Let's hear YOUR shark tale!

[ScubaLuke]

My best shark encounters have been in the Bahamas.

Same here. Several years ago some friends and I were doing the Nekton Pilot's Southern Bahamas itinerary. Off San Salvador we ran into a group of friendly reef sharks. They appeared to be pretty habituated to divers. We suspected that one of the dive operators on the island must have been feeding them.

We got numerous close passes. During the trip one of the dive masters on the boat offered a neutral buoyancy tune up class. While the students were kneeling in the sand in rows, three of the reef sharks swam amongst them. I wish I'd been there to see that and get a picture but I was off on the other side of the wall somewhere. Probably taking a picture of a rock or something.

This is as good a picture as I managed to get:

Luke

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Beach dive to a smallish wreck off of Gulf Shores(Whiskey Wreck) and we had a little 2 1/2' shark, not sure what kind. All it did was swim between us and the wreck, maybe a foot below our level. I stopped and turned around, hoping it would circle back around but it never showed itself again...

I'd really like some more experience with sharks. I've been spearfishing offshore and had couples come up after I've exitted the water with shark encounters - why'd they wait so long to come around!

 

[Scubamedicjoe]

sharks what are they we see them on most every dive in NC everything from , sandtigers, to bulls.
while on dive earlier this month had a 8 foot bull shark seperate a female diver from rest of the group . two others divers and I had to littlerly move her back towards the ship wreck and when we got her on the boat she was scared real bad.
somehow it got in between her and the wreck and in its own way just made her keep backing up , anyway she ok shark well shark be a shark ,
http://www.scubaboard.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/5902/sort/1/cat/500/page/1

 

[JustJoe]

I have had several cool encounters. Reef sharks swarmed me after one of my spearfishing buddies missed a mutton snapper. Looking for a free meal.

I sat on the bottom off the Breakers in Palm Beach and watched a school of hammerheads slowly pass by me, quite a few individuals.

Probably the funniest was a very small (less than 2 foot) lemon shark trying to see if one of my buddies was edible. It bumped him a couple of times. We told him the shark let him go due to professional courtesy (he is a salesman).

Joe

 

[mjh]

Seen sharks in the wild mainly nurse, black & white tips. Have shied away from shark dives mainly because I feel we are turning them into “State Park Bears”, i.e. wild animals that now scrounge our leftovers. After some convincing, the best argument being if it was not for shark encounters the locals would be more likely just to kill the sharks for their fins. What I liked about this dive was no hand feeding and very limited amount of food was given. Here are a few pics, some repeats from other posts….

 

[To_Narced]

I was diving in the cold dark waters of British Columbia at about 80ft. I saw a flicker out of the corner oy my eye and turned and there was a 12ft six gill shark swimming straight at me. I couldnt move, I was frozen as it swam straight towards me and stopped and turned away about 12 inches from my mask. It started swimming down and we followed it to about 140ft before it dissaperaed. Absolutley incredible experience.

 

[sailingangel70]

Fellow divers,

Absolutely fascinated with sharks....and would love to hear about your encounters. What? Where? How Big? what did it do?

Tell your story....

Well, it wasn't dangerous, but a bit disconcerting. I was in Costa Rica in January, diving in somewhat murky waters when we came across five or six reef(?) sharks resting in a ravine. I thought it was so cool so I watched them for a couple of minutes with my boyfriend when suddenly the visibility went from 30 feet to about 2 feet and I couldn't see the sharks who were not more then twenty feet away from me. I was seriously wierded out, and there was nothing left to see so we made our way to the surface. In Costa Rica, you see a lot of sharks, Nurse and grey reef mainly, but I did see one Bull shark which made my heart rate rise!

 

[whalerkyle]

Cool thread.
We were 27 miles off the California coast at the 209 high spot and stopped on a kelp paddy to spearfish. I bagged two nice yellowfin tuna, and was returning to the boat when a mako came at be from below. The vis was probably 80', and I saw him easy. My 63" gun was loaded to the max with 6 bands, and naturally is nose heavy. The shark swam straight at me without turning away which they usually do, and I let it rip. The spear lodged itself half way through it's head. Turns out to be a 206 pound Mako. Those were some good steaks. This was just this last August.
I needed a new wetsuit after this encounter.

Kyle

 

[deadend]

I just don't share the cute and cuddly shark sentiments with everyone else. If I encounter a shark it is usually in an aggressive, feeding mode. I ain't playin' footsies and petsies and lookie see with them. I got what they want and I'm not giving it up without a fight. Meet up with a 10' bull in 10' vis while carrying 50 lbs of fish and feelings toward them change. In the Bahamas or somewhere on a tourist dive it's one thing but the real world is another thing entirely.

Cool thread.
We were 27 miles off the California coast at the 209 high spot and stopped on a kelp paddy to spearfish. I bagged two nice yellowfin tuna, and was returning to the boat when a mako came at be from below. The vis was probably 80', and I saw him easy. My 63" gun was loaded to the max with 6 bands, and naturally is nose heavy. The shark swam straight at me without turning away which they usually do, and I let it rip. The spear lodged itself half way through it's head. Turns out to be a 206 pound Mako. Those were some good steaks. This was just this last August.
I needed a new wetsuit after this encounter.

Kyle

 

[BacardiSpice]

I see your point, Deadend, about different perspectives on sharks, but is your definition of diving in the 'real world' limited to those who spearfish? I don't spearfish, but I regard my diving as just as 'real world' as those who do - and certainly when I'm diving locally in Sydney and encounter sharks I'm not on a 'tourist dive'. That's my home turf, just as it is when I'm swimming on my local beach, walking to my local shops, or hiking in my local national park. I might not be hunting, or earning food or income, but I'm still part of the 'real world'.

I don't regard them as 'cute and cuddly' and never have. I am a tremendous enthusiast for animals and the natural world, and that has led me to really despise anthropomorphism. Sharks are an apex predator, and I respect them as such. If I were hunting on the veldt, and I happened to have a zebra strapped to a packhorse, I'd certainly have a respect for lions as a threat not only to my prey, but to myself as well - and I'd react accordingly. Nature is indeed red in tooth and claw, but appreciating that doesn't mean not appreciating its beauty...some of the greatest admirers and writers of the natural world have been hunters.

I respect and admire sharks - and, as I said above in a post, all my interactions with them have been peaceful and very interesting. That doesn't mean I'm going to snuggle up to a mako, try to hitch a ride on a great white or - here in Oz - tease a wobbegong and grab its fins. I treat them with the respect I would a lion, an orca or a tiger. Sharks might still pose a potential threat - more slight to me than to you, perhaps, because of the nature of the diving in which I egnage, but that doesn't mean I don't find them both beautiful and fascinating.