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Playa del Carmen sharks wiped out!
- Thread starter Wiilldd1
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markmantei
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MissK
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Great news, the Bull Sharks are definitely back! We dove with them on Monday last week (March 7th) - about 10-12 sharks, awesome dive, check it out on the Fantasea Dive website, also check out the dive conditions updated daily - Diving Playa Del Carmen, Latest News, Video or here is the YouTube Link - YouTube - Bull Shark Dive with Fantasea Dive Team
Don't know how long they will be around so get down to Playa and dive with them before it's too late!
Don't know how long they will be around so get down to Playa and dive with them before it's too late!
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Just awesome diving with you and the sharks, MissK! We'll have to do it again when you're back down. 
There are definitely 3-4 sharks that I recognize from the past three years, so they are not killing all of the sharks. I guess the smart ones survive.
There are definitely 3-4 sharks that I recognize from the past three years, so they are not killing all of the sharks. I guess the smart ones survive.
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Nice to hear they haven't slaughtered them all yet.
jd950
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As I understand it, the bulls used to migrate through the area. One or more dive shops started feeding them so they could "guarantee" sharks to their customers.
The sharks became resident and were seen more and more, not just where they were fed but shallower as well. Some dive ops began seeing them on shallow dive sites, even on resort course dives and snorkel trips. Bulls are quite happy in shallow water.
Changing their behavior this way was, and continues to be, a mistake. A lot of people were saying and thinking a couple years ago that this was going to lead to a problem when some snorkeler or swimmer got chomped on. Sure enough, some poor woman doing nothing but wading in shallow water got bitten and almost died.
At least according to the victim and witnesses who were there, the victim was not harassing the shark or crowding it during birth, or any of the other "stuff" the local tourism board put out.
No big surprise...the fishermen then went out to rid the waters of the vicious sharks.
As far as I am concerned, the dive ops that chum for sharks share responsibility for the recent shark slaughter with fishermen...it was inevitable. I also think they have blame for the woman injured. Not legally, but morally. Feeding bull sharks near popular beaches with snorkeling, swimming, etc. is wrong.
It is a huge mistake for people to be feeding these bull sharks and changing their behavior. I wish they had not been killed, but if Playa and Cancun can either have sharks and shark attacks or no sharks/no attacks, which do you think they will pick?
If you say they will pick sharks, I have some nice seaside property in Nebraska I would like to sell you.
The sharks became resident and were seen more and more, not just where they were fed but shallower as well. Some dive ops began seeing them on shallow dive sites, even on resort course dives and snorkel trips. Bulls are quite happy in shallow water.
Changing their behavior this way was, and continues to be, a mistake. A lot of people were saying and thinking a couple years ago that this was going to lead to a problem when some snorkeler or swimmer got chomped on. Sure enough, some poor woman doing nothing but wading in shallow water got bitten and almost died.
At least according to the victim and witnesses who were there, the victim was not harassing the shark or crowding it during birth, or any of the other "stuff" the local tourism board put out.
No big surprise...the fishermen then went out to rid the waters of the vicious sharks.
As far as I am concerned, the dive ops that chum for sharks share responsibility for the recent shark slaughter with fishermen...it was inevitable. I also think they have blame for the woman injured. Not legally, but morally. Feeding bull sharks near popular beaches with snorkeling, swimming, etc. is wrong.
It is a huge mistake for people to be feeding these bull sharks and changing their behavior. I wish they had not been killed, but if Playa and Cancun can either have sharks and shark attacks or no sharks/no attacks, which do you think they will pick?
If you say they will pick sharks, I have some nice seaside property in Nebraska I would like to sell you.
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