All of the shark attack news being hyped up on the news reminded me to ask you guys a question about sharks and diving in general. I have been diving for 2 years and have seen sharks in the distance (reef sharks and the like). Of course they were beautiful and completely non-aggressive to us as divers. But what is the protocol for dealing with aggressive sharks when you are diving? I certainly hope to see many more in my diving years, but I'd like to be armed with a little practical knowledge. As rare as a potential attack might be for divers (esp. in Bonaire), I'd like to know about your experiences and opinions on the issue.

Regarding the tragic attack in Florida - I forgot to mention how annoyed I was (yet not surprised) when, on the news background graphic, they showed a picture of an enraged, fully chomping Great White. Just what people need to see when they are trying to get information about a shark attack.

If you run across a VERY agressive shark, the agressive shark will pretty much be setting the agenda, so the best advice would be to seek high ground in a major city.

I'm thinking it would also be a good idea to lose the pork chop necklace and raw fish headband.

It is always sound advice to stay aware of the reality that when we go underwater, WE are taking a step or two down the food chain, in which shark are apex predators. It is likely that you'll NEVER see it coming if you become a menu item.

I would advise getting a shark education, though I am not the one to give it...I understand there are around 370? different sharks with varying levels of aggression/danger. I would get to know the top (20 aggressors?) and where they could be found and how to identify them.
It seems to me that most sharks are very docile and make good dive buddies (well, I love to swim close to them). And I have never had any problems but maybe my swimming so close and snapping pictures is not such a safe activity? I have read that off the coast of CA, where I live, and the Great White Sharks live and frequent, that there has not been a shark fatality on a scuba diver in the last 20+yrs. It seems the most 'in danger' is the free divers 1) b/c they look like, and swim like seals with all that neoprene on and 2) frequently they have something good to eat in hand. However, scuba divers are noisy, bubble nesciences, and the whites don't seem to have an interest. Though if they did, you'd never see them coming as they are most likely to attack from behind.
When I go diving to a foreign destination, I do my own research about my destination and then one of my first questions to my divemasters is what kinds of hazardous marine life can I expect to encounter here, etc, etc.
OK, so there's one opinion on shark diving.

Always dive with a buddy that you can swim faster than.

Good one Josh...up here we have grizzley bears and everyone goes hiking carrying "bear spray" (pepper spray)....If me and a buddy were ever charged by a griz, I'd spray my buddy and run like hell....we call bear spray "seasoning"

Josh, you said it before I could. lol.

I did not see one shark in Bonaire last year. But, I'm told that they can be seen on windward side dives. After 2 shark dives in the Bahamas, and 2 trips to Morehead City, where there are as many sharks as there are wrecks, I don't go out of my way to find them. Also, don't go up the line behind the guy with the stringer of fish!

Anne,

Padi taught us to stay low to the sea floor and not move until it passes. Another diver told me that you should rise up and show how big you are. :-) What I have read is to not have on shiny jewelry or bright colors on.

Ida

My wife's dive instructor told her she'd probably never see one in ten years of diving. Then she saw one on her very first orientation dive in Hawaii (a four-foot white tip reef).

Here are some links that may give you more rational and useful info than the sensationalized documentaries on Discovery Channel and Animal Planet (although I did like the one about the top ten most dangerous sharks):

The Shark Foundation
http://www.shark.ch/

Florida Museum of Natural History
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/ISAF/ISAF.htm

We dive off the coast of NC all the time and have seen MANY sharks. One dive there a few years back we were diving with 40-50 sharks...it was awesome! In my husband I my experiences, they have never been interested in us...curious but, generally swim away when you get close to them. The only time I've known the sharks there to be interested is if you were spearfishing with a string of fish like Tom said. These are sand tiger sharks that we see. Although last year there we had an encounter with a bull shark but, he was pretty skiddish and swam away before we got too close to him. Then, there was the encounter with the Great White in NC in 2001....we were on the boat but, 2 divers were still in the water. She was VERY curious and got within arm's length as they were coming up the anchor line. Didn't attack them or anything....they made it safely back on the boat. Scared them pretty bad! One of the 2 divers got a great white tatoo with a dive flag on his arm shortly after that...pretty funny!

This is all great advice, and I do swim faster than my husband, so that could be key! I am not afraid of seeing sharks, in fact, for me it is a great treat to see them. I was just curious if there were any key pointers to avoid becoming a happy meal if one is grumpy. I guess if a shark is grumpy, agitated and hungry, I am SOL!

I also found this helpful stuff when I bothered to do some Googling:

Sharks are the most commonly imagined and dreaded sea creature. Sure, they might eat you, but don't count on it. Sharks tend to avoid scuba divers as they are big, and sharks hate to work for a meal. They blow bubbles, and that really annoys them and since sound travels so much better in liquids, the sound of your exhaust is loud. You're not going to sneak up on anything, and likewise, a shark will choose not to sneak up on you. Anyway, the hunting patterns of large sharks reveal that surfers are in much greater danger than divers.

The real dangers to divers are difficult to see and identify. Most are not well-known. Many have tricky camouflage techniques. It is important that divers acquaint themselves with the local habitat, and what they can expect, before entering any new environment. Keep a watchful eye, and be sure to point out potential dangers to your partner. An exhaustive list would be incredibly tedious, so here's a random sampler:
#

Coral will scratch you. It will cut you. If it gets into your skin, it will continue to live and grow inside you. It leaves disfiguring scars. And there's a particularly nasty version called Fire Coral that irritates the skin rather well. Stay off it. Besides, every time you touch the reef, you kill it, and damage the ecosystem as a whole. Wear gloves to protect your hands while you reach for pretty shells.
#

Urchins are basically balls of spines. Totally inert in the day, but entertaining to see in motion at night. Not entertaining to bump into as it's comparable to hugging a porcupine.
#

Eels hide in caves and in corals, and you may never see anything of them but the head. They usually won't mess with you, as long as you don't dangle your fingers in front of them. The nasty part is that their teeth bend in at an angle. This means that once you're bitten, you stay bitten. The only way to cure this is to behead the beast, then split his jaw. Don't expect much cooperation from the eel in this endeavour. Keep your dive knife sharp.
#

Sea snakes are common in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and the Great Barrier Reef. They are far more poisonous than their land-slithering cousins.
#

Lionfish, scorpionfish, and others of that ilk lie still against the coral reefs, and their colouring blends in remarkably well. You likely won't see them until you're two feet away. They have very sharp fins, sort of like the needles of a sea urchin. Unlike the urchin, however, a puncture also introduces you to a toxin that makes you even more uncomfortable. Hover a few feet above the reef, and you'll be okay.

I saw a bunch of crazy sharks Sunday nite...

(Jimmy Buffet concert in Pittsburg)

Ummm, hee hee, should I be worried about my scratched knee that I received last week exiting at the u/w webcam? One week later and there is still a small, reddish wound. It doesn't look serious but Anne's "growing inside you" line is creeping me out a little bit.

Maybe treat it like a snake bike and have my boyfriend suck the poison out?

He's going to break up with me now.

I guess you could have worse things growing inside you than coral. Like tutsi fly or a worm or something. When I was in Bonaire last winter, I thought I saw some trash stuck in a rock (looked like a large piece of rubber or something), and lo and behold, it was Mr. Moray Eel. He was a little surprised when I reached for him, and so was I, but we made a silent non-agression pact and I slowly backed off. Good thing their eyesight is bad.

Practice these tips to avoid attracting
seen or unseen sharks

Don't carry dead fish when swimming or diving.

Don't swim at night, early in the morning, or early in the evening. These are the times when sharks are hunting.

Stay out of murky water.

Don't wear contrasting colors or flashing objects.

Avoid wading or swimming in offshore sloughs or channels, such as might occur between sandbars, and in waters that drop off steeply to greater depths.

Never molest a shark of any kind, regardless of size.

If you spot a shark Stay calm, as sudden movements may attract a shark.

Swim calmly and rhythmically back to land or boat.

Keep the shark in sight, particularly if you are swimming underwater. In most shark attacks, the victim didn't see the shark. Sharks seem to shy away from people who look directly at them.

If all else fails, try to look prepared to fight back.

Which is the most dangerous? :-

A Shark

or

A coconut




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More people are killed by falling coconuts each year.

Two tips I have heard are don't swim with dolphins in deep water- particularly at late afternoon. If the sharks are about they will be looking for dolphins - not us but may get confused - as the dolphins will move away.

Avoid poor visibility as they cant see and have to mouth to see if anything is good to eat. I think that is why so many people survive after a single bite and sharky spits them out.


We have been close to two dozen hammerheads - 16 feet and no problem. We have also done half a dozen night shark dives in the Maldives and that was cool too. We have seen and photographed many sharks and never (fingers crossed) had an issue.

Lets give sharks a better name and help them get off the menu.

Holy cow. Three words that will never come out of my mouth in succession: Shark...Night...Dives. You are a bada_s.

Ida
Would peeing out of my wetsuit constitute "preparing to fight back"?

Cam... lol... I was wondering if starting to cry would help, too?

I was telling Steve about all this last night, and I said yeah PADI teaches you blah blah blah... go deeper than the shark.. blah blah blah... and I said, I'm takin my chances and getting the hell outta the water ! I can see me calmly saying, "well would you look at that hungry looking shark? What would PADI say? Oh yeah, I must stay calm, and go DEEPER to stay under the shark.. keep it within my view.. heee heee I'm with you Cam, I'm peeing my pants.

Here's yer sign:-{)}

How many divers of you heard of that have attacked by sharks (miss out the Spear Fishing incidents) I bet it is not a lot.

Have you guys done the PADI Shark Specialality Course?

I am not using the same rinse tank after you guys; especially if you have seen a shark.

Go ahead and use the rinse tank anyway. You've heard about the 60% who admit to peeing in their wetsuits...and the rest are lying.

How does PADI test you for the shark course? Throw the class into the shark tank...whoever gets out passes ...Kelly...I think between the two of us, we could create enough ammonia to ward off even the biggest great white...I smell a PATENT What about chainmail thongs?

Cam

There is a test in true PADI style, from memory you have to identify a few species and say if they male or female.

If you want even odder I am also a PADI certified Pearl Diver as well. I have the C Card.

Going back to sharks, if things go very wrong the best advice is make sure you are not the slowest diver around ;-}

Just a thought wouldn't the ammonia and chain mail thong be a little rash - well maybe later...

Brian, not to mention the rust on the chain mail thong. It can ruin the entire effect...

When Seb and I were surrounded by some curious reef sharks on a night dive in Turks and Caicos (there were six or seven of them circling us about 20 feet away), we just stayed together and watched them watch us. I was a bit nervous but I always made sure that Seb was between me and the sharks I could see. Strange how I never thought about the possibility of sharks being behind us...
I also was chanting into my reg:
Seb is tastier, bite him first...Seb is tastier, bite him first.
With all the electronic gadgets we has about us: dive computer, radio signals (a feature of our dive computer), flashlights, etc., we were just a big blob of confusing electric signals. By staying close, we were a BIG blob of confusing signals. According to one of our pals who used to feed sharks in the Bahamas, watch out for the stupid smaller reef sharks (those which did not know how big a meal they could handle).

Little rant here: I do not like the idea of feeding sharks for show. Anything that makes sharks associate food with people is a BAD idea. Rant over.

I'm with Kelly - go deeper than the shark (remember the nerd diver in Jaws?). And, in the event that the shark looks 'interested', find a coral mound to back up against, take off your bc, and make sure your tank is between you and the shark and chant "Break some teeth on THIS you mindless predator!!!"
Other shark insults: "I saw your momma the other day - she's so UGLY that even the remoras won't go near her."

Mare

Mary, I agree with your rant about shark feeding. Not to sound like a crazy tree-hugger or anything... but it just upsets the natural balance of nature, and I am never in agreement with that. I know there is way more scientific information than I have - however, I don't think sharks need to associate people with "one of those people has some food". Because, invariably, I will be the one they take a chunk out of. lol

Now, Cam, about that chainmail thong thing. I think we know a great patent advisor/consultant... Jake??? (I can't remember what's exactly on the resume) ;)

Mare

You are are right it wouldn't be a little rash more a huge itchy rash!

I have not done a shark feed dive and have mixed feelings about participating. One argument is that more people are educated to believe that sharks are not evil predators if they participate in a shark feed, and the other perspective is that we may be changing their behaviour by intervening in this way.

One site on Klein was closed as the morays became too demanding as they always expected to be fed (they became slightly aggressive towards divers that visited their habitat). It can be argued that this is an examplele of how interferring in the natural way of things can be problemmatical.

Two perspectives on a potentially contraversial issue.

Although sharks are more common on the windward side of Bonaire, we do occasionally see them on the west side. Fortunately, feeding any type of fish is discouraged on Bonaire, so the sharks I've encountered have not made that connection between people and food.
Before I got certified to dive, I used to snorkel on my travels. I went on a snorkel excursion on Moorea and found out (after I had gotten into the water) that we were snorkeling while feeding sharks. Sharks brushed against me as they lunged for the food. Talk about stupidity! I was too fascinated by the close encounters to be scared, but I will never do that again.
Tish

Tish I've done that in Tahiti more recently and that's what they still do. Very safe stuff and the sharks know not to eat the tourists.

Taken while snorkeling during a feeding in Tahiti.


They have a very different philosophy about feeding sharks/rays in Tahiti (right or wrong). They do it and have been doing it for years. In fact when there are no tourists around they still go out and feed the sharks/rays and treat them as pets. I for one, do not feel we can judge them on this as they live much closer to nature than we ever will.

I still have a vivid memory of a young Tahitian girl (maybe 7) holding a chicken bone for the rays to suck on. She pretty much treated them as puppy dogs and they would come when she called.

Yes. I took those photos too. But sharks do not know to avoid eating tourists.
The people there may live "close to nature," but they don't know how to treat it. The coral on Moorea is in terrible shape. I saw guides picking up coral, showing it around, then hurling it to the sea floor. They touched it, stepped on, smashed it, unthinkingly. They don't understand the Bonaire concept of preserving nature in a marine park. I was shocked by that too.
They are destroying what draws tourists there. I will never go back there. The reefs on Bonaire put those reefs to shame.
Tish

Mare, once again, excellent advice...Cam & Kelly, are you going to be modeling in October?
I have to add my two cents worth...I strongly disagree with all the fooling around with nature that humans feel compelled to do, shark and other fish feeding being amoung them! We are here to share the world, not control and mainipulate it to our liking!

Up here, it's DON"T FEED THE BEARS!!! Make sure you make some noise (they recommend bells on the ankle or the like) and don't forget your bear spray (pepper spray)

Question: How do you tell the difference between black bear scat and grizzly bear scat (poop for lay people)

Answer: Black bear scat is smaller with berries and small mammal bones in it. Grizzley scat has bells in it and smells like pepper

Kelly....how much would a chainmail thong weigh? Would have to compensate by removing weights

Cam, I agree. It is much better to remove weights than to inflate your cod-piece....

Mare

Mare!!! Who told you about my "cod-piece"....waitaminute...what the hell is a cod-piece? Sounds nasty...I can't believe the moderators are allowing that sort of talk...harumph!!! What IS the world coming to, when one can openly speak of cod-pieces...whatever they are

My goodness Cam!

It's a Shakespearian thing.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a cod-piece is

---

quote:

A bagged appendage to the front of the close-fitting hose or breeches worn by men from the 15th to the 17th c.: often conspicuous and ornamented.

---

Shakespear was a pervert

What is it you and Kelly use to clear the mind of images such as a chain mail hoody for little buddy...red hot poker???

Actually, it would have come in handy in February when John's brother (Joe the vet) had to cut my thong off with his knife in front of the underwater web cam (I'm still in therapy for that one)

Cam, I wonder if Kelly and I can devise a 'healing ritual' to help you overcome the (almost) violent de-thong-ation you had to endure last February.

Once again, peacock feathers come to mind....

I'll keep you posted,

Mare

If it involves beer, I'm in...

Gee... a thread with discussion of sharks, wetsuit soiling, codpieces and beer... NOW you have my attention.

Top 10 Shark-bite-avoidance Techniques

10. Keep live seal in BC pocket. Deploy as decoy when needed.
9. Wear waterproof bandaids so you do not bleed in water.
8. For waterproof shark repellant spray, send $100 to my address. 100% money back if you get eaten by sharks while wearing this spray.*
7. Bring Roy Scheider with you on every dive. (No, wait, that virtually guarantees a shark will eat you... nevermind!)
6. Custom-made wetsuit in shape of shark. (Also doubles as Halloween costume)
5. Slice off shark fins with light saber while doing double twisting backflip backwards onto rocky ledge.
4. Offer shark a seared halibut fillet over a bed of spring vegatables with a glass of Chateau Ste. Michelle Pinot Gris as an alternative to "fast food". (Don't stay for dessert.)
3. In the style of Looney Toons (Daffy & Elmer): "People season / Porpoise season / people season / porpoise season / people season / people season / porpoise season / OK, OK, mack, its porpoise season."
2. Politely tell shark "I already have a lawyer."
1. Politely tell shark "I AM a lawyer."

* Actually, this could be a real thing soon.

Lief

ROFLMAO..remember the classic joke

Q: What's the difference between a lawyer and a catfish?
A: One's a scum-sucking bottom feeder...the other's a fish

Disclaimer: I did not think up this joke, I only transmitted it....I can not be held liable.
* I apologize if any lawyer was offended by this joke
** I apologize if any catfish was offended by this joke

Cam -- will you also apologize if any catfish were offended by lawyers?

just trying to cover all bases...

mare

Mare
Ever since I posted the joke I've been waiting for the restraining order

to avoid getting bit by a shark, you don't have to swim faster than the shark. you have to swim faster than your dive buddy.