Shark Week Phobia

[LI Diver]

OK guy's I have been a water oriented person all my life and consider myself fairly knowledgeable in the marine world,but........... I know I'm more likely to get hit by lightning and (at least one of my friends did get hit by the way) and sharks don't usually bother divers. Of course theres you guy's that get all jazzed seeing these beautiful animals and I see the beauty myself. I am not generally a easily shaken person but I do dive with my two young children and quite frankly after watching shark week (I know isolated incidents clumped together) I as well have my concerns.
So basically what I am asking is: barring freshwater where can we dive and minimize the chance of encountering these brutes? Nurse sharks and the like are not a concern. Oh and I already have the link to that site with the statistics of all the attacks by country etc. Thanks in advance guy's!
Ed

 

[TSandM]

Well, Uncle Pug did a couple thousand dives in Puget Sound before he saw one . . .

 

[erparamedic]

Frankly, I wouldn't worry about the sharks.... especially if you are diving. They are curious creatures and just wanna come by and see what we are. Stick close together (shoulder to shoulder) if you are concerned.... this makes you and your buddies seem more like 1 BIG diver instead of 3 little divers. Make sense?

Have you ever seen any sharks, aside from a nurse shark? They are beautiful and graceful. I've come within arms reach of a nice 7 footer and I was just in awe. Myself and my buddy were coming around the bow of a wreck and came head to head (within arms reach of it's pearly white teeth) with it. It slowly glided down below us, with it's dorsal fin less than a foot away from our bellys. We turned back to look at it some more, it turned sideways, looked at us, then turned and swam away. It was just curious and in no way showed any aggressive behaviour. Pay attention when you see sharks, and make it a real learning experience. Not many people can say they've seen a shark, let alone dove with one or been so close to one. :sharks:

Now if you're bobbing around at the surface or at the beach, that's when I'd be a bit more aprehensive.

PS- I've been watching shark week too. While alot of it is quite educational, there is a bit of a "jaws" factor that's played in. Don't let it get to you.

 

[CBulla]

Pfff... all I see are harmless nurse sharks... everyone else gets to see the cool ones.

Bugger shark week, fun info and lots of hype... watch Jean Michael Coustou's stuff, he free dives with a great white!

 

[Walter]

It's a legitimate concern. When I first started diving, I was afraid of sharks. Not afraid to dive, but afraid of actually encountering one (or more). When I saw how they react to people (snorkelers and folks splashing on the surface), I lost my fear. I had about 10 - 15 dives (I was on a live aboard - The Impossible Dream - in the Bahamas where I was certified) and everyone was maxed out. This was in the days before computers and no one had any time left on the tables. The boat was anchored, I was standing on the bow watching the water. Most of the folks were playing on rafts and/or snorkeling at the stern (approximately 60 feet away). They were doing a bunch of splashing. Looking out in front of the boat, I saw something moving towards the boat, just under the surface. As it got closer, I saw it was a large (8 - 10 ft) shark (I never did ID it) moving slowly and gracefully straight at the folks off the stern. When it was right beside the boat (right under me), a spasm when through it's entire body. He then made a 180° turn and swam away very quickly. That was the day I lost my fear of sharks.

From that time, I looked for sharks. I saw my first (while in the water) on my 49th dive. Shark sighings are rare (in most locations) and wonderful (almost always). In the over 20 years I've been an active diver, I've been lucky enough to see sharks many times. I'm often reminded of their fabulous grace and beauty. They are usually difficult to approach, but you can sometimes entice them to approach you. I'm philosophically against the concept of feedings. Sometimes, they'll swim beside you for a short time, allowing you the opportunity to admire them. If you hang motionless, they will sometimes come in close to investigate before running away. Once on a safety stop, I was able to get a 6 ft Caribbean Reef to approach to within about 3 feet before it turned and swam rapidly away. That was a moment to be treasured, one I'm glad I was able to experience.

Then there are the rogues. Sometimes, they don't act like you expect. There are times they get aggressive. If interested, you can read about my one such experience in the Florida Conchs forum (Running with the Bulls....). If you encounter an aggressive shark, don't try to run away. Swim slowly to the exit point and get out of the water. Make a strong confident impression (don't swim with your hands, have neutral buoyancy). Make noise, shout, growl, etc. If the shark charges you, swim right at it. Make it think you are the apex predator. This type of behavior is extremely rare, so don't let it keep you from diving.

Yes, I've also been struck by lightning.

 

[Amazon]

We paid lots of money to go dive with sharks!

I must admit, as a mere mortal, I have had moments of fearing the great white appearing out of the green soup. Especially when on a seal dive (that is where they like to hang out!).

But, I think about the odds...and how cool it would be to see them.

 

[fairybasslet]

So basically what I am asking is: barring freshwater where can we dive and minimize the chance of encountering these brutes?
Ed

Ah, but the bull shark can live in both fresh and salt water. And they are pretty agressive.

 

[jbichsel]

I've seen sharks on several occasions and only once did I feel threatend. Snorkeling off Cheju Island, South Korea, 1982. Some buddies and I were snorkeling and had 3 sharks come into the bay. We were collecting lobsters and the sharks got curious and strted coming closer and closer. It got to the point they were bumping us and we were pushing and punching them.
We clustered together at the srufacea and made our way back to shore. Somewhere I have a picture of one of them with its back all arched in that wonderfully threatening pose they do.
Sphincter factor was pretty high.

Other than that, they have just been pretty blah in attitude.

I used to volunteer dive at the aquarium in Denver and cleaning the shark exhibit is the best! You definitely have to watch them and pay attention to their behavior. There were some days we got out early and other days we cleaned a different exhibit. When the grey reefs start bumping you, they're saying "Hey, I've had enough of you in my house. Leave." When a 14' sand tiger bumps into your head from behind, you call the dive.
But having a 6'-8' zebra shark crawl all over you when your trying to feed the sawtooth, is totally cool. They are kind of like annoying puppies.

I love sharks.

I'm recording all the Shark Weeks shows on my DVR. Just wish they were HD.

 

[BSea]

I've only seen 3 sharks while diving (1 being a nurse shark). This was in the Bahamas which is supposed to have sharks everywhere (I'm sure they were, but we didn't see them). Both times I saw the sharks my buddy and I were away from most of the other divers. The sharks stayed on the fringe of the divers. Nobody that was in the center of the group saw them.

It seemed like they were giving us a quick look, then leaving.

I'm going to the flower gardens soon, and I hear we will definetly see sharks. But I've heard that before.

 

[Lamnid]

Yeah they're my faves to! As for minimising the chances i think the colder you go the less likely it is to see them but still there are chances. Did my dissertation on shark biogeography so I can tell you that most of the tropical belt is full of the blighters! All the big pelagic shark like great white etc. have pretty circumglobular distribution however. And even in the frosty southern ocean there is a shark species so you'll never be guaranteed not to see them. But why would you want to minimise the chances? I mean if you cross the road then you can't be afraid if sharks at all cos unlike with a shark encounter, there's a fairly good chance of getting run over or being involved in a traffic accident! The thing is that you feel comfortable with this threat cos you grew up with it. The shark thing is unfamiliar and of course scary (look at all those teeth! and the size of 'em!) but my opinion is that it's important to conquer fears and the best way (for me) is exposure.
Oh and freshwater isn't completely safe either - I logged 2 shark species which live in river systems and even some of the larger ones will invade freshwater systems a small way.
Oh and don't forget about jellyfish, seasnakes, aggressive triggerfish, dangers of scuba gear malfunctioning. Gosh - how do any of us enter the water at all?