How not to handle an Oceanic White Tip?

[Damselfish]

We were snorkeling with a humpback when we ran into one. My husband whacked it on the nose twice with his big camera. Don't know if it was coming back for a third time as hubby got to the boat by then and several people reached down and lifted him out. (He'd finned backwards while facing the shark, while instinctively or accidentally vertical. I had already followed the "you only need to swim faster than your buddy" rule.)

Flailing hands seem like a really bad idea. It chomped at the Lorna Doones cookies someone threw to it. Dunno why someone thought trying to feed an OWT Lorna Doones was a good idea. Maybe because they were out of the fish scraps they had thrown to it. (Yes they basically chummed with snorkelers in the water, to this day I look back and say WTF?) So not feeding it is a dandy idea. Like that needs to be said.

 

[Dan]

This’s what DM in Cocos carry to push away Tiger Sharks, a pointy stick with tennis ball on the back of the handle just in case the shark charging at you at full force and the impact momentum makes the stick to bounce back at you, the ball would cushion the impact on your body.

 

[Dan]

In the video the diver put his hand on the shark TWICE, touching it. There are hundreds of divers reading this thread.

Have you a diver reading this thread, ever touched a shark with your hand and what did the shark do immediately after the touch ??

Check this out:

 

[pauldw]

Maybe sharks don't like poop. Someone do a test.

It has been proven. There were no sharks at all around Warhammer.

 

[BRT]

In the video the diver put his hand on the shark TWICE, touching it. There are hundreds of divers reading this thread.

Have you a diver reading this thread, ever touched a shark with your hand and what did the shark do immediately after the touch ??

Yes, I was swimming along and came upon a little shark with a black tip on its tail kind of over a rock and below me. Without thinking I reached out and put my fingers on that black tip. The shark scooted away, rotated, and came straight back at me, then veered away and left. I decided not to do that anymore.

 

[Wingy]

Guilty also...also without thinking I pushed a black tip reefie out of the way to get a better view of something (sailfish from memory) in the pass at Rangiroa. It flipped out and took off and I too decided to never do that again.

 

[John Bantin]

Maybe sharks don't like poop. Someone do a test.

On the contrary, Oceanic Whitetips follow ships along the restricted shipping lanes of the Red Sea because they DO like poop. It was liveaboards discharging sewage into the water at The Brothers that precipitated last year's bite.

 

[Doc Harry]

Shark didn't look aggressive at all

 

[Hoyden]

If you want a real good example of dealing with aggressive White Tips, get a copy of the movie, Blue Water White Death, and watch Peter Gimbel and crew deal with them way off shore off S Africa while feeding on a whale.

This is still some of the most amazing shark footage available!

 

[Satrekker]

Personally, I would swim at the shark. If it got really close, and my hands were free, I'd redirect it with a hand behind the eyes of the shark. I've never had to do this. They've always peeled off when they got closer as I approached. I know it's easier said than done, but it's really important to maintain control. Freaking out, flailing arms about while sculling is not going to help at all. I think one is more likely to trigger a shark's predatory instinct with that type of activity.