What will (& won't) you get in the water with?

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drrich2

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Messages
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Location
Southwestern Kentucky
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Hi:

General interest topic. With people debunking the stigma some animals bear, whether reasonable advances based on experience (e.g.: diving off North Carolina wrecks surrounded by sand tiger sharks, safe and not worried...assuming nobody's spearfishing, anyway) or to the extreme (e.g.: a woman free-diving and 'riding' pulled through the water on the dorsal fin of a great white shark), a question many divers face at some point...what will you knowingly get in the water with? What won't you?

Seems like a decent topic for discussion. So far, I've been fine with big green moray eels, large barracuda, scorpionfish and lion fish, reef sharks, nurse sharks and sand tiger sharks. I believe that I would be okay with group diving observing bull, tiger or hammerhead shark feeds - but I haven't got to do those things yet.

On the other hand, I saw a video of a guy jump in the water with a giant squid (it was in a shallow area by shore, I'm guessing sick, but still alive). Uh, no. Even during the day, with no food in the water, I'd want to talk about getting in the water around humboldt squid. Can hardly imagine cageless great white diving. On my California trip last summer, 3 of us did a short night dive in the general area of the Rookery off Santa Barbara. I was down at night, in a wetsuit so I resembled a fat sea lion, off a sea lion rookery, in a region where great whites hunt seals & sea lions. I know people do this sort of thing a lot, I went ahead and did it, but I kept thinking if one had gotten me, I could imagine someone in Heaven going 'Hey, you're early. Why are...huh? You were doing what?!?!?' You can do oceanic white-tip diving off Cat Island, but the way I read they behave in reports, too rich for my blood at this point.

So, where do you draw the line? Any shark? Bull sharks? Tiger sharks? Oceanic white-tips? Big barracuda? Anaconda snakes? Alligators okay? Nesting titan triggerfish? Some people snorkel with orcas - cannot see myself doing that. Humboldt Squid? Why do (live-aboard) loads of people dive cageless with tiger sharks off Grand Bahama's Tiger Beach but cageless great white diving is still mostly taboo? Is it just because whites are scarier looking, or is it something else?

Richard.

P.S.: The above assume good viz. and conditions. If it's real murky and you know a big barracuda or an 8 foot bull shark's close by, I imagine a lot of people would leave the water.
 
image114.jpg

Sgt. Majors. They just won't leave you alone! Seriously though, Irukandji jellyfish in Australia kill too many people for me to want to dive with them. If I were to be killed by an animal underwater I would hope I could at least see it.
I was bitten by a bull sea lion once. I hesitate to get in the water with them now.
 
I hate barracuda. The things are just shifty. They stare at you with one eye waiting for you to get sloppy and slip up. Sometimes they travel in groups. I'm pretty sure they have meetings to discuss diver hunting strategy.

Unfortunately, they're a fact of life where I live.

Barracuda Attack Worse Than A Florida Shark Attack Bite? Teen Almost Dies [Video]
How A Barracuda Bite Marked My Life - Striving Stories
Barracuda Attacks: why divers can’t take them for granted
Barracuda attack breaks woman's ribs and forces boyfriend to seal her punctured lung with his hand | Daily Mail Online

Nasty little buggers. I'd rather dive with sharks any day.
 
Not a fan of the giant solitary Bara either...schooling Bara's dont worry me. I have a strong dislike for Titan trigger fish and mantis shrimp. Ive been in the water with a salt water crocodile off PNG which didnt give me the warm fuzzies but he just swam past and I guess geographically I am in the water with GWS and Tiger sharks more than id like to know.

However If someone said "Shall we go on a dive to this great spot with lots of lampreys" Id probably shoot them.
 
I wouldn't dive with Shrieking Eels.

On a serious note, the only thing I wouldn't jump in the water with are gators / crocs. Those things just scare the crap out of me.
 
Quote from "The Great Lakes Diving Guide" book's forward: "I like diving in the Great Lakes because no matter how long I stay in the water, there is nothing in there that can eat me." :D

My thinking is summed up quite well by this sticker depicting the Great Lakes - "Great Lakes: unsalted, shark free."
 
i have a distinct hatred and irrational fear of catfish and much prefer not to dive with them.

no ocean creatures i really won't dive with other than certain species of squid and jellyfish
 
Since my last few dives, I'm becoming more comfortable with sharks, but I would feel a whole lot better if I had a bang stick and 40 rounds :)

In fact, I'd turn my weights in for a box of 30/30
 
i have a distinct hatred and irrational fear of catfish and much prefer not to dive with them.

During the last day of the season at Haigh Quarry at the end of October, I was on a platform trying to work out some weighting issues and working on buoyancy. I wasn't having fun and a couple of catfish kept swimming around us. I *swear* they were taunting me. I dislike catfish myself. I was above the school bus at Gilboa in October and below us on the bottom, about 10' below, was one monster ass catfish. I kept saying to it, "stay down there, stay down there!"

I'm off to Mermet at the end of January. I've heard they have 50 lb channel catfish. Oh, f%$&!
 
Orcas. They are smart which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's the deviousness that they seem to possess that freaks me out about them, can't be in the water with a fish that big that I don't trust.
 
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