Sharks and Grand Cayman

[JohnJohn]

Drew...

What does it mean when you say you have never "seen" and attack in cayman. You put the word seen in italics.

Have you "heard" anything?

I take it you are an instuctor in Cayman....do you ever feel threatend, scared or nervous from the sharks?

Thanks all for the input.

John

 

[Zippsy]

As I said, I hope I didn't sound rude before - I just had a hard time believing that a diver would have any concern. FYI, I personally know only two people that have ever been bitten by a shark. One smart diver in Malaysia had grabbed the tail of a baby nurse shark and pulled it out from under a coral head. While cradling it in his arms to "nurse" it, it bit him in the upper arm and would not let go until the diver was on the boat. Another person I know was working as a DM and shark feeder for photo ops in Florida. One time, he didn't manage to get his hand out of the way fast enough and when the blood started flowing like out of a faucet, the biggest shark decided that my friend was bait. He was badly bitten a few times but lived to tell the tale. I once petted the tail of a resting nurseshark and that was as stupid as I get.

The moral of the stories? If you are fortunate enough to get to see a shark, don't grab it, hold it, feed it or stick your hand near it's mouth and I can say with a fair amount of certainty that you will greatly enjoy the experience.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

I have never felt threatened, scared, or nervous by sharks, but I have seen aggressive behavior on a couple of occasions. Learn to recognize the signals.

At one time, shark feeding was promoted in Cayman. Such activities were banned a year or two ago. The sharks still show up expecting to be fed.

 

[padiscubapro]

JohnJohn once bubbled...
Hello All,

I am taking a trip to Grand Cayman but I am terribly afraid of sharks. Should I be?

I have seen these shows on tv. They have got me scared beyond belief.

What is the real deal with sharks and Grand Cayman? Have there been any shark attacks there ever? Should I be worried?

What if I were to div eeveryday? Anything to worry about.

I am not looking to feed sharks....I just do not know what to expect on my daily dives.

A little worried.

John

I have been going to cayman regularly since around 1988, on the south and west end I have only seen sharks on 2 or 3 recreatonal dives...

I have seen sharks all over the island on deep wall dives.. Hammerheads are seen quite commonly on the north wall on deep dives, not very common at recreactional depths (130ft ish) or less..

My last trip to cayman during Zero G (an event for CCR divers) we saw sharks on most of the dives.. On standard scuba its very difficult to get anywhere near most shark species.. they don't want anything to do with you.. On one dive a few of us swam with a 10ft hammerhead for about 15 minutes we were at 220 and the shark was about 10 ft below us...

 

[JohnJohn]

Everyone who responded and took the time to answer my questions....

THANKS!!!!

John

 

[dividiva]

Hey John

I worked on Cayman Brac for 2 years and saw lots of sharks and only had one incident. Not myself, but some idiot with a camera decided to grab onto the tail of a nurse shark and pull it out of the coral to get a better picture. All that happened there is that the poor thing freaked out bit and took off. Nothing major though. It is like grabbing onto the tail of a dog and trying to drag him around by it. What do you expect. I think it scared the person more than anything.
Other than that sharks will pretty much leave you alone. They might come in to check you out a little bit, but we are pretty scary with all our gear making all that noise. Sharks are beautiful animals and are amazing to see in the water. I have had a reef shark swimming so close beside me before that I could have reached out and touched him. Very cool! I have also tried to herd one closer to divers so that they would see them. He wanted no part in that and just left. Too bad as the divers didn't get to see him.
We also saw a bull shark on the Brac once as well. I unfortunately didn't get to see him, but our photo girl did and a few guests. One of the local Dive Masters said that was the only siting of a bull shark that he had ever heard of. If you are really lucky you might get to see a hammerhead, but on Brac anyway that is very rare. It's funny.
I remember when I was heading out for the very first ocean dive and I remember wondering how I would react the very first time I saw a shark because I have seen jaws and all that stuff too. I was surprised how calm I was. I was sitting in a sand flat waiting for my buddy and a reef shark swam right up to me almost ran into my belly and then just swam off. I was so amazed and then afterwards I was so excited that I could hardly contain myself.
Relax and enjoy them as they are a treat that you only get to see once in a while. Have fun on your trip.

 

[EliteDetail]

I recently spoke with a gentleman at the "cayman dive resort" they say that its the norm to see a few reef sharks between 5-7 feet on the east end " the maze" they say that chances are very good you will see a few if you dive in this area. So if you dont wanna see sharks be sure to stay away from this area

 

[diverrick]

You folks all forgot the most feared and dangerous shark of them all in GC... The one that swirls around you as you walk by the shop door tring to get you to come inside. They are everywhere! It's just not safe any more! They are down in Jamaica too! Not very pleasant to swim around with them.
The ones in the water are not a problem at all. Have fun.

 

[SCUBAMedicBill]

JohnJohn,

The only ones you'll probably see there are nurse and reef sharks. There not going to bother you if you don't bother them. I'd worry more about barracudas than sharks, and I don't worry about barracudas.

You asked if anyone ever had any problems with sharks. The closets I ever got to having a problem was when a lemon shark tried to nip my hand. He was in the open tank and I standing outside of the tank with my hand on the edge. Dumb thing to do!

Don't worry, and have a great trip. The diving there is wonderful.

Stay well and dive safe

Bill

 

[mattengstrom]

Don't know if that's representative of everyone else's experiences or not, though.

One was at The Maze, a carib. reef shark. This was my 1st open-water checkout dive. Quite an introduction to the sport!

The other was at a north wall site called Hammerhead Hill. This was another carib. reef shark.

No agression in either case.