Mandatory Dive protection for Shark dives.

[gonetobaja]

Hmmm, is there a market for chain maille condoms?

There is now.....but just the full body condom version.


AD:

The new Neptunic full body chain mail condom, with welded rings for your protection. Discreet protection for you AND your partner....the responsible choice for active diver.

With a little reasearch maybe Neptunic can develop a shark suit that heats up when sharks are close, Ya know the action makes it warm up....

 

[offthewall1]

I'm still waiting for Baltimore City to make Head to Toe Bullet Proof suits Manatory. If we're not doing this for our citizens in the cities, I sure don't see the need to do it for a few Yahoos in the Ocean.

 

[gonetobaja]

I'm still waiting for Baltimore City to make Head to Toe Bullet Proof suits Manatory. If we're not doing this for our citizens in the cities, I sure don't see the need to do it for a few Yahoos in the Ocean.

Perhaps if the city of Baltimore had tour groups that would take you on a tour of the SWAT close quarters wepons range during a live fire exercise? MD may be dangerous but to compare walking down the street in Baltimore (long live the blue crab) to a dive with baited in tiger sharks is not realistic IMstupidO.

After more net surfing I have found this letter, which links to another letter. It seems as though the Bahama council of divers has already issued a letter to all operators doing this type of tour to tell them that it is too dangerous. And it was done long before the tragedy that happened.

I was un-aware that all of these dive groups in that area already had discussed protocol for these types of dives. I wonder how many people were aware of the bahamas council of divers findings and subsequent warnings to shark diver operators in its waters.

UnderwaterTimes | 'Cowboy' Shark Dive Operator Warned Over Safety Before Fatal Attack; 'Accident Waiting To Happen'

 

[offthewall1]

Having done multiple Bahamas shark dives, as well as shark dives in other places around the world, I have no problem continuing to do them. I have never been unnerved nor felt threatened in any way during these dives. Of course I sign the waiver and I accept the risk - which as a free human being I should sensibly be able to do. One of the quotes I most often use is that "I feel safer swimming with one hundred sharks than I do on the streets of Baltimore." I'd bet that most Baltimore area divers would feel the exact same. So would divers in inner cities across the US and in some other countries as well.

I have never seen a dive operator "bait in" Tiger sharks. It is of course the open ocean - so a Tiger shark may well indeed stumble in upon the proceedings. Other prominent species may as well... including Whites, Bulls, Bronze Whalers, etc... depending upon where the feed is. In the event this happens, it is wise to end the feed and have divers take cover or tuck in away from the feeding area. It is stupido to remain in the feeding area and out in the open.

 

[gonetobaja]

Here is a video of a typical feed the tiger shark dive. This is how things are RIGHT NOW. I would like to point out the saftey measures that the guides use, in the form of a custom bent metal pole to ward off the sharks. If you ask anyone in this video if they were scared they will say..."No, you just have to understand the sharks behavior" Or if you ask one of the guides they will say....."Its safe, I have been doing this for ever....I was the one that invented the bent end on the dive poles, I call them tiger tamers..."

The people will leave this dive having bolstered their ignorance of diving with large predators. They will come away saying the things I hear people say now about diving without protection....cause it worked for them. And I bet none of them will admit that they were attacked several times and were lucky to exit the water with all of their parts and lives intact. If a shark comes straight at you and you have to shove your camera in its mouth to avoid getting bit, than that is an attack. You have to call it what it is. Its not the shark interacting with you, he doesnt want to know if you are a nice person. He is there for one reason and that is the bait, and he wants to see if you taste like the smell in the water.

"I got bumped a couple of times but its no big deal. Tiger sharks are not trying to bite us, they are just curious of the camera.."

YouTube - Tiger shark AND MORE

 

[Jim Lapenta]

As has been already stated, why regulate anything like this. If you don't want to do the dive or are too scared that something may go wrong don't go in the water. SHEESH! If you go into the environment of a wild animal you must assume an element of risk. I love seeing sharks. I would not however go a dive where they are being baited. That's just me. If someone else wants to, fine. If they get bit, oh well. They knew the risk. If they did not or assumed there was none then Darwin just got another one. I say do what you want. If there were not stupid people out there to show us the consequences of that lack of intelligence then more would have to learn the hard way. And what rational person would even assume that with all the feeding dives that go on that nobody is going to get hurt. You pays your money, you takes your chances. By the way according to shark cuisine magazine we taste like chicken!!!

 

[tridacna]

2. Should the customers be REQUIRED to wear the protection or should it be up to each diver.

In NJ, most boat captains REQUIRE you have a secondary air source. Either doubles or a pony. No have - no dive.

Isn't this the same thing? Same as seat belts IMO.

 

[Underwater Ogre]

hmmmmmm...I am going to dive with chummed sharks...could that be dangerous?...If I dont know the answer...let that lil theory that Darwin came up with decide.

Kids fall out of tress we should cut them all down!!!

 

[seaducer]

In NJ, most boat captains REQUIRE you have a secondary air source. Either doubles or a pony. No have - no dive.

Isn't this the same thing? Same as seat belts IMO.

No, it isn't. At least not seat belts. An arguement can be made that drivers who are not wearing their belt and are thrown from their seat during an accident, or even hitting a curb put others at risk by completely losing control of their vehicle.

The redundant air source rule sux. It solves 1 problem that solo divers encounter. Buddy divers have their redundant source next to them. IMO it solves no issues.

As for the OP. Come on, don't you think you are over reacting? How many people have been on these dives? How many people have been hurt? Killed? Lets keep things in perspective. More people are killed skiing in one season that have been killed in 20 years of shark diving. We don't need madatory anything.

Some things worth doing have some risk to them. You can't eliminate risk.

Jimmy Buffet sings it best. "I'd rather die while I'm living then live while I'm dead."

 

[FireDiver443]

I've seen more divers tossed from their seats when a rogue wave hits the boat broadside than I've seen injured by sharks. Perhaps before we mandate protective wear for shark diving (can they make a version that will also protect a diver from jellyfish stings and deploy a USCG-approved PFD with EPIRB in case the dive boat becomes a dive attraction?), we should install lap-shoulder restraints (diver bungees) on all seats. We better ban cell phone, text messaging and radio use by the Captain too, to reduce the potential for incidents related to distracted boating.

Diving is intrinsically dangerous because water can be considered an IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life & Health) atmosphere. And that's BEFORE we factor all the dangerous aqua-beasties into the equation. Prudence suggests the leading causes of diver fatalities should be addressed and resolved before focusing on the causes that rarely occur, even though the latter makes us feel better. What? You say we're doing that? Then why do divers continue to die?

I don't think I've ever seen a diver that didn't carry an air gauge but divers still seem to experience low air emergencies. BCDs are equiped with dump valves but divers still experience uncontrolled ascents. Divers wear watches, dive computers and sometimes their dive tables but still go into deco. Is the dive community crying out for regulations to address these far more frequent safety concerns?

One case does not an epidemic make. Sometimes one can do everything right and still experience something unexpectedly bad. Knee-jerk, feel-good reactions won't change that. Additionally, if we pass a regulation after every time something bad happens, pretty soon we won't ever leave the house. Unless bad things start happening in houses and they pass another regulation.