Bent in Belize--Blue Hole Incident

[flareside]

More specifically, it's Half Moon Caye at Lighthouse Reef.

 

[peterbj7]

I know several "Long Cayes" but only one "Half Moon Caye" in Belize. Where is there another one?

In any case, it would be at "Lighthouse Atoll", not "Lighthouse Reef".

 

[sydney-diver]

I can't BELIEVE that you and others didn't scream at the crew about the unannounced shark feed, no tag line, and insufficient (and dangerous) plans for a strong current. WTF?!?!? Am I missing something?!? I would be f-ing screaming angry and demand to be taken back to port and get a full refund right away.

- Bill

When I dived in Bora Bora this was standard practise on every dive! Not only chumming but all the DM's had fish carcases in their BC's to attrack sharks. There's no mention of this practise at any of the resorts or the dive operators website.

 

[aichtwooh]

How about this?
If you are physically or mentally not in a good state of health, avoid diving. If you are going through a lot mentally, emotionally, psychologically, you may do things you know are wrong.

 

[boulderjohn]

No, seriously, the second surface interval with lunch was at a red-footed boobie sanctuary, apparently the only place in the world where you can find them.

Red footed boobies live in quite a few places. It is possible that this sanctuary, which I have visited twice, is the only place that has a particular variety of them.

In the Half Moon Caye sanctuary there are both red footed boobies and frigate birds in an uneasy sharing of the space. I worry about that combination, based upon personal experience. Once while getting some sun on the top deck of our boat traveling between islands in the Galapagos, red footed bobbies and frigates flew along with us, barely overhead. I think it was a frigate that dropped that king-sized white load on me, but it might have been a booby.

 

[billt4sf]

When I dived in Bora Bora this was standard practise on every dive! Not only chumming but all the DM's had fish carcases in their BC's to attrack sharks. There's no mention of this practise at any of the resorts or the dive operators website.

Am I missing something, or is this dangerous and to be avoided?

I am thinking of a) new divers b) divers afraid of sharks c) I just wasn't expecting this d) me.

I suppose it would never end unless and until tons of visiting divers objected strenuously.

- Bill

 

[peterbj7]

Visiting divers welcome it, which is why it's done. I don't like the practice myself, as it changes the sharks' feeding patterns. I was coming up in the BH once from a deep technical dive with a student, when I saw a feeding frenzy above us. We had to swim away quite a long way so we could surface away from the sharks and not have to pass over/through them on our way to our boat. It wasn't our boat that was chumming the water, but another boat moored nearby, so there was nothing in practice I could do about it.

 

[tracydr]

Red footed boobies live in quite a few places. It is possible that this sanctuary, which I have visited twice, is the only place that has a particular variety of them.

In the Half Moon Caye sanctuary there are both red footed boobies and frigate birds in an uneasy sharing of the space. I worry about that combination, based upon personal experience. Once while getting some sun on the top deck of our boat traveling between islands in the Galapagos, red footed bobbies and frigates flew along with us, barely overhead. I think it was a frigate that dropped that king-sized white load on me, but it might have been a booby.

I thought we saw those red-footed boobies at Galapegos!

 

[ianr33]

Am I missing something, or is this dangerous and to be avoided?

I am thinking of a) new divers b) divers afraid of sharks c) I just wasn't expecting this d) me.

I suppose it would never end unless and until tons of visiting divers objected strenuously.

- Bill

Cayman banned shark feeding a few years ago due to safety concerns.

Feeding/chumming seems likely to have been a factor in this incident. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/marine-life-ecosystems/17959-shark-attack-turks-caicos-2.html

Personally I think it's a dumb thing to do. Lots of fun until it ends in tears.

 

[LoonDiver]

Red footed boobies live in quite a few places. It is possible that this sanctuary, which I have visited twice, is the only place that has a particular variety of them.

In the Half Moon Caye sanctuary there are both red footed boobies and frigate birds in an uneasy sharing of the space. I worry about that combination, based upon personal experience. Once while getting some sun on the top deck of our boat traveling between islands in the Galapagos, red footed bobbies and frigates flew along with us, barely overhead. I think it was a frigate that dropped that king-sized white load on me, but it might have been a booby.

Apparently the Belize sanctuary protects "the only viable breeding population of Red-footed Boobies in the Western Caribbean" according to a website I can't seem to relocate. They do breed on other islands, including Galapagos as someone mentioned and I believe even in the Dry Tortugas off the Keys in Florida. I know this tangent is a thread hijack - sorry! But I find the bird discussion fascinating. I have a long-time fascination with birds and my LoonDiver SB handle is because I think it would be so cool to dive with Loons.