Shark Diving - Humans & Chumming

[ShakaZulu]

Shark diving is becoming very popular. Providing food (chumming) seems to be the preferred method to attract sharks. Businesses like the following can be found all over the world.

"You will have the opportunity to dive our famous kelp beds and clear water at sites like Isthmus Reef, Ship Rock and Blue Cavern Point. After your morning dive we head to one of many shark locations and start chumming the water"

http://www.white-shark-diving.com/ (refer to the gallery, cage with divers right next to the food)

http://www.psaltyadventures.com/sharkdive.htm

Are we teaching the sharks to associate humans/divers with food???? Are we the ones creating this industry that will eventually lead to us being dinner??? C'mon, lets stop this madness now..........

 

[dlndavid]

I think you are right. I will not support any operation that takes out chum to attract sharks. I would rather just have the by chance natural experience. I watched a friends video of a "shark dive" and a piece of fish fell between his legs and was snapped up. Too close for my comfort.

 

[RonFrank]

Bears in Colorado (Black) associate humans WITH food, not AS food... due to similar actions.

Our family stayed at a Chickee hut in the Everglades last summer, and the moment we went out on the back deck....the aligators arrived...waiting for??? Food.... But again, we did not appear to be the menu, but rather the provider...But I did not test this idea.

I'd *GUESS* Sharks will do the same. This may freak out divers if sharks loose what little fear they have of us, and start hanging out waiting for Table Scraps...

The irony is that most divers act very *GREEN* when it comes to the environment, and feeding wild animals is a big NONO for any environmentally aware individual. However divers mostly seem to love the idea of feeding sharks, rays, and other such sea dwellers... :icon10:

Ron

 

[Scubaguy62]

I did the shark dive at Stuart Cove's when the ink on my temporary OW card wasn't dry yet. IMHO, if done right, and I believe chumming the water isn't, the only association that sharks will make between humans and food is that humans bring them food, not that we are food.

 

[Nay]

The Aquatica out of Wilmington has been doing shark dives for almost ten years. They tag a shark almost every trip and have never seen one of their tagged sharks again, leading them to beleive that they are not training the sharks to associate them with food. At least in their case. They are pretty marine biology focused and where great to dive with.

 

[Gator Diver]

Scuba Diving is a business and as long as people
are willing to pay for a shark dive, there will be someone
who will provide that service. Done properly, I believe
the experience can enhance a divers appreciation for the
sharks. ....and yes, I too have been to one of Stuart Coves
shark dives....but they did not chum the water.

 

[archman]

An up-to-date synopsis regarding the effects of marine life feeding can be had at my related thread.
http://www.scubaboard.com/t78373-feeding-marine-life-bad.html

Article is put out by MPA News, which reports internationally on Marine Protected Areas.

 

[MN Lakeman]

I'm wondering to myself what the true concensus is on this subject. I experienced my first shark feed w/ Blackbeard. It was my 20th dive, & yes it was an eye popping, maybe a bit of an exhilarating experience, but now after 75 dives logged in, & seeing several varieties of shark "au natural" I will not view another one of these displays. First of all, it reminds me of going to a zoo to see caged animals vs seeing the real thing in the wild. To be blunt IMHO these organized dives are a cheap convenient way to see these not-really-so-rare creatures, after all if you got the bucks & time there are places all over the world that you can almost be guaranteed to see them in action in their own turf. A comment on the Nay's post on non-repetitive sharks imbibing on the feeds - the Blackbeard shark feed had very distinctive reef & nurse sharks w/ markings & bite marks that made their repeated appearance so often, that the dive hands had names for each one! Lastly, to comment on the real issue here - are the sharks associating the "hand that feeds them" w/ the food itself? I can say w/ 100% assurance that at the very least, the sharks at "Bull Run" very MUCH bolder than any I've encountered anywhere else. After the "shark-kabob" was consumed, 6 to 7 ft reef sharks were literally bumping into divers continuing their dive over the nearby reef.

 

[Mako Mark]

I think that compared to seeing them in aquariums, the chummed dive is way preferable. Especially if you see the overall benefit in places like the Bahamas.

Stuart Cove has pretty much single handedly changed a countries attitude that sharks were there to be hunted and caught, to sharks are there to be protected as a great natural resource.

 

[JDog]

MN Lakeman- I agree with you on this point. After doing a couple shark dives in Tahiti, (twice in Moorea). When we packed our bags and headed for Bora Bora, when the dive master said we were going to do a shark dive there, I was a little bummed out. I think after you have done one or two of these they really get a little boring, (you drop down to the bottom and just hang out until it's all over.)

I don't think I am ready for an all out ban, (which would never happen anyway), but I wouldn't want to see every dive site around the world offer these. The law of supply and demand will probably determine, how many of these tours operate. I figure there are a couple dozen world wide, (maybe I'm wrong on that), but, I don't think it will affect shark habits around the globe, even though they definitely affect local sharks in the area of these shark tours.

There's my take on it.