Yes..... during our recent trip to Bonaire, we saw 2 sharks.

But since I don't have time to go into details, anyone who hasn't heard about our encountrer will have to wait for our trip report.

I just wanted to get this teaser going.........

Liar! Liar! Pants on fire !

I want to see PICS !! Now, we CANNOT let my husband see this thread... I will never get him to Bonaire. We saw "Shark Tale" over the weekend, and at one point one of the sharks says something like "well it's our job to eat stuff" and Steve looks at me and says, "SEE??" Good grief, I'll never get him in the water at this rate.. shhhhhhhh.... lol

I am frequently hounded by a tiger shark while in Bonaire.

Mary

That looks more like the dreaded chicken pox shark! ;-)

Think so?
Let's have a closer look. We caught him 'resting' as if he were a nurse shark.

LOL, Mary...

Sharrrrrrk!!

Mary W - that's no Shark - that is Seb in disguise!!!LOL!!!

Kelly brings back memories of some of the laughs that we had in the dives!!!

I laughed just posting that pic... I think my mask was flooding right about that moment... lol

I gotta tell ya that the damsel fish are really hesitant to nip me when I have the tiger shark in my hand. Whenever I don't have the shark and I stop to look at something, I get nipped. With the tiger shark, the damsel fish leave me alone.

I had been wanting to search archives to see about reef sharks in Bonaire just so I knew to keep out a look for them. In Cook islands (last trip) you dont have to worry cause they dont come past outer wall. But lo and behold I come tonight and find this picture of a shark that looks so odd.. Now remember I am the one who dosnt post well ... so if you dont mind... Are you all kidding with the posts about being nipped and also this spotted sharK? Did I miss the joke? 8 days to go!

chris,

I am not kidding about being nipped by damsel fish while diving. The little buggers are fiercely protective of their little algae farms and will nip anything that comes near them. The only fish I know that can feed on the protected algae farms are the bands of doctor fish that swarm and raid the algae farms. Sheer numbers overwhelm the damsel fish and the doctor fish can grab a quick nibble and then swim off.
I don't get bothered by the damsels if I wave the plastic tiger shark in their faces.
I kinda keep it in my hand with the tail tucked between my fingers and 'establish' the plastic tiger shark's aggressiveness by jabbing towards the damsel fish a few times. I find the bicolor damsels to be particularly adept at nipping me when I am preoccupied while studying something on the reef.

Chris, I doubt the damsels will be drawing anyone's blood from their little nips, it's equivalent to a static shock at most.

Chris, the little buggers do bite but they don't draw blood. On my last trip I felt something pulling on my pinky finger on the hand I had my camera in. I looked under the camera to find a bicolored damsel hanging on to my finger. They don't hurt but I am glad they don't get to be 20lbs.

And I actually had a sargeant major start nipping at my fins at the Hooker. Protecting eggs but I couldn't figure out at first why I felt my finning tugging. LOL!

As for the sharks, I can say that in 8 trips to Bonaire I have never seen a shark. Tahiti is a completely different story where we have over 50 sharks on one dive alone, it was amazing!

Chris, enjoy Bonaire and let us know how it goes. We are a greedy lot as we want trip reports and pictures.

Mara

The Triton Triggerfish in the Maldives is big and more agressive version of the Damselfish. One Instructor took off his weight belt and swung it to defend himself from the Triton.

One fish to avoid - from memory it is about 18 to 24 inches long.

Please, Lord, do not let my husband see this thread... lol...

Are these damsel fish in the shallows or just where you divers go? Also if I wear a t -shirt which color might be more condusive for attracting fish. Yellow ,red ,green? I have found on some recent trips something you might enjoy. Each time I have taken with me A slender plastic M&M container with a flip top I got in Hawaii last year. I put some peas or bread in there and imediatly all yellow fish surround me. the ones with the little turned up noses. Each time they have circled the container and taken turns nipping inside. Its like they think they have found their mother. It gave me such a love and thrill for these creatures. i am carefull not to give them too much cause I wouldnt want to share my Peto Bismal! as afr as pictures goes my husband loves to do that but only has Kmart kind for under water. Will they work for a post here eventually.?

K-Jo, is he gonna keep you outta the water, or not go in himself? I thought he was gonna be on the certification track.

Damsel fish are everywhere Chris. Please don't stress yourself about them. They are farmers, and very aggressive in protecting their fields. Usually they nip my folded hands when I am hovering over their fields looking at something past them, and they get nervous, jerky, and defensive. In fact it is quite a sight to see a school of a hundred fishes come in to feed off the farm and have the damselfish doing, well, his damndest to run them all off.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you're talking about yellowtail snappers. They feed by sight, not by smell. A word to the wise, they may well draw blood, should they overshoot a treat and catch the skin betwixt your thumb and forefinger. I'm usually shooing them away myself.
For around 35 dollars you can buy a nice fish ID book(Paul Humann /Ned Deloach), and actually put a name to what you are seeing. Most dive shops have a set around for general use, or you can go for the big plastic fish ID cards or REEF has small waterproof fish ID books you can take diving or snorkeling, right in the water. Or with a small slate you can sketch fish and then look them up on land.

great idea about the book. my husband said the yellow fish I encountered were called butterfly fish. he also said the ones your talking about damsel fish also will come by the hairs on your arms and nip at the bubbles that come off the hair on my arm. of course his arms are hairier than mine! Any way I am so looking forward to this and I hope the underwater Kmart Brand camera will work to transfer back to you all. I will never forget seeing jim pop up by our boat at Boca Del Toro ( near Panama) with a blowfish in his hand! got the pix and we let it go.Ps Thanks for all the tips about bug protection. At a flea market I happened to notice Skin so soft with uv protection that was mentioned. Also how do i find out about the dinner for next week there?

chris -- bonaire's waters are protected. I don't think that STINAPA rules allow handling of the fish.

Fish don't even touch each other when having sex so please keep your hands off of them. Touching them removes the protective slime covering their bodies.

Haven't you seen the animated feature A Shark's Tale yet? The puffer fish only get puffed when upset. Don't let Jack Chalk or any of the STINAPA folks catch you upsetting puffer fish! Don't do it!

I'm not sure if it is allowed to feed the fish underwater. Perhaps some one can jump in and answer that question.

Chris,

Have a great trip. Check out the dining section regarding the dinner and it's location. I'm with Seb on those yellowtails. I have worn pigtails diving and the while waiting for someone at 40 ft the little buggers were nipping on my pigtails. EEK!

And I think your camera should work just fine. It's all a matter of what you see and what you want to see.

Have a great trip - and we expect a FULL report.

Mara

Chris,

Even though you are snorkelers, you may benefit by taking in one of the dive orientation lectures given at all the dive shops (most every day). You'll learn the rules (as Mary said, don't touch the fish - "take nothing, leave only bubbles" - and not even them for snorkelers). While other dive locations may not be so adament about it and allow man-handling, it is not looked upon kindly in Bonaire.

These lectures are mandatory for new divers on Bonaire, and you can't get a Marine Park Tag, without sitting through one. They probably should be mandatory for snorkelers, too - maybe some day.

Seb, I love my Kitten, but he could never, ever keep me outta the water... you know better than that, can you imagine someone attempting to TELL me what I can and can't do! Many have tried and failed before him.. lol No, what I meant was that HE may never get in the water when he hears that stuff. He says he doesn't want to be where something can "eat" him. Be realistic now, the man is 6'5" for god's sake. Mary, we saw Shark Tale last weekend, and loved it ! But when the sharks were talking and the one shark said, "hey man we are SHARKS, we eat stuff, that's what we do". He just looked at me and said, "See??"

He has tentatively agreed to a Discover Scuba class. He doesn't want to be in water with low visibility, so I told him if he does the classes, he can get certified in Bonaire, and never dive anywhere else. I went for the hard sell.

Good girl Kelly - always go for the hard sell. My two step kids have pretty much done that as far as diving in the clear waters. Stephanie has only dived in Bonaire and Boy has dived mostly in Bonaire and once in Roatan. It's how we do it and how we sell it!!

I shall remember all you said whilst under water!

We have seen a nurse shark in May this year at lac cai lying in the reef at around 12 meters.

This is the image of the message above...



We have more Photos of this beauty

next

Look at the Stinapa badge on the Jacket... This is on Bonaire Lac Cai.

and another one

Wow Roland! thanks for the pictures.

Great pictures Roland ! Wow.... thanks for sharing...

Kelly - keep the pictures to yourself. Don't let the hubby see them.... that's a MAN EATER!

OMG! That really is a shark! Don't like it, don't like them. Hope I never see any shark of any kind!

About 50 Tarpons circling around you is more creepy than 1 sleepy nurse shark. By the way, nurse sharks are harmless.



This picture is from 17-11-2003 (one year ago) Lac Cai, our first dive at Cai but not the last!!!
If you never dived Lac Cai and you want to dive there GO GUIDED because than you don't mis the show and it is more safe (CURRENT)
You can see eagleray stingray and if you are lucky some sharks


30 November we are on Bonaire again, lucky us

Like most things Debbie, the more fact you actually know about them the less scared you might become.

Seb, Quite the contrary, I do know quite a bit about sharks, however, I STILL don't like them one bit. I know which ones are basically harmless to humans and which aren't, but I also read the papers and have read of some pretty weird attacks, one of them in 5 ft of water in my good ole state of New Jersey of a bull shark, yes it is a big shark, attacked this elderly couple who were just standing in the water. One died, the other survived. I could go on with more shark stories, but I won't bore anyone, it's just that the stories in the last years I have read are just not the "norm" behavior of that particular shark that attacked the people I have read about, so, if I see a shark, I will turn the other way and find another reef to dive. I know my chances of being attacked are slim, considering where I dive, but me and sharks just don't mix. They are just too darn unpredictable for me to go looking for when diving. Seb, I know you were trying to be helpful, but you can keep the sharks. Debbie

Debbie,
I think swimmers at the surface and in shallow water are in more danger than divers at depth when it comes to sharks. We don't look as much like turtles as surfers or snorkelers do, for instance. If you see a shark on a dive, you're probably better off hiding behind some coral than heading for the surface...

I'm in no hurry, and won't be going out of my way to dive with sharks either, for what it's worth.

Debbie, when Seb and I are in the water with sharks, I place him between us and the sharks.
We were in the Turks and Caicos, on a night dive. Upon entry, we startled a rather large nurse shark which slowly ambled away. During the dive, we would occasionally see a small reef shark or two checking us out. By the end of the dive, about seven curious reef shark were circling us.
We have a pal who used to be a shark feeder in the Bahamas. He was extremely helpful in describing to us the 'gee this shark looks hungry and is about to take a bite' behaviour. I am pleased to report that we were amidst a bunch of curious but wary reef shark and we had no 'interchanges' with them at all.
I also agree with Susanf -- divers at depth in the water are a curiosity; divers in the shallows or at the surface may look like food. California surfers may look like seals on the surface. I have no explanation for the bull shark behaviour in New Jersey. On the other hand, I have no explanation for what some of my fellow humans do either...

Mary - you have an email from me - please check and respond ASAP!!!

BTW - I just got back from Key Largo and swam with several nurse sharks - most were sleeping. One greeted us when we got to a wreck. Not aggressive behaviour - it really was almost like it greeted us to the wreck and then invited us to follow him!

We run into sharks all the time on dives and they never so much as look at us sideways. Well, maybe sideways. As a matter of fact, the next things on my "wanna see" list are hammerheads and a whale shark. On the website I have a bunch of shark dive photos from the Bahamas, but we see black tips, white tips and just plain Caribbean reef sharks (we don't even count nurse sharks anymore) all the time, and once a sand shark - and one other time a bull shark (now I don't like bullsharks but he just passed us by)! Can't wait to see the shark pics from Bonaire.

There is absolutely nothing like a well organized Shark Encounter to make a diver feel more at ease around sharks.and my wife can attest to that.

BTW, those photos are from the Bahamas

Gary,
No, I don't think so. The only shark I even care to see is a whale shark! They eat only plankton.

Gary, your photos are alot like ours from a dive with Xanadu.

I LIKE the bahamas! Can be there in 1.5 hrs from here, and it's CHEAP. And your'e right about a shark encounter dive making a person feel more at ease. They didn't eat anyone (well, one kinda tried - not really but it looked like it for a second), so that was good to know.

The one that tried to eat the divemaster (NOT!):

Debbie, I hear ya and understand fully that it's not for everyone. But I have to tell you, it's the most exciting thing I've ever done, 4 times so far and the only disappointing thing I found about diving Bonaire.
Kathy, as a matter of fact the 2 outer photos are from Xanadu and the middle one was from a previous trip with UNEXSO but at the very same site (you'll notice the concrete pad in the background.) Last year our dive club did a liveaboard trip on the Aquacat/Bahamas. They gave us 2 shark encounters using a frozen chum block suspended from the mooring line. What an electrifying experience, you're free to swim around with them rather than line up as with Xanadu.

Funny shark story.....Eva and I were paddling out in a canoe for scallops in St Joe Bay off the Florida panhandle. Joe and Lindsay were in kayaks. Alexis (5 at the time) was in the canoe with us. In 2ft deep water in the grass flats I spotted a nice 7 ft. bull nosing along. I eased up right beside him....no problem until Alexis leaned over a grabbed his dorsal fin. He took off so fast he splashed water in Alexis' face.

I can just see it now,
NICE FISHY

Nice pics all! The only shark I've come across was a nurse shark on Maui who completely ignored us....and the most aggressive fish I've ever met was a chub, also on Maui who bit my little finger as I pulled a plastic bag (that someone else had left behind) which had held fish bait out of the water ...he actually drew blood and left a little fish lip mark on my finger that took a few weeks to heal!