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Even though these dives are presumably relatively safe, I never personally understood the appeal of shark feed/dives. I prefer seeing a shark (the kind that don't bite) under more "natural" circumstances.
I am against feeds, but the appeal is easy to see. For many divers, the only way they're going to see a non-nurse shark while diving is to do a dive where they are baited or fed.
Yes, you can see sharks at aquariums, and on the Discovery Channel, but for some reason most divers crave actually being in the water with them.
I am against feeds, but the appeal is easy to see. For many divers, the only way they're going to see a non-nurse shark is to do a dive where they are baited or fed.
Feeding/ baiting is a pretty common but controversial practice here in South Africa. In particular, surfers blame it for an increase in the number of shark attacks. I'm not sure if there's any hard evidence to support this, or if there's any solid info on the overall impact of feeding and baiting. I imagine it would also depend on the frequency of feeding, method and the species of shark.
Personally, I'm with the crowd that prefers to see sharks in more natural circumstances. In Cape Town, you have a good chance of seeing Broadnose Sevengill sharks without any baiting or feeding. Near Durban, there's a good chance of seeing Ragged Tooth (also known as Sand Tiger or Grey Nurse) sharks without feeding in the right season, as well as a relatively good chance of seeing Tiger Sharks.
Debbie and I do not feed sharks and won't dive with those who do. Seeing these animals in their natural environment behaving naturally is a rare treat. We a have had the privilege of seeing each of the following on one or more occasions: grey reef shark, white tip reef shark, scalloped hammerhead, nurse shark, tiger shark, angel shark, bull shark. One nurse shark was very large, and the tiger was close to ten feet, and seen from a discrete distance. Others were smaller. In each case there was no fear or trepedation, only excitement and interest. I hope everyone will enjoy the marine environment as is.
DivemasterDennis
I think the chance to get a bite is a little higher than one in 10 million in this situation. The potential for a shark bite is very situational dependent. If you are in the wrong place, at the wrong time, in the wrong situation, the probability is not negligible. I know several people who have been bitten.
I think the chance to get a bite is a little higher than one in 10 million in this situation. The potential for a shark bite is very situational dependent. If you are in the wrong place, at the wrong time, in the wrong situation, the probability is not negligible. I know several people who have been bitten.
I agree, I mean, am I skewing the shark attack odds by living in Minnesota?
It is possible for me to be struck by lightening while out golfing in Minnesota, but absolutely impossible for me to be bit by a shark while golfing, and I spend far more time golfing that diving in the ocean.
I am against feeds, but the appeal is easy to see. For many divers, the only way they're going to see a non-nurse shark is to do a dive where they are baited or fed.
Most aquariums have several non-nurse sharks on display. The Monterey Bay Aquarium even has had several White sharks on display. For many people (divers and non-divers), its really not that hard to see multiple varieties of sharks.. even whale sharks. Its as simple as going to a decent aquarium.
I don't know enough about shark feeds to have opinions on the practice. Its just the notion of placing myself in the middle of an artificially induced shark feeding frenzy that I don't understand. I've encountered sharks on 4 or 5 different occasions as part of just a regular dive. I found that to be pretty cool as the sharks were behaving as they usually behave.
To be fair though, I did a Manta night dive in Kona a couple of years ago. I was pretty much bored to tears after about 10 minutes. I found encountering and swimming with a small Eagle ray while snorkelling to be more fun. So maybe I don't have the same level of understanding/appreciation most people have for encountering sharks (and rays) under artificial circumstances.
I've always felt that no matter how you want to dissect the statistics, you are in much greater danger during the drive to your dive site than from anything sharks may do.
My wife and I used to joke about this while doing night dives off of the east end of LI. The most nerve-wracking part of the trip was driving past all of the Hamptons Nightclubs. Sharks have nothing on a drunk twentysometing with a car
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