Shark Attack - Fact

[Puffer Fish]

Ok my experience:

Im diving at least once a month with the bull shark (apparently the most agressive shark out there).

Ive also dived with hammerheads, ragged tooth, black tips and tiger sharks. Unfortunately never with the Great White (but will rectify it this year).

Specific your situation. We had some students in Mozambique in December on their first openwater dive. A tiger came to visit us. all of them just act normal and was an awesome experience for all of them (12 students). The point Im trying to make is that if you spot them underwater you will relise that they dont care about yiu at all. They come in have a look (if youre lucky and then dissapear.

Im alse a memebr of Sharklife and with experience and shark courses done I can comment as follow.

Key things to do if you not comfortable with the shark in the water and to scare them off And no jokes Im seriouse.
1) Stay in a group - they see you as one object too large for prey and they will not bother you.
2) If you alone swim towards the shark - a sure way to scare them off.
3) Never ever swim away horisontal from the shark - you look like food.
4) Stay vertical - no food of the shark swim vertical end they wont see you as prey
5) Blow a lot of bubbles and even scream if a shark is in you personal space (man how I would love that to happen to me)
6) Remember they hate to struggle for food and you do not look like easty pray to any shark in scuba. Swimmers on the syurface is another story - humans look clumsey make noice and look like you drown if you are a swimmer....
7) Eye contact very important, had a couple a csases where the bull shark comes in closer from behind and as soon as you look at it - it goes away.
8) Dont flash with your hands, keep them intack

Last point - onced you actually dive with these magnificant animals you quickly relise that they are no threat at all if you just respect them, dont hang on their dorsal fin and let them be.

I was in a dive with 50+ black tip sharks, and although they bump you by accident (because of the number of species and the feeding frenzie, they dont even notice you. Remeber their senses is super human and in 99.9999999999% of cases they will not mistake you with prey.

My few (very few) bad encounters with sharks, absolutely none of those worked. I think it is important to remember that a well fed shark is, for the most part, not a danger to anyone. However, a very hungry shark is a different story. If you dive in an area with lots of sharks, that means there is lots of food. But run into a desperately hungry shark, and all bets are off..

Bulls, by the way, vary tremendously in their aggressiveness, from one area to the next. Bulls in the Pacific off Panama are, for the most part, almost friendly... Bulls in the northern Gulf of Mexico can be very agressive. They also can be very timid.

If you ever get to dive with grey reef sharks, you should rethink your list, as only leaving will prevent a territorial attack.

Nice pictures by the way.

 

[tndash]

Please correct me if Im wrong, but screaming may not have the effect on the shark you may be anticipating. The vibrations it causes and the increased heart rate may seem like signs of a fish in distress and actually attract the shark. Everything else seems logical-just my .02-thx

 

[Walter]

Yelling at a shark often causes it to leave the area.

 

[tndash]

thx walter

 

[LRobbins]

I think shark education should be taught in the OW course, not because divers are likely to see sharks, but because many divers are concerned about sharks and "what if". Education would calm a lot of fears and teach people to appreciate sharks rather than fearing them. Divers can be some of the best ambassadors for sharks because we on occasion have the rare privledge of seeing them in their natural habitat.

 

[Amazz]

Eye contact is very effective. I had this pesty reef shark harrass the hell out of me in Jupiter, FL. It would try to sneak up behind me then turn away each time I turned and made eye contact. This happened 6 or 7 times on the dive with this shark. I don't know what it was all about but that shark sure was sneaky.

 

[BettyRubble]

I'm just hoping urine is a shark deterrent as I will most definitely wet myself if I see anything bigger then 4 feet . . . screaming is guaranteed, no way I'll stay horizontal anyway so count on me being very verticle . . with all the heavy breathing I'll be doing, bubbles are going to be available in excess and I can only hope I will practice my "just relax, don't panic, anything that happens underwater can be resolved underwater' motto . . . I was fortunate enough to see a nurse shark and carribean reef shark during my ITK adventures which helped me be a little more comfortable but ironically at the same time made me realize how hard it is to see your surroundings down there. For those of you who enjoy 'shark feeding' diving . . . more power to ya. . . I just don't have the cojones to seek out that close of an interaction on purpose. Sometimes, a touch of fear is a good thing.

 

[Amazz]

wait till you see Mr. Big. Ha Ha. Mr. Big will likey act just like the little reef shark you already saw. They are curious but don't want do eat us.

 

[BettyRubble]

wait till you see Mr. Big. Ha Ha. Mr. Big will likey act just like the little reef shark you already saw. They are curious but don't want do eat us.

Let's hope he isn't in the mood for a snack . . I'm a whopping 5'2 so one bite is all he gets with me anyway!

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Bulls, by the way, vary tremendously in their aggressiveness, from one area to the next. Bulls in the Pacific off Panama are, for the most part, almost friendly... Bulls in the northern Gulf of Mexico can be very agressive. They also can be very timid.

If you ever get to dive with grey reef sharks, you should rethink your list, as only leaving will prevent a territorial attack.

I am pretty sure many other sharks also have different geographic aggression. For instance here in Hawaii I would say the grey reef shark is all bark and no bite, as I have never heard of a diver being bitten by one and I'm sure plenty divers didn't leave.

Also, even though our white tip reef shark has bit a couple divers (annoying photographers) it is considered among the least threatening of our fish, but white tip reef sharks might not have that reputation other places.