Tiger Shark video

[BeckyKagan]

A few months ago I was part of a shoot diving off the West End of Grand Bahamas in a place called Tiger Beach. We shot video of 12-14 foot Tiger sharks, and Lemon sharks using no cages, no chainmail -- only cameras to document them! They were super curious animals coming right up to the dome port of the cameras and pushing their noses ever so slightly against them to feel it out! They are very wary, yet will come extremely close to divers to get a better look.

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[Starlet]

Wow, amazing!!

Thanks for posting

 

[mikemath]

Overall I really enjoyed the tone of the video--sharks commonly portrayed vs. reality. Your video is beautifully done and really conveys the grace and beauty of these creatures. However, I just can't get behind hand-feeding sharks underwater. You seem like a really experienced group, but encouraging an association about feeding near divers and people in general is irresponsible. Please at least include an advisory to warn against other divers doing the same.

It's unfortunate that it's so difficult to film sharks in their natural state thanks to their natural shyness and long-range behaviors. However, in this case, the easy way to get a shot (baiting and feeding) is too disruptive. You're building dependencies and encouraging dangerous behaviors. In February 2008, a diver in the Bahamas was attacked and killed on a similar shark dive (CDNN :: Shark Kills Tourist during Interactive Shark Feeding Dive in Bahamas). On a more pragmatic point, there is an increasing legal movement in many parts of the world against shark baiting, increasing financial liability for this behavior--recently Florida made shark feeding for tourism illegal.

For more info, see CDNN Special Report :: Shark Feeding.

 

[Drewpy]

Becky,
What incredible footage! You certanly are a pro..very enjoyable. I have done a few shark dives in Tahiti and Roatan and they certainly pale in comparison!
The hand feeding of the large tiger gave me the willies though!!!:shocked2:Especially after seeing another vid of a guy getting bit on the arm feeding some Bulls...

So sad to see a hook in her mouth!

Thanks for posting!
Drew

 

[Jrock1062]

Hey Becky

Nice video will you be doing snother QFSW soon ?

 

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

Outstanding footage. You really did a great job and I thoroughly enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing.

My only concerned, as was voiced above, is the hand feeding of the sharks. I've not been on the Dolphin Dream but I've been to Tiger Beach multiple times on Jim Abernethy's Shear Water where the sharks are baited in with fish in crates but not fed. Personally, I like Jim's approach better, but that's just me.

 

[BeckyKagan]

Outstanding footage. You really did a great job and I thoroughly enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing.

My only concerned, as was voiced above, is the hand feeding of the sharks. I've not been on the Dolphin Dream but I've been to Tiger Beach multiple times on Jim Abernethy's Shear Water where the sharks are baited in with fish in crates but not fed. Personally, I like Jim's approach better, but that's just me.

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the comments and critiques. You do bring a good point of putting a "warning of type" The Dolphin Dream does not normally hand feed the sharks to my knowledge. i believe they normally run the trip the same way Jim does and just put out bait buckets. This was the Editor of Shark Diver Magazine who has experience working with sharks and feeding them. It was done specifically for a shoot. There are a lot of opinions out there, just wanted to share my experience and love for the animals with everyone! They were certainly amazing animals!

PS: it is funny that you really cant get footage like this without baiting. Once the bait is gone so are the sharks, you know that since you've been out there before but most people don't. Yes i'd love to just capture the sharks naturally with out bait but this really gives us the opportunity to see them. I used to go out with Jim a lot when shark dives were still done in FL. I know why they banned it but I always thought it helped more than it hurt by allowing divers to be in the water with the sharks and to see how beautiful they are.

Becky

 

[deco_martini]

Is it very responsible to go to the same exact place that other divers go to see the tiger sharks and hand feed them there? Not every outfit who goes to tiger beach uses cages, and it occurs to me that training them to chomp near people's extremities might not be wise.

 

[BeckyKagan]

Thanks for the comments. I just shot the video =)

 

[cdreamer]

Great job Becky! I really enjoyed the video!
I hope to get there someday.