Phobias?

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of Sharks too. After diving so many times and not ever seeing a shark ....even on night dives, my wife and I did a shark dive with UNEXSO in the Bahamas. Since the shark dive we have seen several species of sharks and have enjoyed seeing them. We are hoping future dive trips to see many diff. types of sharks.
So far : Nurse, Carribean reef (Requiem),
Hammerhead, Raggletooth, Blacktip, and a Bull shark.

Dive Safe,
Caymaniac:D
 
a lot of my co workers think i am crazy becuase i just adore sharks and love diving with sharks...mind u i have only seen one shark in the wild. Whenever i do go diving down south my goal is to usually see a shark...they just fascinate me so much! anyways... i would love to do research on them... they are truely magnificiant creatures.

sting rays on the other hand...ick.. i hate them..... i will not go near one!
 
Well I use to be (still kind of am) afraid of anything in the ocean but that's why I started diving - to get over my fear. My main fears were stingrays (long story) and sharks - but in general anything big. Since I started diving I saw stingrays and they are so beautiful. But I still haven't seen sharks and I'm not that certain I want to see them. However, I did find myself wanting to see any large fish. Step by step I guess. All I can say is that JAWS didn't help.
 
And nothing for the recreational diver to fear.

From my "Ask RSD" column of the Mar '00 issue of "Rodale's Scuba Diving":

"Do need to worry about sharks while diving?"

While statistics are not fully reliable and vary substantially across time, over the years 1990 through 1999 an average of about 9 unprovoked attacks per year on divers were reported worldwide. Slightly less than 20% proved fatal. In other words, out of the millions of dives done worldwide in each of the last 10 years, on average less than 2 divers per year died as a result of unprovoked shark attack. Death by lightening or a vending machine falling on you is far more probable. Furthermore, these attacks were much more likely to occur in some areas than others. The most numerous attacks on divers occur in the continental US, Australia and Africa (2/3rds in the Republic of South Africa), respectively. Within the US, Florida and California account equally for the majority; Hawaii has less than 1/4 the total of these two states. The Caribbean is low on the list.

Sharks, about which much remains unknown, are among the ocean's most fascinating and maligned creatures. Around for hundreds of millions years, they have changed little in the past tens of millions. The approximately 370 living species range in size from the 6" carnivorous juvenile Dwarf Sharks to the 45’+ plankton eating mature Whale Shark.

Sharks are fearsome predators due to marvelously acute sensory systems, including the ability to sense infinitesimally weak electrical fields, very low frequency sounds such those generated by escaping and struggling prey, and a sense of smell which can detect a single drop of blood in one million drops of water. While vision tends not to be nearly as well developed, some sharks have excellent sensitivity to contrast and motion, and low light acuity.

The majority of sharks pose no threat to man; only about 42 species have been implicated in attacks worldwide. Great Whites account for the majority, and these are often believed to be cases food confusion; humans are not at the top of the menu with high fat animals like seal and sea lion. Next in order are the Tiger and Bull, who some feel aggress just because the diver is in proximity.

Most shark attacks occur from below or behind and are unseen by the diver, although prior to an attack is it not uncommon for them to make increasingly closer passes, or even bump you. Sharks within the line of vision also may signal they are disturbed. This commonly takes the form of an S-shaped posture, with arching of the back, lowering of the pectoral fins, & movement of the tail to one side, and sometimes shaking of the head from side to side--you'll recognize it. If you observe this, return to the boat if possible; if not, slowly sink to the bottom or back up against a reef or wall, and remain motionless. If a shark approaches you very closely, purge your second stage in front of it, then hum deeply or yell into it. If you have no other recourse, such as when a shark starts bumping you, bang it on the snout or gills, but if possible do this only with a gloved hand or arm, or inanimate object. The skin of many sharks is quite rough and could easily draw blood from an unprotected body part. A number of protective measures have been experimented with, including certain chemicals and electrical shields, but none has proved infallible.

You can reduce the already very tiny odds of attack by: (1) not diving near fishing, and especially spearfishing; (2) diving in groups; (3) avoiding deep channels and shallow water which rapidly becomes deep; (4) not diving at dusk, dawn or after dark; (5) avoiding shiny jewelry and exposure suits with contrasting colors; (6) avoiding murky water; (7) not harassing a shark; and (8) quickly returning to the boat when a shark becomes overly inquisitive or postures.

A diver following the above suggestions has no reason for fear."

Best regards.

DocVikingo
 
According to RAW DATA, Playboy, August 2002

'Number of people attacked worldwide by sharks in 2000: 79. Number who died: 10. Number killed annually by falling coconuts: 150.'

Geeez, get me off this beach and into the shark infested ocean, where I'm safe!
 
I now work with Dr Grant Gilmore. He is a world renown underwater zoolgist. You may have seen his Discovery series on diving in a submerable of the coast of Cuba.

He told me about the habits of Tiger sharks off the Florida coast. A major part of their diet is sea turtles. Well, when sea turtles go into nesting the Tigers follow the turtles habits...Off shore during the day and then follow them close into shore during the nite hours...like into some very shallow water
 
Wendy once bubbled...


Oh and not really dive related, but...I'm also afraid of frogs.


Don't worry hun, I'll protect you from all the frogs. lol I'm glad I didn't buy a frog aquarium. I don't think you would even step foot into my house then.

I agree with the rest of what Wendy said. I don't think that people are necessarily afraid of sharks, it's the image that the media has given them. The media has taken an amazing creature and given it a horrible persona. If everyone was made to get into a tank with sharks, they would see that there is really nothing to be afraid of.
People in the water should be cautious around sharks yes, but not petrified of them.
 
If anyone doesn't have a fear of sharks try watching "Sphere". Especially Queen Latifah's encounter with jellyfish.
 
If you are afraid of sharks it only means your brain stem is still intact, they are a risk in the water, however most divers view it as a reasonable acceptable risk (or they don't stay divers!) These stats I hear about you have 1 in 1,000,000 etc chance of getting hit.....OK, well, if you include everyone on land that doesnt dive, those stats make sense. If you derive those stats from only the very small percentage of people that dive in the ocean regularly, those stats surely would be much higher, as a spearfisherman I know I am in a very high risk group, as I have already had sharks shoot past me like a missile.
The diving community has a well developed sub-culture, including the mythology that sharks are not a threat, it does appear to be a limited threat, and certainly acceptable to most divers, however even so there are times and places where smart divers don't go in the water for fear of sh sh--sh---s you know:) Hope this helps! zeN||
 
Okay, maybe slightly nervous thinking about chumming them up then doing a giant step off the platform prior to a short 30 foot swim out to the cage... 6+ foot seas for the whole 30 mile ride off shore didn't help much, but hey, if I get that nervous, I don't have to jump off of the boat right??? Okay, the seas calmed down when we got there and we started chumming. Things are looking a little better... It was a bit amusing to hear the words "Oh S&*T" being screamed [repeatedly] through a snorkle by the woman waiting on the raft they call the "play pen" for the sharks to show when they finally came into our slick. The play pen was cool, snorkling over to it and having several curious 6 footers swim just inches from your mask. The fear of the surface swims back and forth from the boat seemed to subside as this was turning into an awesome experience. Once full SCUBA gear was in place, (and using the corny line "I ain't got no spit") I was just a little more than nervous getting to the cage as my mask was leaking big time, and I was a bit under weighted for the cage. A little adjustment at the surface and all was fine... except the sharks seemed to disappear when I was all set to view the critters. Thousands of tiny mackeral were all I saw for about 30 minutes or so before the sharks were back. All in all, a great experience. One of my buddies snapped the attached pic...
 

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