Is shark diving really safe?

[Mantasscareme]

Dear Fellow Divers,
I'm a new diver and have been sorting through an endless array of dive vacation offers to find one thing surprising. Places like the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos and Palau advertise themselves as having copious caribbean reef sharks or gray whalers galore (or some such advertising slogan). While I know that the recent shark attacks in Florida are by a different species than what's found in your average tropical resort shark dive, they still got me thinking: if a 6ft. bull shark could cause serious damage, is it wrong to seek joy from watching a grey reefer of similar proportions? Do you think sharks in the TCI and Palau (and the Maldives, PNG, Galapagos, ect.) pose a serious risk to divers? If were faced with the prospect of finding yourself in the water with a grey or blacktip reef shark, would you try to avoid the encounter, or try to enjoy it enjoy it? I honestly have no problem with sharks as of know, but I need the support of fellow divers to either completely dispell any lingering doubts about shark encounters, or to recognize my concerns as well founded and steer clear.
Thanks
-mantasscareme

 

[Chaseh]

When we dove the Blue Hole in Belize, during a deco stop, the boat crew fed the sharks above and around us. There were mostly reef and at least two bulls. It was amazing and none of us ever felt threatened in any way.

For better or worse, these sharks were used to being fed, and they looked forward to eating fish, not mammal flesh.

We saw many sharks in the region on our other dives, but the "untrained" sharks were often at the edge of sight and were unapproachable. That's probably how it should be.

Wild sharks generally don't want to have anything to do with divers, and there doesn't seem to be the same mistaken identity attacks as there are of those people who are bitten on the surface. Any attacks or aggressive behavior associated with divers seem to usually involve other stimulous in the area like competition over a speared fish. Which takes you back to your original point, couldn't a shark on a feeding dive become just as aggressive as one fighting over a speared fish? The evidence doesn't seem to suggest this though, as I've never heard of a diver being attacked on such a dive.

 

[Mantasscareme]

Thanks for the imput. The real reason I asked is that someone suggested for me to take a trip to Palau (I've heard it's shark central) and I'm really somewhat afraid of sharks, any suggestions?

 

[BacardiSpice]

Thanks for the imput. The real reason I asked is that someone suggested for me to take a trip to Palau (I've heard it's shark central) and I'm really somewhat afraid of sharks, any suggestions?

Go and enjoy. I did. Grays are all over the place there - had one come up quite close to check me out (he swam past a few times)....can't remember which site, but it was one of the deep walls. Other than that incident, during which I did not feel particularly threatened, most of the grays seemed pretty disinterested in the divers. Got some great views of them at Blue Corner.

Grays have pretty pronounced behavioural changes if they're threatened or cranky - you'll probably know if one is feeling arsey about you being around. 'Arched' back, open jaw, erratic movements, side to side shaking of the head...all signs that you might want to take yourself elsewhere. I've dived with grays in Palau, the West and East Coast of Oz, the Solomon Islands etc, and have never had a problem or witnessed that sort of behaviour. Black tips, silver tips etc are even more innocuous (although, as always, you need to respect the animal and not take liberties with them).

 

[bikeflip22]

Prior to being certified, i did a resort course in the bahamas, and i was able to take a rather deeper dive for a class of 'scuba diver' to a place called "Shark Alley". Let me just say it was amazing, and it was probably one of the best dive's i have come across yet. When we entered the water , they were all scattered and there were probably 50 of them. Along with the sharks, there were also baracuda, larger grouper, and sting rays. most of the sharks were black tip, white tip and nurse sharks. As long as you stay cool, you will be fine, plus, your safer diving with them than snorkeling with them, because there is no noticable water movement or anything that will pravoke the shark..

Here are some of the photos if you are intrested, just so u know, i wasnt involved with this company, i was not able to see the sharks hand fed by the diver...

http://www.xanadudive.com/xanpix.html

 

[Mantasscareme]

Thanks, that's really reassuring

 

[Walter]

I have a different opinion. Anytime we teach large carnivores to associate people with food, it's just a matter of time before they take the next step. Shark feeds are a very bad idea! In reality, people on the shark feeding dive are not in as much danger as the next diver who didn't bring anything to feed the sharks. We should boycott operators who feed sharks.

 

[docmartin]

I have a different opinion. Anytime we teach large carnivores to associate people with food, it's just a matter of time before they take the next step. Shark feeds are a very bad idea! In reality, people on the shark feeding dive are not in as much danger as the next diver who didn't bring anything to feed the sharks. We should boycott operators who feed sharks.

although you reasoning seems to make a lot of sense i respectfully disagree. at first glance, it seems only reasonable to look at the incidents with bears, alligators, baboons and other animals that have been fed and ended up attacking people and assume shark feeds would lead to the same result. however, as strange as it may seem, there are simply no facts that support this assumption. shark feeds have been conducted for a very long time and they have not led to any documented attacks although there have been many thousands of diver-shark interactions during the feedings. there also have not been any reported attacks on divers who dived in these locations without feeding sharks. people have been saying for years "it's just a matter of time" but guess what: we're still waiting. my own observations are in line with these facts. i have participated in several shark feeds and have dived the same areas numerous times without the sharks being fed. never have i encountered any aggressive behaviour although the sharks in these locations admittedly seem less shy and more accustomed to divers. the bottom line is that a shark is different from a bear, an alligator or for that matter any other animal and, although tempting, it is just misleading to generalize animal behaviour across completely different species. a shark has not much (if anything) in common with a bear or a lion and to draw conclusions regarding shark behavior based on the behavior of completely different predatory animals is a mistake as the absence of shark feeding related incidents shows.

 

[Mantasscareme]

As interesting as this conversation is, I posted this thread to talk about diving safety in places where sharks naturally cross paths without feeding, like Palau and the Turks and Caicos (I know I said Bahamas, sorry, my mistake). Are either or both of those places safe for diving? Just for the record, I tend to agree with Walter in that shark feeding has definate drawbacks and risks.
Thanks for the imput,
Mantasscareme

 

[Spoon]

i guess all your fears and anxieties dissapear the minute you actually dive with them, im yet to experience my first shark encounter