Fear of sharks

[fisherdvm]

I think the fear of sharks is like... A tourist walking through detroit worrying about getting robbed and shot.

You ask the locals how they feel, and they said they have nothing to fear. And they worry more walking through the wealthy suburbs..... Actually, they simply know where to go, when to go, and take all the precautions that one should in the cities.

 

[perdidochas]

I'm considering a dive trip to Cozumel, but being from the midwest and diving only lakes and quarries in the past, my first thought of the ocean is sharks. I wanted to know if others had the same fear and forgot about it as soon as they hit the water or will I spend a week in fear looking over my shoulder.

You'll look over your shoulder some, but for the most part you'll forget it. One thing: avoid watching Shark Week on Discovery channel next week.

 

[Hoomi]

I remember reading many years ago about how the Cousteau divers dealt with sharks. When diving in waters with potentially aggressive sharks, they would carry poles with very short spikes on the end. These poles, as I recall, were around 4 to 5 feet long. If the sharks got too aggressive, each diver would pair up with another diver, and they would begin their ascent remaining back-to-back with each other, so that neither diver has a "blind spot". If a shark comes in too close, they use the pole on the nose to gently divert it away.

The spike on the end was just long enough to keep the pole from slipping off the shark's skin, but not so long that it pokes in enough to injure or upset the shark.

I do find it amusing, even in myself, that I have this trepidation of being in the water with sharks, yet I'll drive the freeways. I guess it's a lot like what I told people when I spent two weeks working at the facility where they installed the warheads on some of the missiles we build. Some folks were mortified I would be there, and asked, "Isn't that dangerous to be around all those explosives?"

I said, "Naw; driving on the freeway to GET there, now that's dangerous!"

 

[divekraz]

Here's a 10 second video of a 10' Sand Tiger Shark coming at me while diving a wreck in North Carolina, Hatteras.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX8o60T6J9U
I had my back to the shark as I was filming a moray eel until my wife grabbed me and spun me around. The shark came within a foot of me until I shoved the camera in it's nose. We've done about 20 dives during that month seeing numerous sharks without a problem. I've done almost 400 dives, gone on shark feeding dives and have never felt threatened, except maybe this one time. The chances of a shark attacking a diver is very, very remote, unless the diver does something stupid, as to really not be a consideration.

 

[lmorin]

Fear of sharks is more than a bit irrational. Consider this: 63 shark attacks and 1 death worldwide in 2007 (Shark Attack Summary) and 800,000 dog bites requiring medical attention per year in the US; 368,000 (1008 per day) emergency room treatments for dogbites; 32 fatalities from dog maulings in the US during 2007 (Dogbite Info). And, 4881 US pedestrians were killed by motor vehicles in 2005 (Pedestrian Deaths).

 

[BanditDJB]

Has anyone seen a mako?

 

[Hoomi]

And now, for the lighter side of the fear of sharks...

 

[LIVES4SHARKS]

Thanks Hoomi! Funny stuff!

Carolyn:sharks:

 

[AbyssalPlains]

I'm considering a dive trip to Cozumel, but being from the midwest and diving only lakes and quarries in the past, my first thought of the ocean is sharks. I wanted to know if others had the same fear and forgot about it as soon as they hit the water or will I spend a week in fear looking over my shoulder.

Trust me - your concerns are shared by thousands of beginning divers all over the world. From experience I can tell you the exact moment when you will forget about your fear: The moment you actually encounter a shark in the ocean. When I saw my first shark, a 6-foot Oceanic Whitetip in the Red Sea, I remember thinking, "This is only my second day of my first scuba diving vacation in a tropical sea, but if I had to fly home this afternoon, it would have all been worth it." Rarely had I felt such a deep sense of happiness and privilege in my life. The sight of a shark is one of such beauty there is simply no room for fear.

The real reason for concern is not to NOT see sharks but to see ANY, as they are becoming more and more rare.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

I think the fear of sharks is like... A tourist walking through detroit worrying about getting robbed and shot.

With one slight difference: The odds of getting robbed and shot in Detroit are WAAAAAY higher than being attacked by a shark.