New diver, scared of sharks...

[floridiankelly]

Hi,
I recently certified NAUI, my husband and I certified in the springs. We have since done 1 dive in Fort Lauderdale, shore dive near the pier. We quickly learned we were not organized enough!!(lost our disposable camera, hubby didnt have enough weights!) I grew up in South Africa, and was used to swimming with shark nets. I don't swim in the ocean here as I am scared of sharks.(Cocoa Beach).
My question is am I more likely to encounter a shark doing beach entry dives (very inexpensive) or boat dives. I was planning on diving Blue Heron Bridge or Venice Beach (hunt for shark teeth). Has anyone seen a shark there? I am nervous that I will panic and have a heart attack if I see one. Silly I know. I love swimming and the ocean and the creatures it holds, but sharks I feel are too unpredictable, especially Tiger sharks, which seem common if Fl. Any advice? I don't want my fear to overide my new found passion for diving.
Thanks,
Scaredy cat me!

 

[CBulla]

Both - sharks are everywhere. Our encounters with man eaters are far less likely than in South Africa though. I have seen few sharks, even when diving an area known to have big ones inhabiting, and those I have seen stayed away.

Others in the Conchs have had some interesting encounters, and other than NetDoc who now dives with prostetic feet, everyone else who has stories has managed to beat their buddy back to the boat. (Kidding!)

Overall, boats are more hazardous than the sharks.

 

[trogloxene]

Sharks have much more to fear from us, however - I too am afraid of sharks.

I am hoping to conquer my fears soon. I leave for Isla Guadalupe in 2 1/2 weeks to go cage diving with Great Whites.

After I return I am planning to do a beach dive at Venice (maybe with some conch members) and go hunting for some shark's teeth


Sean

 

[ReefGuy]

I've got over 100 dives at venice beach and never seen a shark there yet , even though they fish (and chum) for them at the pier nightly.

There are, of course, encounters with sharks that get rather tense, but for the most part, they are not negative, and in fact, you may (as I did) come to look forward to these encounters.

My first encounter with a non-nurse shark was on a drift dive in Ft. Lauderdale. Got a glimpse of a reefshark for a couple of seconds. Amazing experience and got me looking forward to the next. Unfortunately, encounters with sharks are not too common.

 

[LavaSurfer]

Don't watch Shark Week then.

I don't know about your neck of the woods but I have done lots of Shore and boat dives in the Caribbean and Hawaii and never seen a shark. Only once while Snorkeling did I see one and it was outta there as fast as it could go when it saw me. I have had them in the area circling me and the Boat captain saw them but they stayed away. Once there was a 16 foot tiger within 50 yards but we never saw it from on the bottom while diving Honokohau Harbor in Kona. Sharks don't like us bubble blowing things in the water. Millions of years of evolution and they still dislike our taste. We simply aren't on the Menu. Bites are cases of mistaken identity. The recipe for an attack is look like a seal or turtle in murky water with very low Viz.

As for having a Heart attack, Unless you have a bad heart it won't happen. Heart attacks are from Clogged arteries, Not getting Scares. It goes back to the old belief that Exercise causes heart attacks. Now you might Panic and bolt to the surface unless you have a plan for what you would do. That could be bad.

 

[Zoomer]

The likelihood of being involved in a shark accident is considerably smaller than winning the top prize in lottery.

Alone in the USA and Canada approximately 40 people are killed each year by pigs – six times more than by sharks worldwide.

In Australia the possibility of drowning is 20 times higher than being bitten by a shark.


In the USA the probability is 16 times higher of being hit by lightning than being bitten by a shark.


Around the world, considerably more people are killed by falling coconuts than are bitten by sharks.



No worries, been in the water lots of times and have yet to even see a shark... More than likley they will see you long before you see them and be gone before you even know they are there.

 

[SFLDiver3445]

Hi,
I recently certified NAUI, my husband and I certified in the springs. We have since done 1 dive in Fort Lauderdale, shore dive near the pier. We quickly learned we were not organized enough!!(lost our disposable camera, hubby didnt have enough weights!) I grew up in South Africa, and was used to swimming with shark nets. I don't swim in the ocean here as I am scared of sharks.(Cocoa Beach).
My question is am I more likely to encounter a shark doing beach entry dives (very inexpensive) or boat dives. I was planning on diving Blue Heron Bridge or Venice Beach (hunt for shark teeth). Has anyone seen a shark there? I am nervous that I will panic and have a heart attack if I see one. Silly I know. I love swimming and the ocean and the creatures it holds, but sharks I feel are too unpredictable, especially Tiger sharks, which seem common if Fl. Any advice? I don't want my fear to overide my new found passion for diving.
Thanks,
Scaredy cat me!

I've been diving for over 23 years in South Florida and logged well in excess of a thousand to two thousand dives, including beach dives, both day and night, and boat dives in all depth ranges up to 300+ feet. I've also done shark feeding dives in the Bahamas and I used to be a very avid spearfishman, and would often go on three and four day spearfising trips in Dry Tortugas, where we'd dive in excess of five dives a day and did not visit land the entire time.

During all those dives, the actual number of times that I saw sharks was minimal, and even then, rarely did I encounter a shark I would consider large. Furthermore, I have never even seen a Tigershark in these waters, even though I know they do exist.

Sharks are just another fish in the ocean. In fact, I view a shark siting while diving as a good thing and a special event, because I consider them beautiful creatures.

If I were diving in areas where large predators, such as white sharks were prevalent, then I might view my approach towards sharks differently, however, I urge you to reconsider the image you've created in your mind about sharks, because they're beautiful graceful creatures that rarely grace us with their prescence.

Sharks generally have little or no interest in being around divers. There are certain wrecks we dive that sharks are known to frequent, however, once we approach the wreck, the sharks immediately leave the area, and they sometimes can be seen on good visibility days very far off in the distance around the wreck, just at the edge of our vision and staying very clear of us divers.

Conincidently, I was diving a deep wreck on Sunday. While I was on the deck of the wreck in approximately 160 feet of water and in poor visibility (20 to 25 feet), a decent size Bull Shark all of the sudden realized he was headed straight for me. You should have seen how quickly he made a right hand turn and sped off in the other direction, because he was considerably more scared of me, than I was of him!

Learn to appreciate sharks, and of course respect them, but don't fear them!

With regard to your question about where you are more likely to see sharks, I'd say the sighting possibilities are so infrequent, that you are just as likely to see them off of a beach dive than you are on a boat dive, which will be few and VERY far between.

Have fun diving and don't worry about sharks one bit!

 

[Walter]

Hi Kelly,

Fear of sharks is normal and expected. Most of us lose that fear with our first encounter. There are always sharks around when we are in the ocean. They almost always detect us long before we see them and leave the area. Sometimes the get close enough for us to see. When that happens, they usually leave the area as soon as they see us. Sometimes, they will ignore us. Once in a great while, they will investigate before leaving. A rule of thumb is if you want a shark to leave, swim at it (it thinks you want to eat it), if you want it to come closer, hover motionless (it might come in to take a closer look), if you want it to get real exciting, swim away like you are scared or surface immediately (it will think you are prey).

We quickly learned we were not organized enough!!(lost our disposable camera, hubby didnt have enough weights!)

Don't take pictures or add any complications until you are very comfortable with just diving. There will be time to add a camera later.

I grew up in South Africa, and was used to swimming with shark nets. I don't swim in the ocean here as I am scared of sharks.(Cocoa Beach).

I understand being afraid to swim in Cocoa Beach. That's shark attack central, but primarily with surfers and swimmers, not divers.

My question is am I more likely to encounter a shark doing beach entry dives (very inexpensive) or boat dives.

Depends on the location.

I was planning on diving Blue Heron Bridge or Venice Beach (hunt for shark teeth). Has anyone seen a shark there?

They have been seen in both locations, but it's very rare to see them at either location. Both locations are lots of fun to dive.

I am nervous that I will panic and have a heart attack if I see one.

Do you have a bad heart?

Silly I know. I love swimming and the ocean and the creatures it holds, but sharks I feel are too unpredictable, especially Tiger sharks, which seem common if Fl.

Why do you think Tigers are common in Florida? Tigers aren't exactly common anywhere. I've never seen one.

Any advice? I don't want my fear to overide my new found passion for diving.

Enjoy your diving. Don't give sharks all that much thought.

 

[FireDiver443]

I saw a nurse shark once on Blue Heron Bridge. Laying there, hanging out (the shark, not me). Knew I was safe because I didn't hear the "Jaws" music.

This is probably an over-simplification of shark behaviors, but nothing sharks eat blow bubbles. I think they're as scared of us as humans in general are of them, but honestly, unless you're pulling a chum ball behind you, you ought to be fine.

I consider it a great day when a shark pays a visit to my dive site. Or two. Had an experience on Juno Ledge a couple years ago with a couple dozen Lemon Sharks. THAT was exceptional! Hope to do it again.

 

[Divergirl4U]

Here is an informative thread about sharks
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-conch-divers/232590-pcb-jetties-shark-inhabitants.html
Here is how I feel about seeing sharks
YouTube - Shark Week 2008 - promo

:mooner: