My Dive buddy is afraid of getting eaten by a Shark.

[Dan]

For the OP, here is something that although written with an attempt at humour, your Dive Buddy might find interesting. If they don't want to be eaten by a shark, here are some different options that have a statistically higher probability ...
18 Things more Dangerous than Sharks

The first stat is an eyeopener: On average 10 people are killed worldwide by sharks every year compared to 8 deaths every day in the US alone from texting while driving.

Interesting statistics, thanks for sharing. 725,000 people / year were killed by mosquitoes vs 10 by sharks.

 

[JamesBon92007]

Interesting statistics, thanks for sharing. 725,000 people / year were killed by mosquitoes vs 10 by sharks.

I suspect that the horror is being eaten as opposed to dying a painful, dragged-out death from disease or being torn limb-from limb in a car or plane wreck. I wonder how all the animals we eat feel about it.

 

[KathyV]

My youngest daughter (teenager) is scared of sharks as well, and she sticks to snorkelling "because divers are attacked more frequently...".
I have explained to her that scuba diving is by far the safest water activity when sharks are involved... nothing
I told her that divers actually PAY top dollars to see sharks... still nothing
While snorkelling, we bumped into a half asleep nurse shark: she found it "cute" and not threatening, but she is convinced that great whites, tiger and bull sharks are out there waiting for her...

Finally, I explained that other fish are way more territorial and potentially aggressive than sharks, like triggerfish or even clownfish. Result? Now she is afraid of sharks AND triggerfish...

Eventually, she will meet a good looking divemaster with 10% of her father's dives, and she will change suddenly her views...

If you visit a location where sharks are rarely ever encountered, perhaps she may be willing to give diving a chance. In the Caribbean I would recommend Bonaire for this purpose.

 

[Schwob]

If you visit a location where sharks are rarely ever encountered, perhaps she may be willing to give diving a chance. In the Caribbean I would recommend Bonaire for this purpose.

I second that.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

I'm afraid of being hit by a meteor but that doesn't keeping me from living my day to day life.

 

[Brian Smith]

I don't know how useful comparisons of shark attack vs (insert mundane everyday activity) statistics really are. They are typically not done in a way that is an apples to apples comparison.

As an example, comparing car accident probability to shark attack probability is very much apples and oranges even if the attempt is made to roughly determine number of people going to beaches, ocean, etc. Exposure time would still be extremely different and not accounted for in such an example.

However, divers make up a small portion of shark attacks, although I'm not sure if that is based on normalized data since there are more surface activities and participates than divers.

The best I guess I can provide regarding helping out your friend is the following:

I recently purchased a life ins policy, there were questions about hobbies, sky diving and scuba diving were specifically asked. Then there are specific questions about the type of scuba diving you participate in. After it was determined I was open water recreational only, no overhead environment, no deco diving the premium did not change one bit from the best rate. If insurance companies with tons of data and actuaries ensuring profit are confident I'm not likely to be eaten; why shouldn't I be

Dove many times with sharks and never have had an issue. Not to say to ignore them just be aware of where you are and they are.

 

[DavBuc]

Dove many times with sharks and never have had an issue. Not to say to ignore them just be aware of where you are and they are.

Do you really think that would matter if the shark has decided to eat you anyway?

 

[Fibonacci]

I was spearfishing for a few years before I tried SCUBA (and got totally hooked!) and we used to tow the speared fish behind us on a 10m line and float. The idea being the sharks would go for the fish first not the diver.

After seeing a lot of sharks on SCUBA I became quite attuned to seeing them underwater... but I must admit being a little anxious when I first dived Montague Island on the far south coast of NSW. Montague has a well established seal colony at one end AND a resident Great White called Big Bertha AND an active tuna-marlin big game fishing scene

The seals were very playful, often swimming up and darting around you towards the bottom... a fun dive, however at the beginning and end of the dive when you are floating on the surface and can barely see fast-moving dark shapes at the limits of visibility there was more than one diver keen to exit ASAP!

So I would recommend that both you and your buddy get to see a few reef sharks, get comfortable with them around you in the water... and maybe then work your way up to a GW shark cage trip

 

[Neilwood]

Do you really think that would matter if the shark has decided to eat you anyway?

A couple of the divers on the Red Sea trip had a thresher get a bit close for comfort - a kick to the sharks head with a fin (not too hard - probably more a nudge) and problem solved.

 

[TMHeimer]

Many know I have no desire to seek out sharks. Agree about the meteor analogy--the possibility of a shark won't keep me out of the water. I did read somewhere that while we are not "on their menu", one reason sharks attack swimmers is that it may be very old or injured and unable to catch it's normal prey. Best to stay clear. My old analogy is that I'm maybe the person with the least fear of flying, but wouldn't get on a plane if I didn't have to go somewhere.