Great Whites in NC?

[alo100]

I think these are all very good info to all; however, my concern is, we are still relatively inefficent in terms of protecting ourselves once we entered the shark's habitat. For whatever reason, maybe the population which are interested in buying devices for shark protection is not large enough to drive the market, or our scientific knowledge is not advance enough to make it happen... the fact is, I cannot see many good ways to protect ourselves, as divers, when a shark has made up its mind to attack.

For example, cannot carry a shark cage with us all the time. According to the report about shark feeding in which feeders are using chainmail, they can affort to have small bite from the sharks, but not full attack (usually after a test bite, if the "food" is too tough, the shark would estimate again for further attack). The chainmail are usually made to protect both hands, depends on the style, sometimes full arms, but to wear a full chainarmour, it's just too heavy for anybody.

There are two major repellent, chemical repellent and electrical repellent.
The chemical one, I didn't hear any good thing about it (e.g. shark showed up ready to attack, the chemical drove it away) nor bad thing about it (the chemical failed and the person die). The electrical one, there were a "shark shixxd" like product before, after an Australian who was killed while using it, the company which made the product was closed. After the incident, people used the same technology (do not know if this is the same group of people) and open another company, and made the "shark shxxld", same technology, currently nobody can prove that this is going to work and vice versa, except we do have a history that a almost exact product with a different product name has failed to work before. Any update?

 

[packman]

The best way to protect yourself from a shark attack (other than completely staying out of the water) is to not act like prey. If a shark is around, keep it in your sight and watch its body language. Rarely will a shark attack without giving some indication first. As long as you keep your eyes open and your head on straight, you'll be ok. Then again, that goes for diving in general.

 

[BigWhiteSquare]

Carrying a really big knife helps too. That way, after a shark eats you, your big knife might give him a nasty cut when he's poopin' ya out.

 

[drbill]

Bill, I can't answer for the alleged NC sightings. However, between Aug - Nov 2003, there were several GWS sightings off San Onofre .... some which involved both a large adult and smaller juveniles seen swimming together. There was some speculatiction that the adult may have been a mother and that the smaller sharks were her pups. I don't recall the source of the speculation or if it was even founded on any scientific knowledge of GWS behavior. A documented account of these sightings can be found in Pacific Coast Shark News 2003.

Thanks for that info. Is there any indication that females are more aggressive when they accompany young sharks?

 

[drbill]

The best way to protect yourself from a shark attack (other than completely staying out of the water) is to not act like prey. If a shark is around, keep it in your sight and watch its body language. Rarely will a shark attack without giving some indication first. As long as you keep your eyes open and your head on straight, you'll be ok. Then again, that goes for diving in general.

From my limited knowledge, the first thing you see or experience with a GWS is the attack itself. They appear to come out of "nowhere." Of course such incidents often involve spearfishers with a stringer attached to them. Occasionally GWS will swim past out of curiosity. Of course we rarely have the visibility here that you may experience in N.C.

 

[riguerin]

Thanks for that info. Is there any indication that females are more aggressive when they accompany young sharks?

No! In 43 years (I'm revealing my age) there have only been a few cases of unprovoked GWS encounters in this area that I am aware of ... most of these have occurred in recent years. None of these incidents have included adult to the best of my knowledge; despite the abundance on pinnipeds in the area.

In recent years, there has been a couple of reported incidents of bold juveniles (6-8ft) that have bumped surfers. Additionlly, there has been one recent unprovoked attack (the first in San Clemente history) by a 3-4ft pup on a surfer during a recent grunion run. This incident resulted in nothing more than a few stitches on the victim's ankle.

These incidents are all documented in the aforementioned Shark Research Committee site. Most locals in this area have been informed to report GWS interactions via this site. http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/

 

[NCSCUBADOOBA]

Clay,
The divemaster told them it was a GW. Who knows. Cool picture though...
Angela

 

[Lost_At_Sea]

If I saw a GW w/ a pup, I think I would stay out of the water. I've seen some sharks, but I don't think I am that gutsy to go "swimming" with a White. If there was a cage, that's one thing, but in open water the GW can have it.

 

[Allison Finch]

I am convinced it was a GW. I'm afraid I couldn't resist at least leaning off the dive deck with my camera to get a few underwater shots. If I went in, I would stay real close to the deck. They are all up and down the east coast. The fact that there are so few sightings and aggressive moves toward humans tells its own story.

 

[Jason Ooi]

Great White Sharks, I'm not interested huges and scary