This is why cage diving with sharks is bad!

[obsession600]

Yeah...good question.

Your question is answered in that CDNN article. They don't want to support Abernathy because his shark encounters disrupt normal shark behavior and do not help shark conservation. The book explains why scientists and conservationists are arriving at this conclusion.

I believe this thread is in the wrong forum.

 

[Saltwater Junky]

I wish I had a link to the video I saw on TV a couple days ago. Two divers were in a cage off of South Africa watching great white sharks. The Shark forced its head into the cage and the divers were barely able to escape.

Here is one video....

YouTube - Shark busts through shark cage

 

[Tinytechie]

Uhm, if anyone knows someone who will take me diving with great whites WITHOUT a cage... PLEASE let me know? hhehe

 

[vladimir]

I am a So Cal diver but have been to FL and dove with Jim Abernethy. NEVER AGAIN!!!

Good for you. I will join you in that resolution. After I take the trip, of course. I want to get some of those great Tiger Shark close-ups too.

 

[mocrumbo]

Thanks for all your posts. This was a cage-free dive, actually.
Bahamas shark dives go on despite man's death, calls for ban -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

Are we really at the top of the food chain?!

For "Kydonia"- I have been working in hospitals for over 18 years (nurse, now a nurse anesthetist), and those numbers look legitimate. Would like to see the source. And I got certified to dive on LI, I dove there for years! Right on!

 

[ScubaSteve]

I do not know about you, but based on the information on this page (follow the link), I feel somewhat safe as a diver underwater. As long as you respect the dangers, the risk can somewhat be mitigated.

1580-2007 Statistics of Shark Attacks on Divers Worldwide

Bottom line is, sharks are beautiful creatures that deserve respect and I amy not see eye to eye with many, but CHUM does not equal respect IMO. If you CHUM the water, you increase the risk (this is just my opinion though).

And by the way....while I do actually read many of the articles, I do realize that CDNN is the National Inquirer of the dive magazine world. I will not put a lot of stock in most of what they say.

 

[ShakaZulu]

............
Bottom line is, sharks are beautiful creatures that deserve respect and I may not see eye to eye with many, but CHUM does not equal respect IMO. If you CHUM the water, you increase the risk (this is just my opinion though).......

Agreed, creating a feeding frenzy, and then dropping divers into it is pretty dumb....

 

[LIVES4SHARKS]

Ok, I am confused by the OP. Did he actually do the Abernathy dives? Since the dives in the Northern Bahamas are cage free I am not sure what his point actually is. I recently dove with Shark Diver Magazine on their Tiger Beach expedition. I was in the water with Tigers, Lemons, and a Great Hammerhead. The shark that attacked the diver on Abernathy's boat was a Bull Shark. The CDNN article is rubbish and the picture is not of the diver. He did not have a complete amputation, the shark got his calf. He also made the error of swimming through the chum box and also silted out the bottom. Rob Stewart (SHARKWATER) was interviewed about what happened. Unfortunately, diving with sharks is a risky business and you have to always be aware and watch what you are doing. The fact that a bull came into the area was a time for everyone to be very wary. Before getting into the water with them, it is the diver's responsibility to understand and recognize their behavior and also understand the different species of sharks that you can encounter. I am an avid shark conservationist, and I am not in total agreement about chumming being bad. In order for many of us to get information on sharks, it is necessary to chum, they are very elusive and hard to study. All the data I collected was very helpful for many of the shark organizations I support.

Here are some of my pics from the trip! I will be going back in Oct 09!

Carolyn:shark2:

PS: The video of the white shark entering the cage, well that was the operators fault. They removed more bars from the "window" area to accomadate more photography equipment. Unfortunately, it also accomadated the accessability of the shark getting a closer look!

 

[danvolker]

Virtually EVERY TIME you see a CDNN story, you are seeing the VERY WORST of yellow journalism....often including what I would call outright fabrication of lies, to make a point.

If the original poster would like to be taken seriously, the first thing they need to do is realize they need to consider CDNN as the worst trash possible for understanding anything related to diving.
Regards,
Dan Volker

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Why is it bad to cage dive for sharks? Obviously because it doesn't give the sharks a fair chance to get up close and personal with us! Well, except for the divers I know who have been in cages to observe great whites... and had them go right through the cage. Fortunately the ones I observed were so frightened by the fangs in MY mouth that they steered clear of the cage.

It was not your fangs! It was that suit you wear! Anything that looks that BAD:shocked2: can't taste good!!!