Man Bitten By Shark In Bahamas

[wilz]

Ok I am glad he is ok,
But the whole thing is wrong just not natural and is just teaching these endangered creatures a unnatural habit.
My thought is how many are going to have bit before they ban it in the Bahamas?
it's all about money $$$$$$$$$ nothing more> nothing less< for all the shark tour operators! and the Bahamian government.
Got to feed sharks go to Pier 1 Grand Bahamas stay dry,have a drink and toss your meal over the porch when the bell rings!
YouTube - sharks in the Bahamas
just my 2 cents

I concur. When people get injured or die because of these activities, it is bad example to be setting. As an operator & instructor this is of no small concern. But, free will and random chaos prevails.

 

[tndiver1]

Money Savr ....unfortunately things happen that are uncontrolable....for instance people don't always provoke a car accident but they happen. If you have never experienced this shark expedition , you really should. Its not about money! Its about knowledge and respect, the excitement follows.We actually know very little about these fish and a week of diving with them sheds a lot of light! The diving is very controlled and very safe! Sharks are not fed they are attracted. Maybe join us in August for our expedition - you will be amazed!

 

[danvolker]

Ok I am glad he is ok,

But the whole thing is wrong just not natural and is just teaching these endangered creatures a unnatural habit.
My thought is how many are going to have bit before they ban it in the Bahamas?
it's all about money $$$$$$$$$ nothing more> nothing less< for all the shark tour operators! and the Bahamian government.
Got to feed sharks go to Pier 1 Grand Bahamas stay dry,have a drink and toss your meal over the porch when the bell rings!
YouTube - sharks in the Bahamas

just my 2 cents

I have to disagree. There are "natural death events" occuring all the time in the ocean, these bringing in large numbers of sharks for feeding....whale deaths, or any large marine creature deaths, will be a natural dinner bell. Response to this was evolved many hundreds of millions of years ago.
Sharks do learn also, so if there was an area where seals or whales were dying frequently, sharks would take up residence there, and be looking for ( or listening for) the dinner bell. I am very much against the hand feeding which some Bahamas operators engqage in, as this does actually teach a BAD association with humans....but just a die off, or death event ( which a crate of fish parts on the bottom will simulate) will have changed nothing in the behaviors already mentioned, which have gone on for hundreds of millions of years. In all this time, there have AWLAYS been other opportunistic feeders showing up at natural feeding events...the groupers and all the other fish you see in the shark videos joining in on the event--sharks are used to these potential competitors to the meal showing, and they maintain a standard pecking order and proximity to the food type of a comfort zone....divers showing up are just one more species of marine life showing up for the buffet...not a big deal for the sharks.



The real EVIL is the commercail seafood industry, and the aspects of the "Cultures" which cherish shark fin soup or other shark products. Against the enormous power of financial gain, and an enormous market to sell to, the commerical fishing interests have NOTHING BUT CONTEMPT for tree hugging, shark loving people who disapprove of the killing. These people and corporations would HATE people like you, and would enjoy pissing on you. The moral issues you cherish, are jokes to them, and with the money they make from the huge market of shark part consumers, your "leave the sharks to themselves" philosophy will only allow the shark killers to kill them with even more impunity--with no one watching, or aware of the extent of dwindling numbers.

Without the national media attention people like Abernethy get on behalf of sharks, without the constant attention and awareness he generates, sharks would have no protection now or in the future. Far more likely than your scenario, operations like Abernethy's will cause the bahamas ministry of tourism to ban all shark fishing, because the island nation would realize for more income itself ( and for its people) from shark tourism, than from killing sharks for pennies a piece ( as is still occurring now). Tourism is a powerful enough lobbing group to do something. It is the only hope....You will not change the cultures of the people who want to eat sharks--that would take generations, and we don't even have an emotional strategy with global media plan , with any real chance of effectiveness.
The real issues here for the world at large are supply and demand.....Follow the money.....Your best hope is to have nations like the Bahamas decide they can make more money with tourists seeing sharks alive, than in having commercial fishing operations raping their oceans, and only paying a pittance for each shark they kill....

 

[mselenaous]

Also subject of a thread in Accidents and Incidents. Includes Jim Abernathy's Facebook post.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/368110-abernethy-bitten-shark-bahamas.html

 

[tarponchik]

What do you guys think of this? Sharks may be colour blind and less likely to attack a swimmer in sea blue wetsuit | Mail Online

 

[Matt83]

Danvolker - very well put, thank you for speaking up.

 

[eddyunderwater]

Ok I am glad he is ok,

But the whole thing is wrong just not natural and is just teaching these endangered creatures a unnatural habit.
My thought is how many are going to have bit before they ban it in the Bahamas?
it's all about money $$$$$$$$$ nothing more> nothing less< for all the shark tour operators! and the Bahamian government.
Got to feed sharks go to Pier 1 Grand Bahamas stay dry,have a drink and toss your meal over the porch when the bell rings!


just my 2 cents

1, Jim is a professional diver with an experience level greatly dwarfing yours with sharks and the way he does business.

2, He knows that once in a while [whilst working with sharks] he is going to get bitten, it's a fact, not if, but when. It's accepted - it's obviously not desired! I've been nipped a dozen times through the chain-mail and I'm glad I had it. Pointing a camera in their [sharks] faces might be considered an offer to nibble on it!

3, Jim's safety records over the years have been staggeringly excellent. Other dive ops who work with sharks have a 100% dive guest perfect safety record - and don't forget that most of these ops staff work in chain-mail or in cages, perhaps Jim will decide what is best for his operation.

4, Sharks need human intervention by divers and shark protection groups to bring about the total ban on killing them for fins and landing them for ego trips. Humans are destroying the sharks not the other animals who survive on this planet. If that means diving underwater with them, then that is what it needs to wipe away people's misconceptions about shark behaviour, open their eyes and realize what the ocean would turn into with a human-forced shark extinction on the cards.

5, the Bahamas Government is listening to the National Trust currently about being bombarded by the Chinese for permission to fin sharks in the Bahamas,
which is being FOUGHT by whom?: The DIVERS and DIVE companies, conservation groups and shark protection groups here in the Bahamas and abroad.

6, If you want to preach about something then preach to our government about how the sharks are being devastated across the globe and how our appreciation of them can save them. Shark dives bring appreciation too, you can't argue that a live shark is better than a dead one can you?

DanVolker is right - and being proactive to help the sharks can come in all shapes and sizes, so why not start afresh and join a shark protection group, make a donation and sign a shark-fin ban petition - there are many. Be constructive and pay it back to the oceans- it's our responsibility as divers, who appreciate the gift of the oceans.

OH and most importantly - It was one of WE operators [I won't mention names] who actually persuaded the owner of Pier One to take OFF shark fin soup from his menu. He was applauded by the Cousteau Society for doing so, and now he has more business because of it.

Best regards,
Eddy

 

[tndiver1]

Im with ya Eddy and just get tired of hearing people bad mouth safe shark diving which JASA does promote. I have always had a safe and great time on the Shear Water and over the years learned a lot about sharks. The main thing to remember is sharks don't need us and our interaction, we need them for a source of education and knowledge. This is the only way that we will learn more about how to save them! May Jim recover soon and keep teaching the good of sharks!

 

[moneysavr]

3, Jim's safety records over the years have been staggeringly excellent. Other dive ops who work with sharks have a 100% dive guest perfect safety record - and don't forget that most of these ops staff work in chain-mail or in cages, perhaps Jim will decide what is best for his operation.

4, Sharks need human intervention by divers and shark protection groups to bring about the total ban on killing them for fins and landing them for ego trips. Humans are destroying the sharks not the other animals who survive on this planet. If that means diving underwater with them, then that is what it needs to wipe away people's misconceptions about shark behaviour, open their eyes and realize what the ocean would turn into with a human-forced shark extinction on the cards

Eddy,
on #3 you drinking the cool aid at the local tiki hut? Jimmy has fed several customers to the sharks in my short short, diving career! just do a search on this site!

On #4 Sharks need human interventions Oh Boy!

Dan V
as I said just my 2 cents,, I would think other groups have way's to bring attention to the shark dilemma,and name one that abdicates shark tours/feeding/chumming???? as a way to protect this endangered species.
If its such a teaching experience dose any university ( FROM USA) take students out to these operators on learning studies I am real curious on this one.
Tanks

 

[danvolker]

3, Jim's safety records over the years have been staggeringly excellent. Other dive ops who work with sharks have a 100% dive guest perfect safety record - and don't forget that most of these ops staff work in chain-mail or in cages, perhaps Jim will decide what is best for his operation.

4, Sharks need human intervention by divers and shark protection groups to bring about the total ban on killing them for fins and landing them for ego trips. Humans are destroying the sharks not the other animals who survive on this planet. If that means diving underwater with them, then that is what it needs to wipe away people's misconceptions about shark behaviour, open their eyes and realize what the ocean would turn into with a human-forced shark extinction on the cards

Eddy,
on #3 you drinking the cool aid at the local tiki hut? Jimmy has fed several customers to the sharks in my short short, diving career! just do a search on this site!

You are wrong to suggest such a thing--this is the type of sensationalism often used by hand feeding operators from the Bahamas ( competitors of JASA), and a foolish thing to say, obviously without a kernel of truth to it.
For you to suggest something like this about someone who has worked as tirelessly as Jimmy has, as long as he has to help sharks, makes you a very small person...

Dan V
as I said just my 2 cents,, I would think other groups have way's to bring attention to the shark dilemma,and name one that abdicates shark tours/feeding/chumming???? as a way to protect this endangered species.
If its such a teaching experience dose any university ( FROM USA) take students out to these operators on learning studies I am real curious on this one.
Tanks

Your ideas are not worth even two cents....the way you express yourself might suggest your education may be worth 2 cents..if you had any.

You would be dead wrong regarding any effective methods developed by other groups.
Don't use words like abdicate when you don't know what they mean....and again, Jimmy has done far more good for sharks than most large charitable organizations have accomplished....and he will accomplish much more. Are you even aware that National Geographic and the Discover Channel consider Jimmy to be one of the world's foremost experts on shark behavior?
As for universities, maybe you should visit one sometime....