PARADISE HUNTER
Contributor
If those vids are representative of the typical dive with bulls in Playa then I'll pass. Looks totally crazy to me. Who was that in the 2nd one flailing about just asking to get bitten? I can't control what some other idiot does that could set the sharks off and I sure can't control a bull. Nope, not for me.
Like anything, there is more than one way to accomplish something. Both those videos were chumed dives. The first was a Phantom Divers dive, who are well known and heavily criticized shark feeding op. I'm not sure who the second op was. But the guy flailing about was the one feeding the sharks, he was feeding them when the camera circled past him. It bait was tucked behind the rock head.
As busy as those videos appeared, not once did you see aggresive behavior to a diver. Being close to a diver is not aggresive. No bumps, nudges, bites at fins, sharp circle backs at a diver. The few times that a shark swam over or close by a diver, it was as if they weren't there. They paid no attention to them.
All that said, both those videos show too much shark activitey. The bottom gets too stirred up and the visibilty gets bad. There are videos that have worse vis than those on U Tube. If an accident is going to happen it is when a shark is excited by the bait and can't see what it's biting at.
I've consistently said that if you are interested in seeing the bulls in Playa, go with a organized non feeding dive op. The encounter is more natural and safe. The visibility will not only be better and safe, but give you a better opportunity of observing these incredible sharks. The nonchumed dives don't see 10+ sharks, more like 3-4 at a time.