Sharks, how do they view a solo diver vs a pair of divers?

[Dr. Lecter]

That's so sad

Would it have anything to do with timing? I mean sharks are known to feed around dust/dawn...

Tasmania is a beautiful island.

He was there for the scallops, the shark was there for him...om nom nom nom. Cue the Circle of Life music.

 

[Nemrod]

Most shark attacks, the vast, vast majority are mistaken identity upon swimmers, surfers, waders and wading fisherman. Sharks have rarely attacked SCUBA divers especially when submerged. But look, to say it is not a possibility (in some places, the wrong places, at the wrong time) or that it does not happen is foolish but at the same time it is an unrealistic fear.

My dive buddy in the Destin incident, he never saw the shark! To this day he thinks I am pulling his leg!

Yes, there are sharks in the ocean and bears in the woods.

I was spending a summer with an industry known professor of geology, assigned to him since the company I was working for was sponsoring some of his research and I figured at the time there might be a Phd in it for me ( the future has ways of derailing our best laid plans, ) so I said sure boss, I will spend the summer hanging with the professor. But anyways, while snorkeling along a reef front somewhere in the Bimini area, while on time off from the research, I made the mistake of chasing a barracuda for fun. In retrospect, this was not a very smart thing. And he made a point of letting me know that. Lesson learned, I think the barracuda enjoyed it. I saw a lot of sharks, I even chased a few and they took off, none ever chased me back, but that barracuda, well, I know better now.

Yes it is possible a shark might attack a solo diver (or a diver from or in a group) and it is also extremely unlikely.

N

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I'm heading off in a half-hour for a pre-dawn solo dive to take pictures of mating opalescent squid. Yesterday someone spotted a six-gill shark at the dive site I'm heading to ... in fact, they dropped down through the plankton murk layer and damn near landed on it. I'm hoping I get that lucky ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Land Fish]

He was there for the scallops, the shark was there for him...om nom nom nom. Cue the Circle of Life music.

Cute but no. I don't believe so. There is little evidence that we humans are on sharks' menu. On the contrary, mistaken identity is more likely according to a number of researches.

 

[wrybosome]

With respect to the actual risk posed by sharks, it comes down to gear more than solo vs paired diving. For instance, the more expensive your camera the less likely sharks are to get right in close. For all their predatory perfection they are modest creatures and would rather avoid concentrated attention. This also leads to them preferring divers with more fiddly gear. The more gauges, dials, knobs, buttons, and clips you have the more likely they are to come in close since you are both distracted and shiny. You really have to think like a shark to puzzle this out.

Nothing draws sharks like two cameraless, overgeared divers - especially if the shark can pull off a full Bruce by cruising past clueless buddy #1 while buddy #2 gesticulates wildly. That's like 10 shark points right there.

Just eating you gets them like no points at all - waaay too easy.

 

[DKL]

One diver is an appetizer, two divers is a meal. I just hate when they get sucked up in a tornado, "OH HELL NO."

 

[Nemrod]

Cute but no. I don't believe so. There is little evidence that we humans are on sharks' menu. On the contrary, mistaken identity is more likely according to a number of researches.

Not entirely sure on that. If a shark attacks a submerged diver in decent visibility then it would not be exactly mistaken identity. Being as they have the IQ of a light bulb and a dim one at that, simply a biological machine with programed behaviors and responses to stimuli, in the few and rare cases submerged divers have in fact been attacked I do not see that as mistaken. Now, certainly, divers or even humans are not on their menu per say but in the case that they actually devour you, which has happened, not so sure that falls in the mistaken identity category as would a wading surf fisherman in turbid water full of bait fish. Still, (unreasonable) fear of sharks as a diver ranks to me as being a phobia, which is an unrealistic fear of something. Common sense, respect, even some measured fear, yes, but these phobic responses that encouraged by the media, no.

James