To Hit the Nose or Not to Hit the Nose

[RockPile]

It was “Survival Weekend” on the Discovery channel this weekend. Most of it was wilderness related but there were two back-to-back shows that at least touched on surviving shark attacks.

The first had an expert (that one relatively notorious shark diver with the monster chops, he’s been in a few documentaries, I think) claiming that striking the shark in the nose or eye was very advisable. He didn’t really explain why the nose was a good spot but said that sharks are very sensitive about their eyes because they can’t hunt at all with only one and will cut their loses if one is threatened.

The next show had an expert saying that hitting the nose is very inadvisable as it could make the shark more angry and aggressive. I’d never heard this before. The nose thing has been taught for as long as I can remember.

Well, local experts, which is it? Hitting the nose, not hitting the nose? A headlock and gill noogie?

JB

 

[scubamickey]

Isn't this what the big Rambo knife on my leg is for?

 

[ScubaMike05]

My vote is to pinch oneself to wake up from the dream.

 

[BigWhiteSquare]

Just reach in their mouth and pull their teeth out.

If you've been around a big shark in the water, you'll understand. Short of hitting him with a powerhead, the worst you can do to him is maybe give him a case of indigestion.

So hit 'em in the nose if you want. They like it when you fight back.

___

 

[Jake]

I'm certainly not an expert on this, but what I've gathered through my VERY amateur research is that when it comes to smaller sharks that are not in the midst of a feeding frenzy, a sharp pop on the nose will generally steer them away from you on the current pass they're making. Sharks can be extremely timid creatures, and will often run when confronted in such a way. However, should that not scare it away from the area, you may find the shark coming for a second pass, in which you'll have to repeat the maneuver.

What I've gathered from this is that you are more redirecting a curious animal by the lateral motion of the head from the blow rather than actually causing significant physiological discomfort.

I don't know if it's any good, but there's research that suggests many sharks can be kind of hypnotized if they are handled with a certain touch about the snout. I've seen footage of it working, so I can't help but think there's more to the idea than just redirection.

That said, I've seen a lot of footage showing white sharks being smacked sharply on the snout, and it doesn't seem to make much of a difference to them. The difference here, however, is that the shark was put into an aggressive mode by chumming and baiting with large pieces of meat.

It seems that when in feeding mode, they are used to being bumped around a bit by struggling prey, and may be less inclined to break off an attack when getting smacked.

In the end, however, you don't have much choice really, do you? It's not like a shark is going to wrap you up in it's tail, in which case you can just whack at that part. Most likely you'll find yourself on the business end of a dangerous animal, in which case the nose and eyes make themselves the best targets for defense. If you can reach them, the gill slits probably aren't a bad choice either.

 

[lamont]

I've been wondering if they'd get scared off from a free-flowing regulator...

It used to be conventional wisdom that sharks didn't like bubbles, but lately i've heard different things about that...

 

[RockPile]

Aphelion,

Yeah, that's pretty much what I was thinking at least with the ankle biters. I don't think it would occur to me to try to hypnotize them real quick. And heaven knows I won't be pulling a Roy Boehm.

The bubbles thing is interesting.

JB

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

I've been wondering if they'd get scared off from a free-flowing regulator...

It used to be conventional wisdom that sharks didn't like bubbles, but lately i've heard different things about that...

Aiming your octo at them and hitting the purge button... I'll bet that would be pretty effective, actually.

 

[lamont]

Aiming your octo at them and hitting the purge button... I'll bet that would be pretty effective, actually.

yeah, i dive a long hose, so I could switch to my backup and purge the primary reg in a sharks face really quickly.

the 10-12 foot six-gills around here might decide to go eat something else if you pounded them on the nose/eyes/gills -- but I'd rather not try to get physical with something that weighs an order of magnitude more than I do and has teeth an order of magnitude larger... If bubbles created a fear response that made them *leave* rather than made them *attack* it seems like it'd be a good idea -- i just don't know of any way to empircally test it without running the risk of pissing off a shark and becoming lunch...

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

it seems like it'd be a good idea -- i just don't know of any way to empircally test it without running the risk of pissing off a shark and becoming lunch...

Yeah... I guess the down side of that experiment could really spoil a person's day....