Seen any Nurse Sharks lately?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

AtsaMoray

Registered
Messages
10
Reaction score
2
Location
Chicago
# of dives
2500 - 4999
Dove Coz earlier this month, saw the usual cast of critters, even a couple Eagle Rays. What's unusual is we didn't see one single Nurse Shark. We usually see at least one per dive. I asked a local diver about it and he said, "I've wondered about that, myself." Anybody else notice this?
 
Dove Coz earlier this month, saw the usual cast of critters, even a couple Eagle Rays. What's unusual is we didn't see one single Nurse Shark. We usually see at least one per dive. I asked a local diver about it and he said, "I've wondered about that, myself." Anybody else notice this?

Saw the expected number around the first/mid October.
 
A couple of weeks ago we saw quite a few both sleeping and swimming about. A few less than other times but it varies.
 
Luck of the draw. When we were there last in April-May 2019 we dove 9 days and saw no nurse sharks at all except for a captive one in the stingray pen. Other divers there at the same time saw some.
 
We saw about 8 between me and my dive buddy when I was there recently. Mostly under ledges, but a few swimming out in the open. Lots of eagle rays too.

Apologies, I’m not much of a photographer:
E53B291C-A967-4913-B0AB-653CD39DBB52.jpeg


edit: at least I think that’s a nurse shark. Also saw several reef sharks north of the island.
 
Saw one yesterday under a ledge. Really skinny but about 12 ft long. The body was like a thick tube but the head was definitely that of a nurse shark.
I think it was Yucab.
 
These two were under a ledge in a hole at Tunich yesterday (lousy photo because shooting under a ledge while in a hole was beyond my skills :) Was basically shooting blind--tried several times and this was only one that wasn't a blurry mess . The one on the left actually has a remora on it. Never given too much though to what the remoras do while shark is sleeping.

DSC03252.jpg
 
I just finished a week and a half of diving there and didn't see any nurse sharks this time. I also noticed very few turtles on these dives which was a little concerning.
 
Saw one under a ledge in September. Didn't see a single turtle, though.
 
Honestly I wonder where you guys have been diving. After storms there might be slightly fewer turtles and sharks , but not that hard to find. I still hardly even chase turtles because they are prevalent enough (especially before storms ) that I will see one on next dive.

Below are from yesterday. Yes only saw one loggerhead, but still a loggerhead 5 minutes into first dive of the day. Note this is a dive [Tunich) where I also saw two nurse sharks (crappy photo already posted ) and 2 spotted Eagle rays (even crappier photos not posted since they were at 70 feet when I was on safety stop (low on air) at 15 feet and went down to 40 to take lousy photos ). . If someone really wants to see Eagle rays I will post in black in white

Yes, it is possible you are correct there are fewer sharks and turtles , but in last 4 dives I have seen 3 nurse sharks , 2 Eagle rays , multiple green morays, several stingrays and 1 loggerhead. Kind of think I might not even be counting a green turtle or two and an Eagle ray seen at a distance since ordinarily not worth mentioning I know I saw an Eagle ray while snorkeling up north.


upload_2020-11-15_18-29-24.jpeg


upload_2020-11-15_18-30-9.jpeg
 

Back
Top Bottom