Great White Vs. Divers.....gone too far!

[ScubaBaby]

Mario....i would say I am shocked at your lack of competancy in spelling....however...its comes with no surprise when I recall our conversations on ICQ.

On this occasion, I think the majority would be pleased to forgive you for this error, however, I will get back to you on a suitable punishment!!!!

Back to the thread! I guess it all comes down to divers consideration for the sport. If a diver is considerate enough to think before he acts there isnt a problem. But one action (esp. with sharks) could cause a ripple effect in the diving industry, that just increases the propaganda already available to those who know little about sharks and diving!

 

[Kane(adian)]

A long long time ago, I was setting up an account to be able to play games on the net, well, I was trying to think of a neat handle, and after a couple were taken, I eventually thought that I would like something that had a Canadian twist to it, as several of those that I played online with were Canadian, and there were frequent Can. vs. USA matches, well, being the proud Canuck that I am, as well as a little bit of a wrestling fan, I came up with Kane(adian). (Kane being one of a few wrestlers that I enjoy watching). So, it just sort of stuck, and after a few days reading in here, I decided that I would start posting, I just thought of something that would be easy to remember, and there it was. I suppose I could have used my actual name, but I think this one is easier to remember than Barrett. I could be wrong though. Thanks for asking, *blush* it made me feel special.

 

[ScubaBurt]

Boy, do natural predators get a bad rap or what? Whether it be land or marine they very seldom come looking for us. When was the last time you found hungry Great White in your hotel room with a knife, fork, and napkin tucked under it's neck(or whatever that area is)ready for dinner. We are the intruders in the underwater domain. We are there at the mercy of things that bite, sting, and puncture. If we divers are stupid enough to invade their territory and then torment them by trying to get too close, then it's predator 1 and diver 0. I enjoy the beauty of all ocean life and have the upmost respect for their ability to do me bodily harm. This is why I look but don't even try to touch. As CrabMan said: "You don't play with things that can eat you". It is not a fear factor reaction as much as the respect for my intrusion into their environment. I am the one in their hotel room, but I only want to get a decent photo and live to dive again.

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

Many times when divers enters the water the sharks will leave the area (we are loud, we have metal objects and we taste bad with the numerous hormones)

This one guy (can't rem the location nor the boat) takes people out to pet the great white. But this is no average shark. It comes up to the boat, sticks its nose out of the water and enjoys it when people pet it's nose. The author of 'jaws' went on the trip and said if he had that experience BEFORE writing the book he would *NEVER* have wrote it.

Seems that some sharks become desensitized to people and allow us to do things to them like this.

This one scientist did some experiments, on himself, and bull sharks in the bahamas. He attempted to get them to attack. Never happened.

Ed

 

[keralucu]

Barrett (it's pretty easy to remember ) - as soon as you mentioned Canadian, I got it, but I asked because a friend of mine has a nickname/second-hippy/lovechild name which is Edian and I wondered if it was related? Obviously not, but thanks for clarifying.

Scubaburt, I agree with your post 100%. I like the 'hotel room' reference.

And Blacknet - the guy who takes people out to pet the great white is in South Africa... his name is Andre Hartmann, his boat is called BlackCat and does these trips out of Gansbaai in the southern part of SA not too far from Cape Town. I've actually been there but was not into sharks at all at the time - I wish I had known about it then. I think that would be an incredible experience!

Cheers all

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

Yea that's it. Seen it on the discovery channel. Would love to go on that trip.

 

[DEEP SEA]

Greetings to all. Just a little tip to those who don't know. ALL sharks bite! Further, they are unpredictable. If you mess with one enough, you will most likely find this fact out for yourself. I have tried on many occasions to get sharks and other fish to stay in front of my camera only to find out some have a temper and either bolt away and/or BITE.

Short story, I wanted to show my wife a medium size puffer fish while diving in Hawaii. I simply chased it down and scooped it in my goodie bag. It swelled up. I swam back to my wife and proceeded to push the fish out of my bag. The smiling little fish felt my hand pushing on his face and bit. The little cute fish, with the big smile bit me so hard I surfaced screaming all the way. ;-0 I was afraid to take my glove off knowing something had to be missing! One finger was smashed and the nail turned blue but it taught me a good lesson. Leave the sea life alone and you won't get bit!

 

[ScubaBaby]

Deep Sea - howz the finger now???

That is what i was trying to say in my orginal post. You playing with that cute fish is what is happening to our sharks.

People have toned down sharks so much that people are starting to see them as more harmless animals. Imagine that was a shark you were playing with, as soon as it bit, it would have been spread throughout the papers the next day...then we start all over again with the killings of sharks like after Jaws....even though it was the humans in the wrong!

 

[keralucu]

Deep Sea - why did you put the puffer into a bag? Couldn't your wife have swum over to have a look at the fish? I may be way off here, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but I've been told that forcing puffers to "puff up" (it's their defence mechanism, by the way :nono: ) causes them so much stress that it shortens their life spans.

I thought divers were supposed to admire the marine life, not 'kidnap' it! I'm not trying to flame here, DS, but I do think you asked for that bite.

Back to the thread, Abby, you're quite right - we should not get so blase as to believe we are untouchable by the creatures of the sea. It's been shown in this thread that you never know what they might do, no matter how small or 'cute' they are.

As a wise person once said... "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but bubbles...."

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

OK i'll bite. So what happens if it's not 'kidnaping' when you do the spearfishing, shell collecting and the like?

Ed