to get all those wonderful videos you see on tv. They have been doing this trip for a long time, every week and usually sold out months in advance. This is their first serious incident. Condolences to the family of the diver, but he signed up for these dangerous dives knowing all about the dangers.
Other liveaboards from Fla to Bahamas do shark feeds usually one afternoon during the trip. The Bahama islands have lots of sharks and you can see them on any dive, just not usually the tigers or hammerheads. They don't pay much attention to divers. It is a thrill and an honor, IMHO, to see sharks in their natural habitat. I love them and I am hoping to see some again on my trip on the Nekton in April.
My opinion on shark feeds = been there, done that, it was interesting but don't plan to do it again, probably. On our last Nekton trip we had sharks at the Big Hole, dozens of them on Wed. They just swam around, realized we had no food, and didn't pay any attention to us. On Thurs there was a feed - they sharks started swimming faster, very spun up, knowing it was feed day. We all kneeled in the sand and watched them fight for food for 10 minutes, then they started darting around, still spun up. We all got off the sand and swam back to boat with the sharks following us, still swimming fast and darting in and out between the divers. We all did a safety stop behind the boat with the sharks! It was a bit unnerving but no one got bit! The sharks just wanted more food. We all did our 3 min stops and got back on the boat, the sharks left.
So what does this prove? It proves that sharks are smart enough to know that: the first day divers swim around with us and no food, the second day they feed us, AND they know that the feeding is done at a specific spot, when food is gone the divers leave. Was it interesting, YES. We could definitely see a behavioral difference in the same sharks we had been swimming with the day before. (all the DMs from the boat were in the water and carrying poke-sticks).
The focus of these trips are NOT daily shark feeds or chum encounters (like the Shearwater). The Nekton, Blackbeards, Explorer, etc. boats do dives in the Bahamas with maybe one shark dive.
robin
Doing a liveaboard from Fla to Bahamas does not mean you are going to be killed by a shark. That particular liveaboard (Shearwater run by Jim Abernethy) does nothing BUT specific trips for people to encounter tigers, hammers, etc. It goes to a specific area and chums the water to draw them in for adv photographers, videographers, etc. They are the boat used by people like Howard and Michelle Hall, National Geographic, and others to get all those wonderful videos you see on tv. They have been doing this trip for a long time, every week and usually sold out months in advance. This is their first serious incident. Condolences to the family of the diver, but he signed up for these dangerous dives knowing all about the dangers.
Other liveaboards from Fla to Bahamas do shark feeds usually one afternoon during the trip. The Bahama islands have lots of sharks and you can see them on any dive, just not usually the tigers or hammerheads. They don't pay much attention to divers. It is a thrill and an honor, IMHO, to see sharks in their natural habitat. I love them and I am hoping to see some again on my trip on the Nekton in April.
My opinion on shark feeds = been there, done that, it was interesting but don't plan to do it again, probably. On our last Nekton trip we had sharks at the Big Hole, dozens of them on Wed. They just swam around, realized we had no food, and didn't pay any attention to us. On Thurs there was a feed - they sharks started swimming faster, very spun up, knowing it was feed day. We all kneeled in the sand and watched them fight for food for 10 minutes, then they started darting around, still spun up. We all got off the sand and swam back to boat with the sharks following us, still swimming fast and darting in and out between the divers. We all did a safety stop behind the boat with the sharks! It was a bit unnerving but no one got bit! The sharks just wanted more food. We all did our 3 min stops and got back on the boat, the sharks left.
So what does this prove? It proves that sharks are smart enough to know that: the first day divers swim around with us and no food, the second day they feed us, AND they know that the feeding is done at a specific spot, when food is gone the divers leave. Was it interesting, YES. We could definitely see a behavioral difference in the same sharks we had been swimming with the day before. (all the DMs from the boat were in the water and carrying poke-sticks).
The focus of these trips are NOT daily shark feeds or chum encounters (like the Shearwater). The Nekton, Blackbeards, Explorer, etc. boats do dives in the Bahamas with maybe one shark dive.
robin
OP
dashark
Contributor
It never entered my mind to be worried about a shark attack. I have other reasons for not doing shark dives.
I love diving with sharks, don't get me wrong. I personally prefer a natural encounter with any wildlife. That is not to say that if there was one day set aside for a shark dive on , say, the Nekton, that i wouldn't take a peek. I would see how I fealt about it at the time. It is just not something that I am actively seeking. I generally shy away from chummed dives. Just a personal choice.
There has been a lot of spirited opinion on the board this week regarding this topic. I totally understand a appreciate why people would want to do a shark expedition. Hell, I love to look at the pictures.
However, this topic was not the goal of my original post. I just want to go diving......
I love diving with sharks, don't get me wrong. I personally prefer a natural encounter with any wildlife. That is not to say that if there was one day set aside for a shark dive on , say, the Nekton, that i wouldn't take a peek. I would see how I fealt about it at the time. It is just not something that I am actively seeking. I generally shy away from chummed dives. Just a personal choice.
There has been a lot of spirited opinion on the board this week regarding this topic. I totally understand a appreciate why people would want to do a shark expedition. Hell, I love to look at the pictures.
However, this topic was not the goal of my original post. I just want to go diving......
OP
dashark
Contributor
fyi: I did my own research before I did the original post. the shearwater was the first boat that came up. I saw that the focus was shark dives and decided it wasn't the boat for me for reasons I have already stated. That is why I added the part about shark dives to the OP. This was before I read anything about the tragedy on that boat.....
so, relax, robin....we're not afraid of getting eaten.
so, relax, robin....we're not afraid of getting eaten.
robint
Contributor
well, maybe you aren't afraid, but I bet there are alot of non-divers and divers out there who will take this single incident and blow it up to the proportions of Jaws. :11:
Here is my experience on the Nekton with sharks:
the actually shark feed was very small amount of our shark encounters.
Yes, as a photographer and videographer, I would do the Shearwater trip. But saying that, I am fully aware of the risks involved. I hate the idea that they are going to be sued for this or that they may be run out of business.
robin
OP
dashark
Contributor
I couldn't agree more. I think once the media gets ahold of something like this, we all lose. It doesn't matter where you stand on the subject.
I think ultimately it could be the sharks that lose.....lets hope not.
I think ultimately it could be the sharks that lose.....lets hope not.
augie
Guest
Isn't there another thread on this page discussing sharks/feeding sharks/shark attacks?
I had hoped more folks would chime in on opinions of the various liveaboards doing the Florida-Bahamas routes...
I had hoped more folks would chime in on opinions of the various liveaboards doing the Florida-Bahamas routes...
OP
dashark
Contributor
I got plenty of information on that in the first 2 pages. Any more is greatly appreciated.
This wouldn't be the first tangent on a SB topic. I guess because I mentioned the shark dives in my post, people took it as another chance to chime in. I didn't know about the accident until after the OP.
I am kind of suprised that my OP took this direction, but, it is still engaging to discuss differences in opinions with inteligent people. maybe we need a sub-forum for that also...
This wouldn't be the first tangent on a SB topic. I guess because I mentioned the shark dives in my post, people took it as another chance to chime in. I didn't know about the accident until after the OP.
I am kind of suprised that my OP took this direction, but, it is still engaging to discuss differences in opinions with inteligent people. maybe we need a sub-forum for that also...
OP
dashark
Contributor
I had hoped more folks would chime in on opinions of the various liveaboards doing the Florida-Bahamas routes...[/QUOTE]
In all seriousness, Steve, I would be interested in your suggestions to my original question seeing as how you are a Florida native.
I would also like to know where the best diving is of all the destinations offered. I am sure they vary greatly...
In all seriousness, Steve, I would be interested in your suggestions to my original question seeing as how you are a Florida native.
I would also like to know where the best diving is of all the destinations offered. I am sure they vary greatly...
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