Shark Dive

How many of you have made a Shark Dive? If so, where and when?

If you're lucky any dive can be a shark dive. I see them routinely here in San Diego. There is an operator in town Dive Connections on the Quivera Basin that does organized shark dives for around $260 a person. The Blue's and the occasional Mako are the sharks that show up.

One other cool place to check out is Team Shark here in California Have fun and let me know if you choose to dive with either of these operators, I'd love to tag along!

I once went swimming over at my attorney's house, does this count?



ID

............none where sharks were fed. I'm philosophically opposed to it.

WWW™

Feeding sharks can't be much different than feeding Alligators. They will associate humans with food and eventually someone is going to get hurt. There is no ifs, ands, or buts about it. These are wild animals that are normally not in contact with humans and should be left alone. Just like any other large predatory wildlife.

Sorry guys I can't agree with your position on Shark Feeding. I've been on Shark Dives in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, Southern Africa and the Bahamas and in none of the places has a person been hurt on an organised well conducted program because they were associated by the sharks with Food. The few accidents have been "Diver error".
as for affecting sharks by changing their ability to "Fish naturally" most Red Sea sites are seasonal and the sharks don't seem to die off in the off season.
As for organised exposure of the public to sharks and the affect it has on the population of a necessary Apex predator check out the Bahamas.
Raffles

I just wanted to say that I realize why some people are against shark feeding. To be quite honest I am against it in many ways as well. Having said that, my personal opinion is that shark feeding is a necessary, proficient way of educating divers about sharks in general. There all too many myths about sharks floating around, and it isn't benefiting the sharks at all. Their rapidly diminishing numbers is proof of that. If shark feeding dives assist in more divers falling in love with these mystical creatures and then taking a more active role in the conservation of them, then I'm all for the dives.

Those who believe sharks are the most dangerous things in the water are also sadly mistaken. With the likes of Don's wetsuits, Warhammer's Manuever's and King Neptune's White legs in the water, there's plenty of other things to fear my friends.

When I first started diving if I saw a shark larger then the common Angel, Sand, Horn Shark or the like, I was heading for the boat it terror. My whole outlook regarding sharks changed after an assignment shooting sharks at Stuart's Cove, Nassau Bahamas. Watching Stuart feed the sharks and telling each sharks story as they swam by was great. To look into a Bahamian Reef Shark's eyes is really something. They scan you with cat like eyes. You find yourself wondering what they are thinking? It was interesting to watch 20 to 30 sharks come in as Stuart open the box of bait and start feeding and then watch them slowly swim off the minute the food was gone!

On another assignment I had to shoot Blue Sharks off of Catalina. This was the shark that struck terror in me for years. It was a surprise to see how slowly they approached and how easy it was to scare them off. If it wasn't for the bait, we would not have gotten with 20 feet of them. However, I have to admit, looking into a Blue Shark or Mako's eyes is scary. It looks like a lifeless black hole.

In any case, I love sharks and enjoy video tapping them. Even if you don't like the idea of feeding, you should give it a try if you get the chance.

I am not afraid of sharks. I do respect them. They are much, much faster than I, they have bigger and sharper teeth, and if they wanted to, they could take a big chunk of me any time they wanted. I look at sharks as I do any other large wild preditor. The land locked preditors normally will not bother humans. Normally, sharks will not bother humans either. It has been pretty much shown that most shark attacks have been mistakes in murky or silted water. I believe that is the case. A panther or couger will normally never attack a human. It has happened, but rarely and usually by one that has lost it's fear of humans or is old and very hungry. Alligators usually only attack humans when they begin to associate humans with food. I could be wrong, but I don't think there is much difference between any large wild predator except it's habitat. My problem with feeding the shark is that we are modifying their behavior. These modifications may not affect divers, but we do not know the complete ramifications of the modifications. The affects could be on other situations that we are not observing. I have seen a large black tip in the wild off West Palm Beach. A wonderful experience and even more special because it was completely natural.

I've been watching sharks for over 30 years - and while the term "apex predator" applies, shark (I'm talking about the "shark feed" kinds) feeding patterns do not fall wholly (probably not even predominantly) in the "predatory" pattern. I whould characterize sharks as "opportunistic" feeders in the wild.. they eat whatever's easiest. As such, when they participate in shark feeding sessions, their behavior isn't being modified at all, merely observed, and if the regular feeds were to stop they'd move on without a second thought about it.
As for my attending shark feeds, I went on one 'cause my wife wanted me there, and that was one more than I needed to appreciate sharks.
Rick