Sharks and your experiences

[O2BBubbleFree]

My first post-cert dive there were two reef sharks checking us out from about 15' away. Just kind of circling the group and keeping their distance. I had turned off my light to play with the photoplankton, and when I turned it beck on, there they were... If I hadn't turned off the light I might never have seen 'em.

Still looking forward to my next encounter.

Unfortunatly media ratings are higher for sensational broadcasts, thus things get sensationalized.

 

[Diver0001]

Hey guys

What is the first thing you think about when you hear the word shark?

the acceleration

What experiences have you had with sharks in the open ocean?

Only ones that made me say WOW.

What do you think needs to be done to change public perception?

Make more TV programs showing sharks and water sporters interacting normally with each other instead of showing viewers sensationalised B.S. featuring amputated limbs, huge scars, bites out of surf boards sharks swimming wildly around chumsicles, divers in chainmail provoking sharks into biting them and that sort of thing. In fact sharks would be better off as a species if the Discovery Channel went off the air.

ooohh.... that almost started to sound like a rant .....

R..

 

[CBulla]

Make more TV programs showing sharks and water sporters interacting normally with each other instead of showing viewers sensationalised B.S. featuring amputated limbs, huge scars, bites out of surf boards sharks swimming wildly around chumsicles, divers in chainmail provoking sharks into biting them and that sort of thing. In fact sharks would be better off as a species if the Discovery Channel went off the air.

ooohh.... that almost started to sound like a rant .....

R..

Thats an easy program to make. A low altitude fly-by over any beach in South Florida can yeild the photos of beach going people and sharks hanging out mingling around in them.

 

[augk]

I have a funny shark story.
My first in the water shark experience I'm 12 or 13 in greece on the island of Rhodes
Lindos beach snorkling. After spending hour after hour up and down the beach, looking for lost treasure you know the kind that washes up on the beach in ten feet of water you know right. Starting to get bored

But on the far end of the beach there's a small jettie with a small harbor on the other side six or eight boats maybe? So being the great underwater explorer that I am. I go around the jettie into the harbor boats schmoats right.

Wrong just about a half a dozen shark's nothing too exciting.
After I stopped choking on water and running on the surface back to the beach. where my older cousin was angrily waiting for me for dissappearing.

I told him there were sharks in the water! After he had a good laugh we donned our gear and returned to sharks nest.

To my dismay they were only shark heads discarded by the fishermen,
but still slightly disturbing.

To say the least I was a little embarassed and a little more cautious about my exploring

 

[IndigoBlue]

Hey guys

What is the first thing you think about when you hear the word shark?

What experiences have you had with sharks in the open ocean?

What do you think needs to be done to change public perception?

So many questions, good thing it's not a Monday

Since you live in South Africa, you have the same problem as the divers of Australia and Central California, in that there are BIG ONES, really BIG ones, just off your coast. They are migratory, so as long as you avoid the resident season, you should be ok.

If you search the internet shark sites, you can find accounts of really big sharks swallowing divers whole, leaving only their feet in their fins behind. Hopefully your luck will never be that bad.

To make the most of your luck, do this:

* Avoid the surface, and avoid long surface swims

* Avoid spearfishing, and avoid spearfishermen

* Avoid poor vis

* Stay close to the bottom during your dive, and be observant

* Dont try to out-swim a really big shark, if you see one

* Avoid dive sites with seals, sea lions, or elephant seal colonies nearby

* Dont dive alone

 

[wstein]

I've had a few experiences of running into a shark while diving. Mainly nurse and reef sharks. I missed a great chance last Jan to go to Jupiter beach to do drift dive while some sharks were migrating up the coast, from what I heard, they were tiger sharks.

I give them the respect they deserve. And whenever I have told anyone that I have seen sharks while diving and can't wait for the next chance to see one, they tend to look at me like I have 3 heads or something. I try to tell/educate people that we are a greater danger to sharks then they are to us and that more people are killed world wide by donkeys then sharks. Again, the 3 headed look. Anywho........

Paul

 

[IndigoBlue]

I've had a few experiences of running into a shark while diving. Mainly nurse and reef sharks. I missed a great chance last Jan to go to Jupiter beach to do drift dive while some sharks were migrating up the coast, from what I heard, they were tiger sharks.

I give them the respect they deserve. And whenever I have told anyone that I have seen sharks while diving and can't wait for the next chance to see one, they tend to look at me like I have 3 heads or something. I try to tell/educate people that we are a greater danger to sharks then they are to us and that more people are killed world wide by donkeys then sharks. Again, the 3 headed look. Anywho........

Paul

Florida, with some of the best diving in the world, does not have any "real" sharks, only miniatures.

 

[wstein]

Florida, with some of the best diving in the world, does not have any "real" sharks, only miniatures.

Yeah well they can still nibble your toes off !!


Paul

 

[Frank Kohler]

Hey guys

What is the first thing you think about when you hear the word shark?

What experiences have you had with sharks in the open ocean?

What do you think needs to be done to change public perception?

So many questions, good thing it's not a Monday

hi scubaculture,

I have been diving with sharks and they have not pose any problem what so ever. Ever time I have dived with them they manly just swim by take a quick look and go about there bus. I think to change public perception of this animals they need to see more footage of divers in the water its seems like ever time a show has a shark on it they only show it eating.

 

[Scubaguy62]

I love sharks and I believe they're the most misunderstood animals. I don't fear them, but I have a great deal of respect for them. With that in mind, shortly after getting my C-card I did a shark feeding dive in the Bahamas. The experience was exhilirating. To jump in the water when you see 30+ fins circling around is almost an act of lunacy, enough to scare a few Army rangers that were in our boat, but hey, I survived! The dive was uneventful and the experience one for the books.

* Avoid the surface, and avoid long surface swims

* Avoid spearfishing, and avoid spearfishermen

* Avoid poor vis

Might want to add:
* Avoid surface swimming during dusk or dawn, especially in murky waters.

When my wife and I wanted to do a shore dive in Lauderdale by the Sea approximately 3 months ago, a couple of spearfishermen came out of the water and reported having seen an 8' bull shark lurking around. So. Florida was being battered by the winds of March (which actually extended into May this year), 2 foot swells at the shore (with a very occasional 3 - 4 footer), and vis was reported 10 - 15 feet. Not exactly paradise, but we were ready to press on until we heard the words "bull shark." When I was an active aviator there was a saying that went "there are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots." I believe that applies to diving as well, so we decided to be bold and stay on shore. So when I hear the words shark, and the conditions are close to those that could possibly lead to a "bump and exporatory bite," I stay out of the water, unless I'm diving off a boat in deeper water than the beach.

As far as educating the public, as we say in my profession, the judge sustained the objection, but the jury heard it. The media has managed to cause people to fear sharks and to seek retribution for any shark encounter, regardless of the nature of the encounter. In Florida, shark feeding was banned because the lobbyists alleged that shark feeding caused sharks to associate humans with food, and well, the rest is history. My point is, whether shark feeding dives cause sharks to associate humans with food is of no consequence as long as humans get in the water. Dolphins can associate humans with food quicker than sharks can because dolphins are, by far, more intelligent than sharks, but I don't hear anyone complaining when flipper, or one of his family, gives a love bite to some snorkeler who is feeding them in the wild and runs out of food before the dolphin is full.

Just my 2 psi