Hawaii woman hitches ride on Great White shark

[Arubandi07]

First of all, in comparison to other forms of humans interacting with Sharks, this is an isolated incident.

Why was this diver able to touch that Shark? Because she knew how to approach it, and more importantly, it chose to let her do so.
You may have noticed that she was swimming toward the GW at a perpendicular angle, clearly visible to the animal, which at that point must have been aware of this large 'something', and the impending contact/collision. Reaction? Zilch, even at the moment of contact and after.

The handful of pros I have watched in documentaries and such, doing this kind of thing, appeared to have two main things in common: the experience-based capability of 'reading' the animal before even attempting to dive with it, and the ability to interact with that Shark in a way which seems to put it at ease, making it receptive to a close, 'hands-on' approach ...

Too bad we only got the highlight reel, not the entire 'play', leading up to that moment ... A delicate dance ...

Calculated risk on part of the diver? Yes, but in terms of negative impact on the Shark, no, just don't see it.

And in my case, images like that, in the course of time, have succeeded in pretty much wiping out the 'horror' of "Jaws", and even the stuff shown on "Shark week" in recent years, so on balance I'd say, seeing this type of interaction with Sharks should have a positive impact on our attitude towards these animals, if anything ...

 

[vincent54]

Shame to see people still trying to defend a pointless video. The impact on the person who exploits sharks is questionable, which makes the video a useless publicity stunt. It is what it is. You will be correct in saying it is relevant because we are talking about it, but the forum audience is generally pro shark conservation. At this point, the world no longer cares and it is back to business as usual. Look no further than the current CITES conference. Cheers

 

[muzikbiz22]

Shame to see people still trying to defend a pointless video. The impact on the person who exploits sharks is questionable, which makes the video a useless publicity stunt. It is what it is. You will be correct in saying it is relevant because we are talking about it, but the forum audience is generally pro shark conservation. At this point, the world no longer cares and it is back to business as usual. Look no further than the current CITES conference. Cheers

I'm perplexed as what you're trying to convey here. At the end of the day, the World, DOES STILL CARE. Everybody on this thread, CARES. It was said early on in this thread, this was nothing new. I would encourage everyone to watch this report from 60 minutes, featuring Mike Rutzen, The Sharkman from South Africa. He is all about dispelling the "man-eating myths", and about the conservation of these amazing creatures. It is both educating and fascinating. If you've not seen this, WATCH IT !. And if you have, WATCH IT AGAIN. Listen to what he has to say.

 

[InTheDrink]

Shame to see people still trying to defend a pointless video. The impact on the person who exploits sharks is questionable, which makes the video a useless publicity stunt. It is what it is. You will be correct in saying it is relevant because we are talking about it, but the forum audience is generally pro shark conservation. At this point, the world no longer cares and it is back to business as usual. Look no further than the current CITES conference. Cheers

Ah, I suppose you're right. Let's just give trying shall we?

 

[vincent54]

Actually, your comment "the world still cares " is wrong. 100 million sharks a year killed each year is an estimate that was recently published. If that is your opinion of caring, reevaluate it. The battle will continue, but meaningless videos about riding a shark are not going to help. Everyone on the thread is a small number compared to the world population.
Action against the nations not recognizing CITES will be a good start. Japan included.

 

[Arubandi07]

I'm perplexed as what you're trying to convey here. At the end of the day, the World, DOES STILL CARE. Everybody on this thread, CARES. It was said early on in this thread, this was nothing new. I would encourage everyone to watch this report from 60 minutes, featuring Mike Rutzen, The Sharkman from South Africa. He is all about dispelling the "man-eating myths", and about the conservation of these amazing creatures. It is both educating and fascinating. If you've not seen this, WATCH IT !. And if you have, WATCH IT AGAIN. Listen to what he has to say.

Did you ever see "Sharkman"?? Full feature documentary about Rutzen, it's on NatGeo, now and then. Watched it several times over the last couple of years, absolutely amazing ...

---------- Post added March 8th, 2013 at 06:47 PM ----------

Shame to see people still trying to defend a pointless video. The impact on the person who exploits sharks is questionable, which makes the video a useless publicity stunt. It is what it is. You will be correct in saying it is relevant because we are talking about it, but the forum audience is generally pro shark conservation. At this point, the world no longer cares and it is back to business as usual. Look no further than the current CITES conference. Cheers

Questionable?? No, it's actually ZERO, in all likelihood ... As for "useless publicity stunt"? This type of stuff is not aimed at the 'exploiters', but rather the millions of ocean-loving folks, many of whom, after seeing this kinder, 'gentle' side of Sharks, may just change their negative attitude about them and join the effort of putting more and more pressure on the 'exploiters' to change "business as usual"...

Still trying to figure out that whole "shark molester" thing ... You really don't get the dynamics involved, do you? That girl got a ride because she knew how to ask ...

 

[vincent54]

Millions of ocean going folk don't really want to see animals being molested. If you think it's okay to ride turtles, sharks and others animals in the sea, that's 60's mentality. No marine sanctuary in the world allows this activity. Just because one thinks it's cool to interact with a shark doesn't make it right. In fact, it will soon become law in some areas that you won't be able to engage in these activities where the White Shark is endangered. It is ridiculous to think the shark is allowing the girl a ride because of some connection between the two. She simply bum rushed it and the shark didn't know what was going on. The video would be just as effective with just a simple view of the shark swimming past. You give her way too much credit.

Refer back to the definition of molesting, which is the unwarranted harassment of. It's not in reference to anything sexual.as in a child molester.

And I will look up "shark man" Cheers
.

 

[Arubandi07]

Millions of ocean going folk don't really want to see animals being molested. If you think it's okay to ride turtles, sharks and others animals in the sea, that's 60's mentality. No marine sanctuary in the world allows this activity. Just because one thinks it's cool to interact with a shark doesn't make it right. In fact, it will soon become law in some areas that you won't be able to engage in these activities where the White Shark is endangered. It is ridiculous to think the shark is allowing the girl a ride because of some connection between the two. She simply bum rushed it and the shark didn't know what was going on. The video would be just as effective with just a simple view of the shark swimming past. You give her way too much credit.

And I will look up "shark man" Cheers
.

You really don't have a clue, do you? ... And, do look that up, ... you might learn something.:kiss2:

BTW, "...Turtles and other animals"?? Thought we were talking about GWs:headscratch::headscratch:

 

[drrich2]

She simply bum rushed it and the shark didn't know what was going on. The video would be just as effective with just a simple view of the shark swimming past.

I don't believe the shark acted startled, so evidently even if it lacked the situational awareness to know she was approaching, it didn't demonstrate evidence of being harassed.

And the video would not have had the same effect for a lot of people if it were just a shark swimming by. At least not for the target audience whose views might be impacted in a positive way by it.

It's actually an interesting insight into animal behavior. We wouldn't dare walk up to and lay a hand on a wild grizzly bear, lion, tiger or adult Nile crocodile. I marvel that the shark tolerated this. Maybe it thought she was a giant remora?

Richard.

 

[vincent54]

Don't recall mentioning rays . I wouldn't harass those either.