Great white charges at divers in cage... ends badly for the shark

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I did the bull shark dive in Playa del Carmen, and regret it. For one, baiting the sharks just made it seem like an unnatural experience. The sharks circled around waiting to be fed. They reminded me of my dogs at feeding time. For me, it took something truly wild, and made into something more resembling a dog and pony show, or a circus act. Add a cage and its more so, one step closer to swimming with dolphins in a pen. Not to mention the negative impacts on the sharks. This is just my opinion.

I also saw a free swimming juvenile bull in Cancun, and that was much more impressive, as it was truly seeing a shark being a wild shark.

In my defense, I wasn't planning on doing a bull shark dive - I signed up for a regular dive, but the other diver came from Coz specifically to do a bull shark dive, so it was either go on the dive or scrap diving that morning. In the future, I will ensure that any diving I do does not feature baiting.

I realize that any diving I do will have environmental impacts, but I want to minimize them, and like you, I consider it selfish to bait. Just my opinion.

We all learn. Okay, not all of us. Kudos to those like you who do.

 

[NothingClever]

Actually they probably would be. Our expedition to film them was late in the season after they'd fattened up on tuna so they weren't hungry. We didn't need to bait them as they were curious about the strange amphibious mammals in the cage. None of them lunged at us though.

Dr Bill, I’m interested in your thoughts on baited observation. Although I voiced a strong opinion in the beginning of this thread, that doesn’t mean I’m entrenched. I’m interested in learning more if this is an area you have an informed and scientific opinion about.

 

[Esprise Me]

I did a non-feeding bull shark dive in Playa del Carmen. They have a system down there where the feeding dives take place at different times of the day than the non-feeding dives; I think each operator does only one or the other. The op I chose didn't do any feeding dives. It seems like feeding is really unnecessary in that context; the female bull sharks come into shallow (~80 feet) water to spawn and have been doing so since before there were divers. I suppose I might still have benefitted from the feeding dives; perhaps the sharks came closer than they otherwise might have. But I suspect there would still be plenty of opportunities to observe those sharks without disrupting their natural feeding routine.

 

[FullThrottle]

To be clear I accused no one on this board of being a shill for shark feeding operations, but did question the motives behind a quote not originating on this board that was referenced in a previous post.
A claim that without shark feeding there would be no sharks is utter nonsense.
Shark feeding undoubtedly teaches wild animals to associate people with being fed. We don't feed wild bears or alligators, but feeding wild sharks is somehow justifiable? In my opinion shark feeding is irresponsible and detrimental to both people and sharks.

 

[drrich2]

These threads turning into anti-shark feed platforms is not new. A few observations from prior times this has been rehashed:

1.) What one would think/assume would happen isn't always what does in the real world. Not long ago, many would've thought cut up meat would trigger a feeding frenzy. I've been on some shark feed dives without cages (never with great whites in any capacity, and have never done cage dives), and with others who report on the forum, know that's not what happens. One might assume a professional shark feeding diver holding fish chunks to hand feed a tiger shark would probably get attacked; again, no.

2.) It is not appropriate to equate different shark species. Practical experience tells us reef sharks who've been fed (including lion fish) sometimes come around divers hoping for hand outs. From that, one might assume the tiger sharks that get fed out of Jupiter, Florida would be doing the same thing, cruising through groups of regular recreational divers...but that doesn't appear to be the case.

3.) The 'alligators and bears' comparison comes up in thread after thread, and has serious holes. Sharks are very primitive, fully aquatic fish. Alligators are amphibious reptiles. Bears are terrestrial mammals whose intelligence dwarfs the other two.

People dive amongst a number of fairly large shark species in various places, particularly sand tiger and lemon sharks, bulls in some places...but we don't do that with wolves, African wild dogs, leopards, etc... Some of us go on group dives watching professional feeders hand feed wild tiger sharks - but not grizzly bears, lions or tigers. Some sharks let people much closer, even without food, than any large land predator is apt to.

4.) Also in prior threads I've seen the benefits downplayed of bringing sharks in for particularly close encounters, via feeding/baiting. And some people would rather see one swim by 'naturally' at a distance without such. Okay, but a number of people value the enhanced experience (and photos!) of having the sharks brought in close, enough to keep a number of dive op.s busy.

5.) The 'disrupting nature' argument - yes, we do that to a wide range of species every time we jump into the water and fin around a reef. Creatures move off quickly from the terrain they'd preferred, quit searching for food to hide, etc... They're not all shark-sized, but they are impacted. Right down to those snatched in our light beams by tarpon on night dives.

Make your own decision and vote with your dollars.

 

[tomcatbubba]

Something is missing. We see shark trying to get into the cage streaming blood. Then we see the shark sinking but with no blood streaming that I could see. What happened during that time which could have been several minutes. Was the shark dispatched and then left to sink once freed?

Steve, check out time 13 on the video. It appears to me that it turned really hard in the cage and ripped a nice sized gash just forward of its first gill. Time 28-30 shows the wound as it is breathing and the wound expands. It's sad to see. It is an apex predator. It was in full "eat" mode and likely saw the divers move in the cage and instinct kicked in. I'm not a fan of cage dives like this. My kids did one last year in South Africa. It seemed risky to both them, and the animals. Perhaps as others have mentioned the large open area needs to be closed a bit more? Imagine if it he/she had gotten into the cage? Perhaps not a bite, but a large animal like that thrashing around would have hurt the divers, or knocked their breathing gear off. Not good for the animal nor the sight see-ers.....

 

[Joneill]

These threads turning into anti-shark feed platforms is not new.

Not an anti shark-feeding platform - just voicing different opinions in a discussion

4.) Also in prior threads I've seen the benefits downplayed of bringing sharks in for particularly close encounters, via feeding/baiting. And some people would rather see one swim by 'naturally' at a distance without such. Okay, but a number of people value the enhanced experience (and photos!) of having the sharks brought in close, enough to keep a number of dive op.s busy.

#4 above is exactly what I meant when I said selfish motivation - I see nothing about shark feeding that is for the benefit of the species...

Also, I've had Carribean Reef, Grey, Whitetip, Blacktip, Lemon, Silvertip and Nurse sharks swim by "naturally" at very close range (could have touched) - and all with no feeding involved!

Make your own decision and vote with your dollars.

Agreed, though sometimes not the right thing as $ should not drive everything (though I realize it does!).

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Not an anti shark-feeding platform - just voicing different opinions in a discussion



#4 above is exactly what I meant when I said selfish motivation - I see nothing about shark feeding that is for the benefit of the species...

Also, I've had Carribean Reef, Grey, Whitetip, Blacktip, Lemon, Silvertip and Nurse sharks swim by "naturally" at very close range (could have touched) - and all with no feeding involved!

Agreed, though sometimes not the right thing as $ should not drive everything (though I realize it does!).

Just out of curiosity since you brought it up in an earlier thread, what sites did you wind up hitting in French Polynesia and what was seen at each?

 

[Diver below 83]

I’ve been wanting to do my first shark dive here in south Florida but there are so many up and down stories on who’s good and reliable and who doesn’t bait etc.

 

[divinh]

Imagine if it he/she had gotten into the cage? Perhaps not a bite, but a large animal like that thrashing around would have hurt the divers, or knocked their breathing gear off. Not good for the animal nor the sight see-ers.....

You mean like this?