What am I supposed to react when a shark is heading towards me?
- Thread starter zixzax
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Hey thanks for your serious reply. I appreciate. I am fine with the jokes though.
I can't say we are perfect in buoyancy control as we just did 25 dives. But I didn't find too much trouble, neither did our DM. But of course we lack experience. for example, unexpected current, panic among buddies...
I know it's a difficult question to answer as sharks are different. How can we assume what they have in their mind. Maybe just share your experience, which you already did, and that will be helpful for us.
My first response was serious. The reality is that you are worrying a lot about nothing and little you can do if the shark is intent on attacking you. You are basically asking what to do in the worst case scenario.
Mr. Myagi would say something like: "best way to avoid punch is to not be there when punch arrives"...if you are going to worry about shark attack then this mentality would definitely provide peace of mind, but would limit vacation diving to fresh water environments.
When you get in the water, particularly sea water, you are entering a domain where there are apex predators and to them, at best, you are an object in their environment to ignore, and at worst you are an object in their environment to bite and perhaps consume.
Given the statistics...even if you are diving in the vicinity of sharks, you are not likely to be attacked, and if you are attacked you will either not know before that attack occurs OR there will not be anything effective you could do about it at the moment except put up a fight.
Seriously, if I am going to be fighting off a shark that is in attack mode, I hope to have the presence of mind to offer it my weak side/hand/arm before it chomps down on me, so I can struggle/fight with my good arm.
Worrying about these things is not a productive way to live.....just go dive and relax and have fun blowing bubbles underwater and don't sweat the sea life, just enjoy it if you get to see it.
-Z
Mr. Myagi would say something like: "best way to avoid punch is to not be there when punch arrives"...if you are going to worry about shark attack then this mentality would definitely provide peace of mind, but would limit vacation diving to fresh water environments.
When you get in the water, particularly sea water, you are entering a domain where there are apex predators and to them, at best, you are an object in their environment to ignore, and at worst you are an object in their environment to bite and perhaps consume.
Given the statistics...even if you are diving in the vicinity of sharks, you are not likely to be attacked, and if you are attacked you will either not know before that attack occurs OR there will not be anything effective you could do about it at the moment except put up a fight.
Seriously, if I am going to be fighting off a shark that is in attack mode, I hope to have the presence of mind to offer it my weak side/hand/arm before it chomps down on me, so I can struggle/fight with my good arm.
Worrying about these things is not a productive way to live.....just go dive and relax and have fun blowing bubbles underwater and don't sweat the sea life, just enjoy it if you get to see it.
-Z
Caveeagle
Contributor
Not sure if some of these are myths, or real... we did a shark dive. Couple years ago and were given some advice.
- staying vertical (vs a normal horizontal) profile makes you look less like a prey type animal.
- cover or black out shiny or bright colored gear
- holding a “shark stick” out in front of you will cause most curious sharks to turn away sooner.
*I didn’t chose to carry the bump stick, but did observe Lemons liked to come in real close and would turn away at the last minute.
*some free divers I’ve met seem to trust the new magnet based shark repellers. No personal opinion.
**Staying close to your buddy will reduce chance of being eaten by roughly 50%. (Lol)
- staying vertical (vs a normal horizontal) profile makes you look less like a prey type animal.
- cover or black out shiny or bright colored gear
- holding a “shark stick” out in front of you will cause most curious sharks to turn away sooner.
*I didn’t chose to carry the bump stick, but did observe Lemons liked to come in real close and would turn away at the last minute.
*some free divers I’ve met seem to trust the new magnet based shark repellers. No personal opinion.
**Staying close to your buddy will reduce chance of being eaten by roughly 50%. (Lol)
Staying close to your buddy may cause the shark to get 2 meals for 1 attack....but out-swimming your buddy will reduce the chance of being eaten by roughly 50%....unless there is another shark in the shadows waiting on opportunity.
-Z
seeker242
Contributor
Dan
Contributor
Made 800 dives and no shark attacked on me. Fingers crossed. So far, they don’t care about me.
If one of them is coming towards me, I just stick my GoPro to it.
If one of them is coming towards me, I just stick my GoPro to it.
I have found that if I try to take a picture then they suddenly will leave or at the very minimum turn away, so carry a camera lol.
Being serious they just really aren't interested in us. Sharks like most other animals don't make a habit of attacking large animals that could inflict injury to them.
Being serious they just really aren't interested in us. Sharks like most other animals don't make a habit of attacking large animals that could inflict injury to them.
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