Fear of Sharks, I am not gonna see them, right?

[Wijbrandus]

I've yet to see a shark on a dive. I always seem to miss the sleepy nurses.

The only time I particularly worry about them is hanging off a line on the back of a boat waiting for my turn to get on. I tend to scope out the bottom, just in case...

Yes, Jaws left an impression.

 

[Walter]

It's unusual to see sharks. I saw my first one on my 49th dive.

 

[cinder4320]

Depending on where you dive its really not that unusual to see them. I felt comforted by the people saying "Oh its so rare you'll never see one" but on my first FL trip I saw many. It was actually great. For people scared of seeing sharks, nurse sharks can be intimidating too. I've seen a nurse on just about every FL dive I've done and Bahamas dives. We saw Caribbean reef sharks on a Blackbeards shark dive and a black tipped on the same trip but not the shark feed dive. Once it has happened you will most likely look forard to it. I'm not so scared anymore...except for when I'm swimming on the surface or hanging out waiting to get out. I was scared at first too but the shark dive was very interesting.

As to shark diving it has its pros and cons. At least with Blackbeards they do not hand feed the ahrks or bring the chum in when the divers are getting in. Everyone is "sitting" waiting for the show long before the food comes in to play. The sharks cue off the dingy that brings the chum-stick. You can see the change in their behavior the minute the dingy heads over.

Miranda

 

[H2Andy]

It's unusual to see sharks. I saw my first one on my 49th dive.

i got a little bit luckier... saw my first shark on my 22nd dive, on Cayman's
North Wall

it was very far away, and probably a reef shark

our guide (his name was *******) saw the shark first and banged the crap out of
his tank. the whole group turns to look at the shark.

we're at about 110 feet, we've been down here about 10 minutes and
are starting to head up when we spot the shark. the shark is below us.

the DM dives towards the shark. the entire group follows him. down, down they go.

the shark is getting away. down down they go. later, some confessed
they went past 140 feet.

i am looking at the two other guys who stayed up with me, like "what the heck
are they doing?" (just three of us out of a group of ten or twelve stayed put)

well, eventually they made it back. several of them nearly ran out of air
on a mad dash for the boat. two had to get O2. i heard that one of the
guys had to ride the chamber that night.

the DM's like, hey guys, let's not tell anyone about this fun we just had
at 140 feet with a shark.

hehehehe...

moral of the story is: bad diving practices will get you killed faster than a shark

 

[Jcsgt]

I grew up in the Jaws era, so didn't start diving until a couple years ago. I wasn't sure how I'd react to a shark. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoy diving with them. In fact, last December, I went on a shark dive in Roatan. It was an incredible experience to actually swim with these amazing creatures, who would turn their eyes toward us, then swim on to where their real interest was held--the DM with the food bucket.

Keep in mind that any shark can be dangerous if you do not show it respect. I have read of divers being bitten by nurse sharks, simply because the diver chose to grab onto them. If somebody were to grab onto me, I would probably bite them, too, depending on who was doing the biting. If you treat the animals with respect, give them their space and stay away from folks who are spearfishing, you are highly unlikely to be molested by sharks or most other "dangerous" marine critters.

Have a great time and please do post a trip report when you get back!

 

[tiggrr]

I've never worried about any of them unless they act aggressively. That's extremely rare. I will get out of the water if a Bull leaves the area and then returns even if he keeps his distance.

Ok, so, what is aggressive behavior from a shark?

I ask because we saw a carribean reef (6ft) at 50ft. He was about 20-30 feet away and when he got in front of us, he started thrashing side to side and in a figure 8. This went on for maybe 20 seconds (though it seemed forever) and then he took off. He then came back 10 min later. I took this as agressive as it made my adrenaline reach new heights. There was a lot of debate on the boat whether it was aggressive or not. One of the theories was that it was startled by us and just wanted to get away but, didn't know which way to go?

(don't mean to hijack )

 

[Jcsgt]

I'm no expert, but it sounds like he was agitated.

 

[tiggrr]

I'm not either but, Walter and others have a lot of knowledge and its interesting to hear all of their opinions.

Here's mine......Agitated Shark = new repairs to bottom of wetsuit

 

[Jcsgt]

I'm not either but, Walter and others have a lot of knowledge and its interesting to hear all of their opinions.

Here's mine......Agitated Shark = new repairs to bottom of wetsuit

Also = a good, thorough wetsuit cleaning!

 

[Walter]

Ok, so, what is aggressive behavior from a shark?

I ask because we saw a carribean reef (6ft) at 50ft. He was about 20-30 feet away and when he got in front of us, he started thrashing side to side and in a figure 8. This went on for maybe 20 seconds (though it seemed forever) and then he took off. He then came back 10 min later. I took this as agressive as it made my adrenaline reach new heights. There was a lot of debate on the boat whether it was aggressive or not. One of the theories was that it was startled by us and just wanted to get away but, didn't know which way to go?

(don't mean to hijack )

Aggressive behavior is pretty easy to recognize when you see it. I've only seen it three times, but all three times on the same dive. (You can read my report in the Florida Conch forum)

Aggressive sharks will usually only display some of the behaviors considered aggressive. Some of them are arching the back. Circling divers, especially if the circles are gtting smaller. Charging divers. Jutting their jaws. Erratic swimming. Very rapid movements or changes of direction. I consider any Bull Shark that leaves, but comes back, even if they stay a good distance away to be aggressive. Bulls will swim back and forth as if patrolling an area. That is aggressive behavior.

Unless you had divers surrounding the Shark in the dive you described, I would think that was aggressive behavior, especially when it returned.

I remember a Caribbean Reef Shark in the Gulf about 5 years ago when we were on an over night spearfishing trip. Two of us hit the water first thing in the morning and went our separate ways. While hovering on my safety stop, I noticed movement to my right. Turning, I saw a 6 ft CRS cruising by about 15 ft away. He came from behind me and passed infront of me. When he was slightly of to the left, he turned and made another pass about 10 feet out. As he crossed in front of me, but slightly to my right, he turned again, this time heading directly for me. He moved his head back and forth, but moved directly toward me. The entire time, he swam slowly and at no time did I believe he was interested in me as prey. I was expecting a bump, but when he was about 3 feet away, he turned and swam away at about a 70° angle into the depths (we were anchored in 130 feet of water). I would classify that as inquisitive behavior, but not aggressive.