Who has seen this shark????

[RadRob]

Bull's are indeed dangerous. Below is a list of the top 7 dangerous sharks, in order from most dangerous (white) and least dangerous (hammerhead).

White, tiger, bull, sand tiger, blacktip, requiem sharks, and great hammerheads.

I believe the tigers and bulls are pretty aggressive, whereas the whites take a "sample" bite to see if the potential food is good or not. And a lot of times, the white's aggression is a case of mistaken identity, but they are credited with the most attacks on humans. Because of their size (averaging 16'), they are more likely to be fatal. Tigers and bulls attack divers without provocation, because they eat just about anything. Bulls are more of a threat to humans than tigers or whites because of its big size and its habitat — which includes populous tropical areas as well as freshwater bodies.

I would love to see all of these. I would prefer to do it in a cage though.

 

[gcbryan]

Duncan, you're also in the right location to see Sixgill sharks, especially around Comox.
I've seen quite a few on night dives here in Seattle in the 10' range. They're most impressive.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

check our shark sub-forum. Most of our non-regional shark postings end up in there.

Correct and I took the liberty of moving this post to the shark forum where it is more at home
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[craborn]

Sharks are scary though I have never had a close call with one. When I was diving in the Philippines I was at 60 ft and was surrounded in a ball of Barracuda. The dive master estimated about 300 ranging from 3-10 feet long. It was so cool that I was not scared. They looked at us for about a minute and then were gone. The Dive Master said that was the third time that had ever happen to him. Thank god they were not hungry.

 

[Bruciebabe]

Bull's are indeed dangerous. Below is a list of the top 7 dangerous sharks, in order from most dangerous (white) and least dangerous (hammerhead).

White, tiger, bull, sand tiger, blacktip, requiem sharks, and great hammerheads.

I believe the tigers and bulls are pretty aggressive, whereas the whites take a "sample" bite to see if the potential food is good or not. And a lot of times, the white's aggression is a case of mistaken identity, but they are credited with the most attacks on humans. Because of their size (averaging 16'), they are more likely to be fatal. Tigers and bulls attack divers without provocation, because they eat just about anything. Bulls are more of a threat to humans than tigers or whites because of its big size and its habitat — which includes populous tropical areas as well as freshwater bodies.

I would love to see all of these. I would prefer to do it in a cage though.

Personally I wouldn't rate Sand Tigers so high. They look fierce, but those are fish eating teeth. I have dived with lots of these lots of times on Protea and Aliwal shoals in South Africa. They are sluggish, like a nurse shark.
My top four would be Tigers, Bulls, Oceanic Whitetips and Great Whites. Not in any specific order as it would depend on the situation. Oceanics have the reputation for feasting out after ship wrecks and when you are in the water they come up really close and sometimes bump you to see if you are food. Tigers tend to ignore divers, but if one got interested in me I would not be a happy bunny. Bulls snatch at white flashes in turbid water, so occasionally get a human calf, which they usually spit out. GWs are an enigma, our image of them comes from cage diving and chumming. Yet many divers who have had natural encounters describe them as being nervous. I have yet to encounter one but have dived with the other three.

 

[Duncan Campbell]

Brucie... I agree with your list of sharks. I don't believe any shark makes a deliberate attempt to attack knowing their prey is human. I believe that most of these attacks are a case of mistaken identity...the rest are samples. Unfortunately, when such a proficient killer takes a "sample" of a human...that may be the end of you. I would sure like to see these beautiful fish in their natural surroundings..

 

[isurus]

White, tiger, bull, sand tiger, blacktip, requiem sharks, and great hammerheads.

Requiem shark is a generic term used to define a whole group of sharks including bulls, tigers and blacktips.

As Bruce points out oceanic whitetip is a must on any list of "potentially dangerous" sharks due to its feeding style. The tigers I've seen have been very cautious around anything blowing bubbles for some reason. Sand tigers/raggies are pretty mellow and enjoyable to dive with - as a big animal they need to be treated with respect but I certainly wouldn't worry about them at all. They seem happy chilling in their cave for the most part.

 

[ianr33]

What are the odds of seing an Qceanic Whitetip while diving? I thought they lived in really deep water in the open Ocean (hence the name!)

 

[Duncan Campbell]

I have heard of one person seeing an Oceanic Whitetip. He was diving a navigation bouy a mile out into open water. The shark approached aggressively but there was no incident.

 

[Bruciebabe]

Here is a video of a Red Sea liveaboard:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2415188843703404112&q=shark+oceanic
I am on this boat, on these divesites in June.
Oceanic sightings are the norm.