PROS & CONS: Should this be considered a "bad idea" or not?

[PaulVS]

Freediving with Great White Sharks - Ocean Encounters - YouTube

Seriously.... why wouldn't the odds favor any of these people be looked at by at least one GWS as a potential meal... as a wounded seal? Is this a lot different from Russian Roulette?

I'm not paranoid, but I'm definitely cautious.... it's called human nature. (i.e. You shouldn't just f-around with things that are 1) almost always looking for food, and 2) Have the ability to eat us.)

In other words, how is this different than thinking you can intermingle with a lion pride in the Serengeti or with grizzlies in a salmon stream? We're not their "natural prey" either, but nobody does it, regardless.

 

[drrich2]

I tend to agree. Some people seem to've seized on the idea that GWS attacks are mistaken identity cases; the shark mistakes the diver for a seal, or at least isn't sure what it is and takes a 'test bite' to investigate. The theory then would go that in clear water this isn't likely; the shark can clearly perceive that the diver is some sort of alien (to its experience) thing inconsistent with a prey item.

Compare that with grizzly bears & lions, which don't face the challenges of low viz. water and a small minority of whom have attacked humans, apparently knowing what they are doing. And nobody walks by & strokes a grizzly bear or an African lion.

Now, compare all that to advances made by pushing the limits. Divers get in cages & the sharks investigate but don't persistently attack. People reach through the bars & touch them perhaps? Finally some expert manages to dive outside a cage with the GWS. Then a few more people do it. Eventually somebody free dives with them.

All that said, it only takes one shark who is more aggressive than usual, had lousier luck hunting seals and is really, really hungry, or just happens to be less picky about prey items than most. GWS don't eat solely seals their entire lives.

Sooner or later, somebody's going to get hurt, I predict, and it'll make the news & create bad PR for GWS.

Richard.

 

[smellzlikefish]

Says the guy who rides a crotch rocket. I heard a little story about the pot and the kettle...

In a situation like that where 1) you know where the sharks are, 2) there is a boat nearby, 3) you've seen enough sharks to know what's what and 4) the sharks aren't acting aggressive, you'd probably be fine. I don't think they are about to be taking tourists out to do this anytime soon because you can't always guarantee point #3. Don't forget that years ago, diving with any sharks was considered extremely dangerous and probably on par with your view of the guys presented here. GWS are big and scary looking, but then so are tigers. And yet the shark with the highest body count? The often diminutive sized oceanic whitetip.

 

[PaulVS]

Says the guy who rides a crotch rocket. I heard a little story about the pot and the kettle...

Ha.... but the reason I've been riding for nearly 40 years and still here to talk about it is that I am cautious. While lots of riders we call "squids" do insane stuff.... I don't feel compelled to push the limits of sanity on my "crotch-rocket" (It's actually a sport-touring motorcyle, btw) And the first thing I was taught when I got a motorcycle was safety first.... always have an "out" for any situation.

From an outsider's point-of-view, these guys "got no out" if something goes awry. They're just stuck there with their fate. But all "dangerous" endeavors that are done by professionals involve preparation, and I'd be interested to know what "X, Y, Z factors" have to converge for these divers to feel it's safe for them.

Maybe next thing you know, they WILL be freediving with whitetips to show how "non-aggressive to humans" they are.

I've been diving with nurse & reef sharks close by... once during a Jack feeding frenzy that was just amazing... so I'm not a complete newb about being in the environment with sharks, but with certain species it would seem to be pushing your luck.... just like some guys do on their crotch-rockets.

That all being said.... I think it would be an amazing experience. If I was told I only had a month to live it would probably be on my (rather lengthy) bucket list.

 

[theduckguru]

Let's put on some gear that makes us look a little bit like a seal, engage in a swimming pattern that looks like seals swimming, and go swim with fish that eat seals. No thanks.

 

[smellzlikefish]

FYI, my profile pic is me freediving with a whitetip. There were two others in the water with me at the time.

I sort of gave you the x, y, and z of why these divers felt what they did was okay. They knew where the sharks were and they didn't look overly aggressive. When hunting, sharks rely a lot on surprise, so a big part of self defense is knowing where the animal is and letting them know you aren't surprised.

When engaging large and/or potentially curious sharks, I always think of my safety in two steps. The first is avoiding an initial test bite which usually involves an aggressive display (swimming at the animal, often just looking at the animal is enough) followed by a jab by a stick or a punch on the nose/mouth region. This not only deters the shark but also gives you a buffer distance (think of a stiff arm). I've even gone so far as to "ride" the caudal fin of a large Galapagos shark that was nosing in a little too close to my buddies. They really don't like that.

The second step is of course to leave the water. These guys probably had a chase boat on hand in case they needed it.

 

[PaulVS]

Looks like you could use that camera as a hammer if you needed to.

 

[Arubandi07]

...From an outsider's point-of-view, these guys "got no out" if something goes awry. They're just stuck there with their fate. But all "dangerous" endeavors that are done by professionals involve preparation, and I'd be interested to know what "X, Y, Z factors" have to converge for these divers to feel it's safe for them.

Maybe next thing you know, they WILL be freediving with whitetips to show how "non-aggressive to humans" they are.

I've been diving with nurse & reef sharks close by... once during a Jack feeding frenzy that was just amazing... so I'm not a complete newb about being in the environment with sharks, but with certain species it would seem to be pushing your luck.... just like some guys do on their crotch-rockets.

That all being said.... I think it would be an amazing experience. If I was told I only had a month to live it would probably be on my (rather lengthy) bucket list.

Re the "X,Y,Z" factors, watch Mike Rutzen's documentary "Sharkman", excellent feature about 'safely' freediving with GWS and Tigers. He's been doing that for a long time, still around to tell the tale ...

 

[Porkfried]

I'm absolutely in favor of people free diving with great white sharks. When humans enter the water, we are invasive species. Nothing is going to be specifically seeking us out to kill us, not even great whites. And then, when someone goes "I have no problem with people finning sharks, they do kill us after all" instead of explaining that they don't kill people often or whatever, we can just go, "No they don't, people swim with them regularly. They're surprisingly docile." I guess I put a lot of faith into the docility of great whites, but I think this is good for shark diplomacy and I think it's harmless.

 

[WendyCayman]

I've been giving this topic a ton of thought lately as I'm moving from Cayman to Cape Town, home to the greatest concentration of GWS. I keep wondering about both free diving and diving... How do GWS interact with divers?? I keep having images of me sitting on the bottom with 500 pressure left and looking up at my boat seeing a GWS circling. WHAT TO DO?!