Someone has been feeding this nurse shark

[Karibelle]

Sooner or later you will look under an overhang and a nurse shark will decide to leave the area via where you are.

That's quite a bit different from having that same shark follow your group and bump into divers with his snout, repeatedly.

 

[Mossman]

It's easy to poke fun at the idea no harm will come from the practice but it could very well lead to an unsuspecting rookie making a panic styled emergency ascent that doesn't go as taught. Many new divers will panic if they have a shark or large Morey heading right at them.

New divers? I freaked when the monster moray went for me on my last trip, though admittedly I didn't bolt to the surface, I took a pic instead

 

[cvchief]

Many new divers will panic if they have [-]a shark or large Morey heading right at them.[/-]

Feel free to insert whatever in that spot.

 

[jd950]

Divers reacting badly is only part of the problem. If eels and sharks start becoming overly aggressive they will either be removed or avoided or we will start seeing dive ops acting like nannies to keep folks well clear of the potential problem. I would hate to see such things happen. This is a tourist destination and people who make their living from us tourists don't want bad press or frightened or injured customers.

No one is going to be as concerned about harmless species becoming unafraid of divers, but whether it is a speared lionfish or little packets of "fish food", it is unwise to interfere in the normal behavior of sealife. I gather some folks think it would be more fun to see the fish, eels and sharks "playing" with a DM or something, and long for the days when people would "ride" sea turtles and otherwise abuse the environment but there are plenty of dolphin and stingray enclosures and staged underwater "encounters" for those who seek that sort of entertainment.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Would it not be wonderful if those animals decided they like to eat lion fish as much as I do? The only way I developed such a liking is by spearing them.


Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[halocline]

This shark's behavior is exactly why I stopped feeding other divers.

 

[MMM]

Going to to go out and buy all the UW life spear guns Dave?

Would it not be wonderful if those animals decided they like to eat lion fish as much as I do? The only way I developed such a liking is by spearing them.


Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[mstevens]

In response to some very well-worded comments in this thread about some of the risks of feeding marine animals, I've posted another video, which I won't duplicate in this thread.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cozumel/479412-why-you-dont-feed-sharks.html

 

[jd950]

Would it not be wonderful if those animals decided they like to eat lion fish as much as I do? The only way I developed such a liking is by spearing them.

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

Yes, it would be wonderful if we could teach predators to seek out and eat lionfish by feeding dead ones to them. It would also be wonderful if the Presidente hotel started charging $40.00 per night for a room, the airlines cut their fares to Coz in half and Aldora started charging $19.99 for a two-tank dive.

All of these things can be expected to occur more-or-less simultaneously.

What isn't so wonderful is we you are going to see more and more sharks and eels and whatever approaching divers for food. What do you think was the cause of this little bit of fun in the Caymans...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuJmrv_KF24

I would bet that shark has been fed lionfish on a fork before.

You might find this interesting:

I had the craziest thing happen to me today on Half Moon Wall after diving the Blue Hole in Belize today... The moray eels, barracuda, groupers and snappers all got VERY, VERY aggressive when I speared lionfish and really fought with each other in the middle of an otherwise inexperienced group of divers. Teeth were everywhere.
The third lionfish I completely stoned but was blind-sided by a 5 or 6 foot barracuda from behind that came, maybe, 1 foot from my head at at least 20 miles an hour and tore into the fish at the end of my spear so hard that it ended up taking the entire sling with it. There was no saving the spear. The 4 other lionfish I saw on the rest of the dive gave me the middle finger and, I swear, I heard them laughing at me. The DM said he was surprised that the sharks didn't show up, too.
My thoughts: THERE IS NO REASON WHATSOEVER TO BE FEEDING LIONFISH TO ANYTHING ELSE AT THE END OF A SLING. NONE. THIS CREATES DANGEROUS BEHAVIOR and there is no reason to believe that it is creating predators - just aggressive, opportunistic feeders.
L Scott Harrell ‎World Lionfish Hunters Association

I support killing the buggers and actively spear them where I can and have killed, cleaned and eaten more than a few. I am not saying that reef predators will never eat lionfish or even that they may not eventually see the lionfish as preferred prey, I am only saying that feeding dead lions to predators will not affect that.

Hunters warned not to feed lionfish to predators :: cayCompass.com

I don't want this to turn ugly as many SB threads will. I respect the right of any of you to disagree with me and would happily sit and argue this with you over a beer and part as friends...or at least not enemies. And Dave, the above was no slam whatsoever against Aldora or its rates.

 

[mstevens]

Feel free to insert whatever in that spot.

Must... control... urge... to... respond... with... obvious... semi-obscene... joke...