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I've never paid for anyone to teach me anything that I was capable of learning myself. Especially when it comes to animal behavior.
My first freedive was a hands on lesson in animal behavior. I made a beach entry at Diego Garcia, with my buddy. We swam out past the break to the drop off. It's a sheer face at 50 feet that drops to 4000 m. That was where I learned to freedive. My first dive down was to 25 or 35 feet. I came face to face with 2 blacktip reef sharks moseying over to have a look. 2 choices here, 1. Freak out. 2. Do nothing and watch them. I chose #2. I surfaced, they came to about 6 feet with me and went away. That was how I started diving with sharks.
It made me insatiably curious to learn THE TRUTH about these animals, and so, I read. Everything I could about posturing, gaping, body language, tendencies, etc. I went out, often alone, to dive with sharks, and observe them. (When you're in Indonesia, alone, the lack of diving buddy WILL NOT get in the way of a great diving day, or opportunity.)
If you are not yet certified, start freediving. Sharks don't like bubbles, anyways. Read. Observe, and learn on your own. No education is more powerful than one you give yourself.
Find dive buddies who share a common interest with you; sharks, and go dive with them. If you need a boat to get you on top of sharks, go hire one, and hang out with the operator to learn about them.
Canassis, thank you for your opinion. I'm with you and agree on the most points.
Of course I read and try to get as much information as possible.
Dr. Erich Ritter worked together with the Shark Foundation is Switzerland. Also he work with Sharkproject.org (Germany) together. They puplished a lot of books and dvd's.
Of course you are right with learning on your own. That is the reason why we learn how to dive. It's similar with Mr. Peter Benchley. He learned how to dive after "Jaws" to learn more about sharks.
But I have different reasons to dive with sharkschool. Dr. Ritter speaks english and german, so I can talk to him in my native language. 2nd; I have more trust in him than in other Operators which I don't know yet. 3rd; I have to hire a boat anyways (to get to sharks as well as for u/w pictures and videos), so why not to dive with an professional... who's also involved at GSAF and SAVN.
That doesn't mean other Operators are not good or anything like that. Don't get me wrong.
But to me it's more then just see sharks and take pictures.
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Originally Posted by Canassis
