Shark Attack - Fact

[Puffer Fish]

Most curious about this remark. I think I heard something similar with regard to their threat posture recently and was quite surprised then too.

I wasn't aware at all that this species of shark posed any risk (or no more than other reef sharks which I'd consider pretty safe) but I'm pretty new to diving with sharks (although have dived with grey reefs a few times).

Are there any particular incidences or personal stories that you know where they demonstrated this behaviour/attacked?

Thanks,
J

Used to dive in areas of the Caribbean where the sharks had never seen a diver. We had numerous vary nasty encounters with large grey reef sharks. After a few bad encounters we learned to move out of the area when they went into the arched back thing. It was either that, or be prepared to have only one of you leave the experience intact.

In areas were we dove a lot... the large ones avoided us.. and the small ones would be aggressive, but easily scared off.

It is an excellent example of not saying that sharks always do this or always do that. Bulls in the Pacific of Panama were alway very passive. Bulls in the northern gulf are not always that way...

 

[henno777]

I do agree with you henno777....

Hi Theunis

Great pics, just came back from Aliwal and dived with a beautifull tiger shark. She was very gentle.

About 40 blacktips and 20 raggies.

Viz was crappy but still managed to get some pictures.

Cheers

 

[OnceLoyal]

I love reading these posts and seeing all the different answers. I am a little late to respond, but I don't want to miss out. I've been quite fortunate to have a decent amount of experience with sharks for my short amount of diving and lots of snorkeling. My first books I ever read when I as a child was about sharks.

I think you should educate yourself on the different species first. Know what can be aggresissve and what is not. I dove with a decent amount of nurse sharks before. I go on about my way with little thought. we got chased out of an area in Tampa from a couple bulls before displaying the get the hell out of my territory gestures. we acknowledged, kept our backs together and went up.

You ever read the story were the old man jumps on top of the bull while going for his everyday normal swim?? I knew that guy.... The same people that always told me there are not sharks in the area are the same people I frowned at after the attack. Self defense on the shark imo, and what are the odds of that happening. Wow, poor guy. One bite and it was over. Now this wasn't a diving shark encounter, but can show you how things can happen.

There is a Bull in Nassau that I use to see year after year in the same place at the same time. (at dawn), and I would not want to be around him, he is hunting.

Most sharks that people see on "shark dives" are well fed and are there for a fee meal. They are not "hungry". I am talking about the scheduled carribean dives. If you had some very hungry sharks around they could possibly hit their "frenzie" mode and will bite anything within reach. They even bite each other by accident.

If you see an aggressive species of shark be happy, extremely happy because they are a rare sight. The are an awesome sight of power and grace. I actually haven't seen any since I started diving again except one in the Dominican but he was far away and gone so fast I have no idea what type he was. Probably a case of he knew we there and didn't want anything to do with us.

Heno I think it is awesome you had an experience with a Tiger, but a TIger will eat anything. This is a hark Iwould kill to see in the wild, but I do not think I would "dive with it"... I would probably like ot keep "her" in visual range just due to my fascination with them. Thats just me. They find license plates in their stomachs. They eat Anything and everything and if they are mating they can be aggressive.

I don't want to be one of the people to scare anyone about sharks. Just be careful with them. I would not ignore an aggressive species of shark if I saw one. I can't wait to have another encounter... I really would like one in my Local area of Ft. Laudrdale/Miami. They are here. I followed a boat in with a 13Ft. Hammerhead in the other day. Caught in 130Ft. about 2 mile N NE of the Dania Pier

 

[fcg_vi]

Did you catch the name of the boat that caught the hammerhead? Your chances of seeing one in the wild just went down...

 

[OnceLoyal]

I know it is terrible. It had something with "Monster" in it. Ashame too becasue they didn't kill it. This beauty died via suffocation.

 

[StreetDoctor]

I think the original poster has asked a reasonable question.

The fact is, most divers will never be involved in an out of air situation, but we teach them what to do.

Most divers will never be in a situation where they will need to drop a weight belt at the surface, but we instruct them about that.

Practically no recreational divers suffer DCS but we teach them the symptoms.

So what's wrong with answering the question about sharks?

I don't know about anyone else, but there are lots of places where divers see sharks up close and personal all the time. I dive with sharks on many dives each year. Clearly there are places where it is more unlikely to see a shark, or any particular underwater creature. But sharks are in all the oceans of the world, and a few rivers, actually.

To answer a student's question, I would first of all say "it depends on the kind of shark." Some sharks are more aggressive than others and with a few, I'd prefer to get out of the water.

For most sharks, I'd say we should respect them, as we respect all living beings in the water and not antagonize them. They will stear clear of us.

Jeff

I think you're a little off there, I read about OOG situations, and DCS from a normal rec. dive all the time on this board and others:shocked2:

 

[dpaustex]

I think the original question is based somewhat on fear and ignorance of sharks. I don't mean that in a bad way. Ignorance is simply not knowing.

I have seen sharks, swam with sharks, photographed them, etc. They generally give you a wide berth.

But there is the orginal "what if" question.

Okay, I teach students. So "what if" we were doing an open water checkout and see a shark? Well, if I knew there were sharks in the area, I would brief my student on doing the following:

If you (are lucky enough to) see a shark, just stay calm. If, for some reason, the shark swims toward you, watch it the whole time. Do not swim away, or otherwise thrash in the water. If, for some reason, it decides to come up to you (not likely), just hold your ground. If it decides to see if you're an appetizer, punch it in the eye (again, not likely).

Fact is, sharks generally feed early and late. They often "spotlight" their prey on the surface. Yes, you hear of stories of surfers getting a bite taken out of them, but generally they actually look like a seal in the water. Once the shark gets a bite of wetsuit, it spits them out.

So, don't dive at dusk/dawn (or use a light). Don't "act" like food (a seal). Stay calm.

Fact is, more people die from insect bites in the U.S. alone, than ALL of the shark deaths worldwide. Shark attacks just aren't that frequent, folks. If you get a chance to see one, much less swim with one, count yourself lucky. They aren't these mindless killing machines (sorry, I know that doesn't make for a good story).

But back to the original question...what would you do, if??? Well, I'd probably have a big smile on my face. But most Instructors know exactly what is at their dive site before they're in the water, so it's kind of a nonsense question, really.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I think the original question is based somewhat on fear and ignorance of sharks. I don't mean that in a bad way. Ignorance is simply not knowing.

...

So, don't dive at dusk/dawn (or use a light). Don't "act" like food (a seal). Stay calm.

You make a great example of your own statement. While I'm not saying there aren't places in the ocean where diving at dusk or dawn is slightly more dangerous than diving when the sun is higher, for the most part sharks avoid the sound of our exhalation bubbles. And how can a scuba diver act like a seal?

Here in Hawaii since 1959 three scuba divers have been bitten in the daytime and none have been bitten during dawn/dusk! It was harassment that got them bit, not a feeding situation! We (divers) are not on the menu!

 

[henno777]

Heno I think it is awesome you had an experience with a Tiger, but a TIger will eat anything. This is a hark Iwould kill to see in the wild, but I do not think I would "dive with it"... I would probably like ot keep "her" in visual range just due to my fascination with them. Thats just me. They find license plates in their stomachs. They eat Anything and everything and if they are mating they can be aggressive.

I really do not want to be rude, but comments like this just show me how little the public (even divers) know about general shark behavior.

I'll expand a bit, but before I do that, please book a week to South Africa (or other operator with a shark specialist), dive with Walter Bernardis (a leading Tiger shark expert) and I promise you your post to this forum will be different.

You will always hear about cases where sharks were agressive towards divers etc.etc. (and trust me you here of AAALLL the cases which is almost nothing in relation with the number of diver/shark accounters). But I hear more about dogs biting they owners and sometimes kill children then shark attacks. Should our conclusion be then that dogs are dangerous and we should not have one??? My point is like humans, dogs, parrots and sharks you WILL find the one in a million that is different than the rest (call them "psycho" humans, dogs, cats, sharks). But in general you can predict or expect a shark to behave in a certain way the same way you can safely assume that your own dog will not bite you or that humans will not just shoot you in a restuarant.

The facts: Shark act on instinct. The instinct is encoded in them to survive. The code goes like this for divers (and the opposit for fish or turtles or dead stuff):

1) Im hungry I want to eat
2) I pick up a electric signal with my lateral line, or I smell something interesting or I see something - lets investigate it may be food - yippee
3) Is see something big (diver) its a bit bigger that Im used to but lets investigate further - Im really hungry
4) Damn this thing is moving - I dont want to struggle for food because I may lose an eye or hurt myself. But Im reaaaaalllly hungry lets investigate further (now more cautious but still approaching)
5) This thing does not look like food, act like food, it swims horizontal, blow bubbles, make a noise. (At this point most sharks will move off and you won’t see them again)
6) Lets move closer and check the response – Im really hungry / or I’m just curious. (3 meters or less – the diver makes eye contact and point at the shark + stand his/her ground)
7) (The instinct kicks in) ---- Bail, bail ALARM ALARM. NOT FOOD. NO flight/flee Response BAIL BAIL ALARM Its pointing at me ALARM BAIL – its not swimmimg away ... Im not going to take chances .... Ignore and move away.

Step 7 may be repeated a couple of times.

If step 6 goes something like this you may have a more interesting dive:
6) Lets move closer and check the response – Im really hungry / or I’m just curious. (3 meters or less – the diver ignores the shark and eye contact, does not change behaviour to acknowledge the shark, flee and swim away (becoming horizontal)
7) (The instinct kicks) Cool it flees, ahh it almost look like a big turtle, just a bit slower, probably old and injured, it does not see me lets take a bite!!!! Phew this turtle tastes like *****, Ill find something else.
Hope this help the people that fear sharks and would love the opportunity to dive with them, don’t be afraid – just do it. PM me if you want to arrange something here in South Africa.

Ive tested the above numerouse times, ignore them and they come close (to take a nice picture!!). If I feel uncomortable with a shark I point, make eye contact and it moves away.

This is obvious a open forum and all opinions are welcome but try to avoid adding comments if you don’t have experience diving with these animals – you may take away the opportunity for other divers to dive with sharks by scaring them to death. Watching national geographic where the guy provoked the grey reef shark and it snapped, something your friend told you, something you’ve heard does not give you any right to say anything negative about these animals. Arrange a dive with a shark specialist and go learn...!!!!

 

[Bev Stayart]

The reason for a shark attack is that they might mistake you for their normal prey. They do not deliberately go after people.