This is why you don't feed sharks

[Midge907]

Wish that shark would have bitten off those 2 guy's SPGs @ the :20, :40, 1:00, or 1:40 marks---just for the heck of it.......Don't people know how to secure(or even hold) things these days???.....

Seems to be a common issue, with SPG's, Octos, etc. Irritates the crap out of me, not that hard to clip stuff off, kind of my pet peeve if I were to have one

 

[mstevens]

What I can't understand is why a DM didn't stop the divers from touching the shark, since that's a big violation of marine park rules.

The first person it approached was a DM. He pushed it away, but didn't pursue contact with it. However, other divers saw this contact and may have taken it as license to mug the shark. The group was fairly spread out, so I'm not sure how the DM's could have stopped this once it started.

1. While this is odd behavior, we really have no evidence that anyone has fed that shark.

Apart from behavior demonstrated in the video?

I have watched the first DM feed sharks from his ELF on other dives (the one who took the video will not feed fish). Given how similar one nurse shark looks to another, I can't prove through having witnessed feeding that people have fed that specific shark, but I believe it's a very reasonable inference that satisfactorily explains the behavior.

If you don't think feeding is reasonable to infer, please offer a reasonable alternative explanation for the behavior. Make sure it covers extra attention paid to DM's (who are typically the only divers likely to be wearing hooded vests and shorts and to be carrying ELF's within the Marine Park) and to the shark's particular interest in the divers' hands.

2. as someone said above, WTF were they doing reaching out to pet it?

Molesting it for their personal enjoyment.

3. if this in the marine park, WTF are divers doing wearing gloves?

It was in the Marine Park. The gloved divers were Japanese and, according to my wife, either had significant issues understanding that they weren't supposed to have gloves or were simply stubborn. My son thinks they donned the gloves underwater, but my wife isn't sure. A DM took their gloves away during the SI and the entire boat was sternly lectured not to touch anything and told anyone pursuing animals to touch them would be banned.

By then, of course, it was too late.

 

[KeithG]

yes this one has obviously been fed. Many times. too many times...It is kind of like a pigeon in the park. Annoying.

fish get fed by "hands" (not feet or heads or knees or elbows). fish that have been fed learn to recognize hands and zero in on a divers hands. (kind of like cats...).

A fish that has never been fed has no idea which part of a diver they should approach (except for remoras which target your chest) and if curious will just end up circling you randomly.

</rant>

 

[mstevens]

For clarity, this was taken at Colombia, which is definitely within the Marine Park where gloves are explicitly forbidden.

The dangling SPG's don't matter since nobody seems to check them anyway, so it doesn't matter if they work or not. They "massage" the coral as they're dragged over the polyps. Yes, this irks the stuffing out of me, as well.

While we're at it, note the styles of the divers. The more they touch the shark, the more they try to swim with their hands and generally flop around. There's a huge range here of both experience and expertise. It's the least-expert who are doing the most touching.

 

[cicopo]

I like the dive op's attitude / reaction. Who were they diving with?

 

[mstevens]

I like the dive op's attitude / reaction. Who were they diving with?

I can't confirm it right now, but I'm pretty certain this would have been with Deep Blue. The video was taken by Sandro, and most of the gear looks like Deep Blue's typical rental stuff. It's possible it could have been a private charter on one of Wilberth Novelo's boats, which wouldn't have been exactly the same thing as Tortuga Carey Divers.

In any event, the guy doing the glove-snatching and butt-kicking was Sandro.

 

[Mossman]

The group was fairly spread out, so I'm not sure how the DM's could have stopped this once it started.

A speargun might have helped.

It was in the Marine Park. The gloved divers were Japanese and, according to my wife, either had significant issues understanding that they weren't supposed to have gloves or were simply stubborn. My son thinks they donned the gloves underwater, but my wife isn't sure. A DM took their gloves away during the SI and the entire boat was sternly lectured not to touch anything and told anyone pursuing animals to touch them would be banned.

Japanese, huh? Well then, it's not like the DMs would have been tipped anyway. I would have used the speargun.

 

[mstevens]

So...

I was just now able to speak with my son who was on this dive and he strongly believes the DM pulled something out of his pocket and fed the shark at the start of the video.

 

[cicopo]

If correct that DM needs to be fired.

 

[KeithG]

So...

I was just now able to speak with my son who was on this dive and he strongly believes the DM pulled something out of his pocket and fed the shark at the start of the video.

So these are really Pigeon sharks?

---------- Post added March 26th, 2014 at 10:17 PM ----------

A speargun might have helped.


Japanese, huh? Well then, it's not like the DMs would have been tipped anyway. I would have used the speargun.

Speargun? too many divers. no way to get them all.