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

[drrich2]

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.

A lot depends on what you want to see. Are a few Caribbean reef sharks and maybe some nurse sharks good enough, or are you after something larger and 'sharky' looking, like a lemon shark?

I think Jupiter Diver Center would serve you well. Johnny posted today a trip report - Jupiter Dive Report - Lemons and Bugs that may be helpful. I dove with them back in 2014 and had a fine time (I timed it for the goliath grouper aggregation, not the lemon sharks).

If you want non-baited big shark action, the winter lemon shark aggregation out of Jupiter is a good way to go from what I read. Up north, the sand tiger sharks on the off-shore wrecks out of North Carolina are another option.

 

[Diver below 83]

A lot depends on what you want to see. Are a few Caribbean reef sharks and maybe some nurse sharks good enough, or are you after something larger and 'sharky' looking, like a lemon shark?

I think Jupiter Diver Center would serve you well. Johnny posted today a trip report - Jupiter Dive Report - Lemons and Bugs that may be helpful. I dove with them back in 2014 and had a fine time (I timed it for the goliath grouper aggregation, not the lemon sharks).

If you want non-baited big shark action, the winter lemon shark aggregation out of Jupiter is a good way to go from what I read. Up north, the sand tiger sharks on the off-shore wrecks out of North Carolina are another option.

I’ve already seen a few smaller sharks on dives both in ftl and on my vacation dives in various Caribbean locations. So I’m ready to start moving up size wise. I would like to do the great hammerheads in Bimini for sure. The tigers near Jupiter also interested. It’s the bulls that worry me

 

[drrich2]

I’ve already seen a few smaller sharks on dives both in ftl and on my vacation dives in various Caribbean locations. So I’m ready to start moving up size wise.

If you want to see tigers out of Florida, I think you're going to either accept baited/feeding dives (e.g.: Emerald Charters (I dove with them, - trip report)), get very lucky, or let it go. On the Emerald trip we saw plenty of bulls, but not really large ones up close. A few years back I was talking with a Captain on a dive boat elsewhere who'd done the Bahamas Aggressor's Tiger Beach itinerary and I think he told me they used baiting (a triangle?) but not feeding. If that's of interest check and get current into.

I dove out of Morehead City, NC, to work my way up aiming for the tiger shark diving. Be aware not all tiger sharks are created equal; from researching for my trip, it was my understanding those seen out of Jupiter don't tend to be as large as some seen in the Bahamas (but the 2 near-10 foot females and slightly smaller male I dove with were big enough to kill ya, just say'in...).

There's another option for non-baited big shark diving that just sailed right over my mind for whatever reason, but may interest people who run across this thread. These are not cheap trips, but if you're willing to pony up for a bucket list trip, you could try:
1.) Socorros live-aboard - several to choose from, probably the cheapest option of these 4.
2.) Cocos Island live-aboard - you may see tiger sharks. 2017 And 2018 saw ‘issues’ with tiger sharks – one killed a woman and injured a guide Nov. 30, 2017 – Death in Cocos from shark attack – and on April 28, 2018 one possibly ‘test bit’ the BCD of a diver at the surface – German diver attacked by shark – Isla del Coco, Costa Rica – and Undersea Hunter live-aboard noted procedural changes due to risk concerns. Tiger sharks are a ‘feature’ of Cocos diving, but be aware.
3.) Malpelo - there is one active live-aboard boat, the Ferox.
4.) The Galapagos Islands out of Ecuador, South American. Multiple live-aboard options.

So if you want cageless big shark diving, you've got a range of options (and part of the year Emerald Charters and some other local providers could scratch your hammerhead itch, albeit baited), even if you want unbaited natural encounters.

 

[Diver below 83]

If you want to see tigers out of Florida, I think you're going to either accept baited/feeding dives (e.g.: Emerald Charters (I dove with them, - trip report)), get very lucky, or let it go. On the Emerald trip we saw plenty of bulls, but not really large ones up close. A few years back I was talking with a Captain on a dive boat elsewhere who'd done the Bahamas Aggressor's Tiger Beach itinerary and I think he told me they used baiting (a triangle?) but not feeding. If that's of interest check and get current into.

I dove out of Morehead City, NC, to work my way up aiming for the tiger shark diving. Be aware not all tiger sharks are created equal; from researching for my trip, it was my understanding those seen out of Jupiter don't tend to be as large as some seen in the Bahamas (but the 2 near-10 foot females and slightly smaller male I dove with were big enough to kill ya, just say'in...).

There's another option for non-baited big shark diving that just sailed right over my mind for whatever reason, but may interest people who run across this thread. These are not cheap trips, but if you're willing to pony up for a bucket list trip, you could try:
1.) Socorros live-aboard - several to choose from, probably the cheapest option of these 4.
2.) Cocos Island live-aboard - you may see tiger sharks. 2017 And 2018 saw ‘issues’ with tiger sharks – one killed a woman and injured a guide Nov. 30, 2017 – Death in Cocos from shark attack – and on April 28, 2018 one possibly ‘test bit’ the BCD of a diver at the surface – German diver attacked by shark – Isla del Coco, Costa Rica – and Undersea Hunter live-aboard noted procedural changes due to risk concerns. Tiger sharks are a ‘feature’ of Cocos diving, but be aware.
3.) Malpelo - there is one active live-aboard boat, the Ferox.
4.) The Galapagos Islands out of Ecuador, South American. Multiple live-aboard options.

So if you want cageless big shark diving, you've got a range of options (and part of the year Emerald Charters and some other local providers could scratch your hammerhead itch, albeit baited), even if you want unbaited natural encounters.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I was not stating that I’m opposed to baiting for a dive. I’m just struggling as a new diver finding reliable information about what’s the better choices etc. I plan to do white sharks and fully understand I’ll need a cage and bait to have a better chance of seeing them let alone large ones. Same with tigers or hammerheads etc. Shark diving is all new to me.

 

[drrich2]

The Emerald Charter trip report I linked for you included some discussion of the shark diving options, feeding and non-feeding, the debate over shark feed diving and links to some threads to get more info. and consider perspectives from people on both sides of the debate to inform your own decision, whichever way you decide.

I strongly favor working your way up. I don't think going from Caribbean reef sharks to tiger sharks directly is wise (just my opinion); I think intervening quality time with sand tigers or lemon sharks would be a good idea.

Back to the original topic, I wonder whether minor modifications to these cages can make them safe for the great whites? Are the current 'windows' the sharks are getting through serving an important purpose? Is it about sticking big SLR rigs in housings with external strobes in and out, and getting a good range of motion/direction?

Richard.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

The Emerald Charter trip report I linked for you included some discussion of the shark diving options, feeding and non-feeding, the debate over shark feed diving and links to some threads to get more info. and consider perspectives from people on both sides of the debate to inform your own decision, whichever way you decide.

I strongly favor working your way up. I don't think going from Caribbean reef sharks to tiger sharks directly is wise (just my opinion); I think intervening quality time with sand tigers or lemon sharks would be a good idea.

Back to the original topic, I wonder whether minor modifications to these cages can make them safe for the great whites? Are the current 'windows' the sharks are getting through serving an important purpose? Is it about sticking big SLR rigs in housings with external strobes in and out, and getting a good range of motion/direction?

Richard.

Going by a quick search, the current regs are that the maximum distance between horizontal bars cannot exceed 14 inches (35 cm). Do the openings on the cage in the video look like they meet those standards?

 

[nippurmagnum]

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 did the Guadalupe trip on the Belle Amie last year, and the very beginning of the video didn’t look very different from many dozens of instances of sharks going for bait that I witnessed on that trip. But what followed was very different. During my trip, I never saw a shark turn deliberately towards a cage, much less bump it, much less try to penetrate it. For example, here is a video from that trip that showed a close encounter right in front of the cage, where the shark grabbed the bait (filmed by a diver right behind me):

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MRAzHv66uPiafPdd7

On my trip, in instances where the sharks didn’t get the bait (which was the norm), the sharks invariably gave up, swam away, and made another pass a few minutes later. They never reacted in frustration or agitation when they didn’t get the bait.

No question that in the video at the top of this thread, that particular shark behaves very differently ... It’s perhaps impossible to know what specifically caused the shark to try to get in the cage — whether it thought there was bait inside the cage, whether it viewed the divers themselves as prey, or whether it was just pissed off. But FWIW this video in the OP is definitely making me question my conclusions/assumptions formed during last years trip.

 

[Steelyeyes]

Wow. Looked to me like the shark blundered into the cage, as opposed to going after a diver. Which doesn't mean there might not've been 'consequences' if the cage weren't there. It is tragic for the animal, and raises the question of what bar spacing ought to be.

Richard.

This might have been covered already. When a shark moves in to bite food, or prey in the last second or two a clear nictating membrane protects their eye from injury. Great Whites don't have such a membrane and so their eyes roll back to protect the pupils. It leaves them momentarily blind. That's probably how the shark smashed into the cage when the bait was jerked from in front of it.

 

[Joneill]

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?

It was a 30th wedding anniversary trip - so not a diving trip, but I still got 10 dives in: 8 in Rangiroa and 2 in Bora Bora.

All of the dives in Rangiroa were either in or just outside of Tiputa Pass. Most dives were on the incoming current, though we did a few dives where we rode in on the reverse current that exists on the sides of the Pass during an outgoing tide.

We saw tons of dolphins (usually in groups of 7-10) that stopped and played with us on several occasions - a truly amazing experience and the highlight.

We also saw huge schools of grey sharks down at 45-50 meters (did not get quite that deep - it was like a moving carpet of sharks below us at the step/mouth of the pass). We also saw some grey sharks and a few larger silvertips at shallower depths (20 -25 meters) near the corner sites on the twilight dive. We also saw some big Moray eels, Eagle Rays and a few Hawksbill turtles. Whitetip and blacktip sharks were a common sight as well. We also saw huge schools of spawning surgeonfish and huge schools of unicorn fish and bigeye barracuda as well as an amazing # of different types of butterfly fish - i saw something new on almost every dive!

While we didn’t see them diving, we also saw loads of large lemon sharks in the shallows by the Kia Ora pier every evening - from the pier. Also, there were sitings in the pass of single hammerheads and mantas by a few groups of divers as well. We did see a large manta in the lagoon on the way back to the shop (The 6 Passengers) after a dive - it swam on the surface for a minute right next to our boat - very cool!

In Bora Bora, we saw reef mantas and ocean mantas as well as Hawksbill turtles, blacktip sharks and lemon sharks. Most impressive were the HUGE schools of Eagle Rays we saw while snorkeling there - literally, schools in excess of 100! Here’s a quick clip of one of them:


Overall, I was very impressed with the sheer quantity and variety of fish life I saw - it was massively more than what I’ve ever seen in the Carribean. I was also impressed with the coral coverage and heath - but, pretty much, all hard corals.

 

[Khrissi]

Wow. Looked to me like the shark blundered into the cage, as opposed to going after a diver. Which doesn't mean there might not've been 'consequences' if the cage weren't there. It is tragic for the animal, and raises the question of what bar spacing * on those perpetrators cage * ought to be.

Richard.

Corrected that for you Richard at no extra charge ! Frankly , seeing that big hunk of meat waved in front of the cage first seconds into the video says it all . A forseeable and avoidable death of a marine creature . Absolutely horrific ( but sharks aint brightest of creatures ) and if people pay fr that crap I hope their cage collapses . Hope the Operator gets outed on here. K