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

[Joneill]

I thought freed at least suggested still living.

No need to get snarky.

Agreed. I would associate "freed" with a positive context - that was not even remotely the case here!

 

[drrich2]

The two are unrelated and make no sense. There aren't any shark feeding operations that I am aware of on the Gulf Coast of Florida, but we banned long lining and now have a ton of sharks. If they aren't fished, they don't die. Shark feeding is a for profit tourist attraction, nothing more.

I think there's a bit more to it, and not all efforts to monetize a shark presence involve feeding dives (though the feasibility varies with species - you can dive out of Jupiter in winter and see lemon sharks when they aggregate without feeding, but if you want to see tiger sharks part of the year there, you're probably looking at feeding dives).

The rebounded shark population in Florida is good news to some of us...but not everyone's a fan. I've seen a post by a spearfisher who sounded less than enthused that over time more spearos have been getting accosted by sharks over their catch. Fishermen may want to catch them, or vendors may want take tourists to fish for them, and there's the shark finning thing...and the occasional shark attack.

The point is, if sharks bring in good money to a local economy, they're more likely to have more cheer-leaders and be viewed as an assert worthy of protection. Shark feeding is one of the ways to monetize some species that may make them such assets.

 

[CuzzA]

I guess somebody should correct the dictionary. I think it's really stupid to have this discussion, but the words I used were "fell free" or in other words "free falling." Which is what happened.

 

[Joneill]

I guess somebody should correct the dictionary. I think it's really stupid to have this discussion, but the words I used were "fell free" or in other words "free falling." Which is what happened.

Sorry: I was reacting to the “quote” in the post I responded to and see now what you actually said in your post - which is accurate and not the context I was referring to. No offense intended.

I think the main point many are making is this was a senseless death and the poor cage design appears to be to blame. Hopefully, they change that so the divers can still see these sharks up close but not have their activity end up injuring or killing them!

 

[MrBigfins]

Sorry: I was reacting to the “quote” in the post I responded to and see now what you actually said in your post - which is accurate and not the context I was referring to. No offense intended.

I think the main point many are making is this was a senseless death and the poor cage design appears to be to blame. Hopefully, they change that so the divers can still see these sharks up close but not have their activity end up injuring or killing them!

If you watch the full video, the bait being operated incorrectly as well as the cage design are what caused this unfortunate incident. They dragged the bait directly into the cage, this guiding the shark directly into danger. Sad that if we as divers are going to participate in activities such as this, we don't require the operators to act in a responsible manner

 

[Joneill]

If you watch the full video, the bait being operated incorrectly as well as the cage design are what caused this unfortunate incident. They dragged the bait directly into the cage, this guiding the shark directly into danger. Sad that if we as divers are going to participate in activities such as this, we don't require the operators to act in a responsible manner

Taking a second look (as not a pleasant video so I had only watched it once previously), I don't see them dragging the bait into the cage, but they got it dangerously close to where it appears the shark "thought" there was bait in the cage. Very sad to see a majestic animal die this way when it could have been prevented!

I've never been a fan of baiting sharks so divers can get a closer look - it seems purely selfish motivation on the part of divers/Ops with no possible good coming from it for sharks... yet significant risk for divers. However, it's their life so they can do as they please - but I have zero sympathy when I read about/see things going wrong like this:
There are plenty of places in the world to see sharks close-up without any feeding. Maybe sharks that are obviously too dangerous to get in the water with should just be left alone - or get in the water and take your chances if so inclined?

 

[MrBigfins]

Taking a second look (as not a pleasant video so I had only watched it once previously), I don't see them dragging the bait into the cage, but they got it dangerously close to where it appears the shark "thought" there was bait in the cage. Very sad to see a majestic animal die this way when it could have been prevented!

I've never been a fan of baiting sharks so divers can get a closer look - it seems purely selfish motivation on the part of divers/Ops with no possible good coming from it for sharks... yet significant risk for divers. However, it's their life so they can do as they please - but I have zero sympathy when I read about/see things going wrong like this:
There are plenty of places in the world to see sharks close-up without any feeding. Maybe sharks that are obviously too dangerous to get in the water with should just be left alone - or get in the water and take your chances if so inclined?

I apologise for the incorrect wording. They didn't drag the bait directly into the cage, but directly towards the cage.

 

[TMHeimer]

Interesting. To me, it looks like the shark lunged directly at the diver.

Absolutely.

 

[Chavodel8en]

I've never been a fan of baiting sharks so divers can get a closer look - it seems purely selfish motivation on the part of divers/Ops with no possible good coming from it for sharks... yet significant risk for divers. However, it's their life so they can do as they please - but I have zero sympathy when I read about/see things going wrong like this:

There are plenty of places in the world to see sharks close-up without any feeding. Maybe sharks that are obviously too dangerous to get in the water with should just be left alone - or get in the water and take your chances if so inclined?

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.

 

[drbill]

Shark wouldn't be there without bait.

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.