Hawaii woman hitches ride on Great White shark

[drbill]

Most people have sense enough to not molest endangered animals of any kind. I guess we give here a pass because she is blond and pretty. The best way to support conservation is to leave it alone. She could have easily just done a video of the shark swimming around investigating. We get the point. Riding it was nothing more than an idiotic publicity stunt.

Guys like Andre Hartmann in South Africa have been doing this for decades. Jean-Michel Cousteau did it back in the late 90s or early 2000.

GWS are often bombarded by sea lions who "play" with their predators, even nipping at their fins, when they know they are around. Of course when a GWS sneaks up on them unannounced, they may be toast.

Great Whites don't like us.

Speak for yourself. They must like me because they have swum right past me and not harmed a hair on my head.

---------- Post added March 2nd, 2013 at 08:25 AM ----------

After diving the Keys in the 60's seeing all the abundant life, then having it disappear in the 70's, made me realize it is a limited resource. Seeing Looe Key in the 90's, and the way it has rebounded, is a good example on how real conservation can work. No stunts or youtube videos. Even with the multitudes of divers the area seems to be recovering. Just need to keep boats from crashing into it. Cheers

Agree that marine ecosystems can rebound if left alone. However, it takes political will to establish marine protected areas (believe me, after the battle here in California, I know). To develop that political will often involves getting enough voters to see the importance. Since relatively few of the population are active divers, this means reaching out to those who aren't, getting them interested enough in the critters "down under" to want to protect them. This is what I do with my cable TV shows, newspaper columns and talks to non-diving organizations and clubs.

 

[vincent54]

Not sure that we know why sea lions exhibit this behavior, but birds do the same with hawks. Maybe territorial, or they may be protecting their young as a distraction. It is a natural interaction, unlike human shark wrangling. I wouldn't say the Shark likes you because he swims by, just might not be hungry.

This video will do nothing for the political advancement of shark conservation. There are other more constructive ways. The fact there are 3 Great White Shark molesters in the world does surprise me.

I will respectfully disagree with those who support the shark riding video. Hopefully, it will be the last.

 

[muzikbiz22]

Follow the NZ story. Great Whites don't like us.

First off, the NZ story involved a SWIMMER, not a DIVER. Second, to say Great Whites "don't like us", is wrong. I too, like DrBill, have had an encounter with a Great White, "in the wild". It swam by, I looked at him/her, he/she looked at me, we both nodded "how do ya' do", and the shark went off into the deep blue, and I went "something else" Nothing short of amazing. Not saying GW's like us or dislike us, just saying that they really aren't thinking about us.

My opinion of the video is that no sharks were harmed, however, I would not encourage anyone to "try this at home". DrBill is also correct in that people have been doing this for years ! To play devils advocate here, how much stress is put on a Great White by yanking it out of the ocean for 10 minutes, drawing blood, drilling a satellite thingy on to it's dorsal, releasing it back into the water and making a TV show of it. And that's in the name of research !!! Not sure of my own personal opinion that, the "jury is still out". What I do appreciate is that there are people that are fanatical about my/our friends, the Shark, and their future on this planet.

At the end of the day, the young lady swimming with the Great White has achieved exactly what she set out for, AWARENESS !! All of us here, are talking about it/her, and so is the rest of the world.

 

[vincent54]

Most predators attack only when they are hungry or threatened. Chance encounters typically don't end in an attack.

It was a publicity stunt, good for her. There is a difference between swimming with something and harassing it.

i haven't seen the TV show so won't comment, doesn't sound too good for the shark though.

It should be an absolute rule to not molest or harass an endangered animal. If you must, find a stuffed animal, and get it out of your system.
There really isn't any argument that will convince me that riding it was a remotely good idea.

If I am not mistaken, Hawaii had problems with people trying to swim with and touch the Humpback Whales, thinking they were one with the animal. They had to enact a law that now keeps people a certain distance from them . You can correct me if I am wrong. Enjoy your encounters with the animals without physically contacting them. Why is that so hard to understand?. Cheers

 

[drrich2]

Enjoy your encounters with the animals without physically contacting them. Why is that so hard to understand?

It's not hard to understand. Just not everybody agrees with the need for it.

Richard.

 

[vincent54]

At least in California, the new laws are in effect as outlined here, protecting GW.

New Protections for White Shark Effective March 1 | CDFW News

You will note the term pursue is used, so even swimming after a Great White is not allowed.
Thanks to those who helped, and maybe even to Oceaninspired. There heart was in a good place, I guess.

 

[CT-Rich]

Everytime a diver goes in the water he is interacting with the environment. Some of the critters gets stressed some get a free meal. The fact that this girl briefly touched the shark was not something I would have done (partly from caution, partly out of respect for the animal and not wishing to stress it), but also I doubt it caused the animal any significant harm. A shark attracted to a dive boat by chum is more likely to injure itself bumping up against a shark cage and exerting itself to follow a chum trail that ultimately was just a tease to get it close to the divers. This girl really was impacting the animal much less than those tourists do.

As was pointed out, this shark is probalby used to harrassment by seals and sealions. That is completely normal preditor/ prey realationship. Harass the preditor to stress it, force it from the area or disrupt its hunt. A simple flick of its tail would have put the shark completely beyond the reach of this girl. Sharks have situational awareness far exceeding anything a diver might have in the water. He knew she was there. He did not respond. He could have cared less, but it would have required effort on his part.

You might ask yourself if this shark would have be less upset if a jetski or motorboat passed over head? What is stressing the animal more, a free diver he can see and avoid or a high speed sound source?

 

[vincent54]

Probably the boat. I notice all the big critters are gone when the dive boats arrive. It won't be long before there will be boat free areas. Cheers

 

[Oldbear]

While I personally am opposed to the "touchy - feely" approach used in this video, it might have some overall positive after effects that benefits the shark general populations.

I would hypothesize that most subscribers to this forum are in the Pro-Shark camp of letting the big fellows live as nature intended (I know that I am). But there are still a large camp world wide full of "Kill 'Em All and Let Poseidon Sort Em Out" philosophy. But I think the world's largest camps are those belonging to the Undecided campers...those campers that don't know or understand shark behavior, don't care about wildlife, only see the shark encounters in the mainstream media, or sharks doesn't have a direct or indirect impact on them, etc. Perhaps if some of the Undecided campers see this video, they might not join the Mercenary’s camp...or even better become a Pro-Shark camper.

That’s my 2¢…



~Oldbear~

 

[InTheDrink]

On balance I think it's a good thing. Sharks need good PR and increased awareness of their plight more than anything really.

We need their wow factor to become more commercially viable than their fished value. Not easy but a good rep certainly helps. Divers have to be part of this solution. For example, I got to Brother, Daedalus & Elphinstone a couple of times a year. The primary thing stopping illegal shark fishing is the dive boats - and even then we see a lot of hooks in sharks. In some reefs further south (Rocky, Zabrghad) which I don't believe are frequented enough there is greater evidence of illegal shark fishing because there are fewer dive boats there. It could indeed be argued that divers stress these sharks out - but I think we can safely assume that it's a damned sight less stressful than getting finned.

John