Has anyone ever done one of those shark dives?

[coralsandbar]

Hello Everyone,

I am getting a chance to do a vacation in the bahamas next week.

I noticed on several dive sites and info on Bahamas that some places offer shark dives. I was able to find one reputable place that had this as their one of their featured dives.

I am currently a certified scuba diver, etc.

What has your experience been? I have been contemplating this dive and still get a nice "pit" in my stomach thinking out it.

I plan on taking pics with my underwater camera of whatever diving I do, do.

Thx.

Rob

 

[cal1]

Stuart's Cove is the best operation around the Bahamas. I have done several shark dives with them. At least imo.

Carol

 

[Ben1]

What happens to divers with no food? Really though their are many dives you can do to see sharks but one where they pull the sharks in by feeding them is not right , IMO. I still feel that you are teaching the sharks not only that youll feed them but that you can be thier food, some speices are better then others but its still a bad pratice. In Scott Michaels reef fish VOL 1 he warns about not feeding eels, I feel the same way. This is on my list right next to "swimming with the dolphins" of things I think are wrong and will never do.

Maybe this would be good for the sump?

 

[coralsandbar]

Thanks for the info, Carol.


I hear ya, Ben.


Thanks for the insight.

Rob

 

[MedicineMan1]

I went on a couple of "shark dives" in French Polynesia. At one point we were surrounded by at least a couple dozen black tip reef sharks, most between 4 and 5 feet long. Was kind of unnerving until I remembered that their level of aggression can be determined by their pectoral fin position: when the fins are pointed down, it signifies a more aggressive "mood" and one should calmly leave the area, hugging the bottom. (All the sharks I experienced had their fins straight out.)

The best part of the whole dive is telling people about it and getting their reaction!

 

[Mouse]

DO IT, it will be amazing. And whos going to know if you wet your suit anyways.

South Africa, Great White Seal Pigs, 2001

P.S. I was a little wary of the feeding thing too, they hardly ever see the same shark twice here. And they only bait the lines with Tuna heads. So maybe the sharks cleared two lines of heads, but at one point we had four sharks round us, and in total we had seen at least seven different sharks. There attracted by a nearby seal colony, and you have to smell it to beleave it. 2000 fat blubbery sweaty seals on such a small island makes a hell of a stink.

[ March 04, 2002: Message edited by: Mouse ]</p>

 

[coralsandbar]

Thanks Medicineman for the advice. Sounds like you had a cool experience!

Nice pic, Mouse!


Thx.

Rob

 

[Anonymous]

I Agree, Stuart's Cove had a great shark dive.

 

[kcinminni]

I say gor of it, coralsandbar--it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

 

[coralsandbar]

Hi KCinminni,

I definitely will if I get the opportunity. I am trying to find out out of the choices I have 3/4 definitely do them. I want to find out if the one I am unsure of does it or not.

They seem the most reputable. A couple that has done it for 25 years dive experience, 15 in the business w/no injuries. They have several speciality dives listed but not any related to shark dives.

I'm definitely going to do a reef dive as a refresher before the shark dive.

I'll let you know how it all goes.

Thx.

Rob

 

[firefishpat]

Me and my wife went to Stuarts Cove and went in with reef sharks. It was great and exciting! It started out with two sharks a big female and then a pack of them were all over the place. I counted around 18. They were getting aggressive it was time to leave. Next thing I saw was a barracuda swimming right next to me. Had to be 8 ft long. When we got back to Atlantis that day. A very sad story was released that bull shark attacked little boy in Florida.A few weeks later in bahamas another attack. Something to think about?

 

[coralsandbar]

Thanks Atlantis,

I've have to look into Stuart's Cove a little more. I am going to have to check the map out to see where New Providence is from Freeport (where I am stayin) on Grand Bahama Island.

I was looking at Stuart's Cove and checking out their mini-subs. They look pretty cool, and looks like a different alternative to scuba.

I'll have to wait and see.

Thx.

Rob

 

[coralsandbar]

Hi Firefishpat,

Yeah, I will definitely be careful... I imagine there is some difference with snorkeling and swimming off shore versus diving.

Seems like, and based on what I've seen on Discovery they did a study based on snorkeling and splashing around on the surface versus diving. The sharks appear more curious and more apt to bite people when splashing around such as snorkeling or wading off the beach.

Snarks seemed to notice divers more often are definitely human. I imaging fins, tank, and diving gear is less appealing than human flesh. I have heard humans taste horrible to sharks and often the 1st bite is often out of curiousity, then they realize it's human and we apparently taste bad to them.

I guess if sharks are in the starvation mode they apparently will consider multiple attacks.

The special I saw on Discovery or National Geographic had Nigel in a shark suite. He was showing different ways when he moved around and how the shark fins moved into aggressive behavior before the attack what he did and didn't do to get bite.

I'll definitely do a couple of reef dives before I even consider the shark dive. Diving's almost like second nature once you do it enough. It's good to get a refresher in or 2 to get that feeling back.

Rob

 

[firefishpat]

Coralsandbar,
I'm like you and did some research on sharks. I was told sharks don't like the taste of humans. They have a strong sense of smell. I was told they can smell urine on humans. Your right they don't like the taste of humans because they normally don't eat it everyday.But, a shark that has the taste of humans would want more. I also went to St,Thomas and when I was snorkeling I found small nurse sharks around rocks on the beach. I hope you enjoy your vacation and let us know how you did. I can't wait to go to cayman Island this summer. Don't forget not to wear bright colors and if swimming or snorkeling do it a later in the day. You will seen alot of blue tangs, wrasse, damsels,french,queen angels,rays in the bahamas. Plenty of sharks too.

 

[coralsandbar]

Hi Firefishpat,

Thanks for the info. I'm sure my smells of urine, etc. will throw the sharks off anyway! LOL!

I'll probably even take my necklace off as well. I did notice barracuda are quite intrigued by flashy metal objects too!

I have seen nurse sharks in St. Croix before. I have also seen my fair share of eels.

I'm sure the shark thing will be similar to seeing an eel for the first time. It kind of surprises you and gets you a little nervous, but you then get used to it and it's no big deal.

I'm sure the reef sharks won't be too bad. Hammerheads and Tiger or Bull sharks would however get me a little worried!!!


I'll let everyone know how it all turns out. Should be pretty exciting though.

Rob

 

[coralsandbar]

Well,

I got back late last night from my Bahamas trip. And all I gotta say is that the shark dive was absolutely awesome!!!

The trip out to "Shark Alley," was rough. Not to mention the pit that everyone had in their stomachs didn't help either. It was just another couple, me, photographer, and the divemaster. The lady in the group threw up and swallowed it back down and her husband/boyfriend was pacing drinking water like we was going to be as well. I was starting to feel that way as well 5 minutes prior to actual dive.

The guy that was feeding the sharks said that he would go first with the bait box (he dressed in chain mail) and the sharks would follow him. He said we wouldn't see any sharks upon first entering the water.

I dove in and immediately looked down. There were 6 sharks circling the very bottom below the boat! (I'm thinking to myself, "Ok, no sharks, yeah right!"). The sharks didn't bother us at all on the way to our shark feeding destination. It was more their sure curiousity then anything.

We were instructed to kneel down on a sandy spot and sit shoulder-to-shoulder. There was a concrete slab where the guy in chain mail came out with his tube stuffed with fish. By the time we kneeled down their were sharks everywhere. (They tell you to sit shoulder to shoulder so you form a visual reference for the sharks. It also keeps them from swimming between you and getting wacked by their tails and any stray fishing line attached to the sharks).

The sharks were absolutely everywhere!!! They even, at one point, started a small frenzy. The sharks swim right along side of you and over the top of you!

The most comical part of the whole deal was a small nurse shark waited anxiously at foot (like a dog) waiting to be fed. As soon as she got her bite of fish, she realized it was all she was going to get a chance to eat and she then took off into the distance.

I have to admit the whole experience was nerve wracking at first for the first 10-15 minutes, but once one realizes the sharks recognize divers and don't want to eat them it's all fine.

We stayed down there for about 30 minutes then we swam towards the boat while the guy with the bait box swam the other way.

I've got the whole ordeal on video tape and camera. I won't get my film back until Thursday night. The dive place (Xanadu) dubbed the tape all edited and had the music already on the tape.

I would recommend this dive to any avid scuba diver, etc. One of the most fabulous dives I've ever done. If I would have had one more day I would have done the dolphin dive.

It was very cool! I'll post pics later on when they are available to me. I have one nice shot of a shark less than 1" away!

Rob

 

[coralsandbar]

I definitely had much respect for all the sharks down there, I can tell you that. There were at least easily 20 black tip reef sharks.
I am in the process of downloading an mpeg video of a small portion of the video tape that I have. I can at least post a link or the pic on my site so far.

How's this for a closeup?

I'll at least post a link to the video when it's finally done downloading.

Thx.

Rob

 

[southfla]

Well, I just HAD to get in on this post (and I certainly don't mean to mooch on this thread)

Back when I was a little younger and considerably more foolish hehe, and way before the advent of "shark dives," I lived in the bahamas conducting shark research for the University of Miami. I had the fortune of being in the water 10 hours a day with 12 different species of sharks over a 3 year period. Lemons, Reefs, Blacktips, Hammerheads, Bull, Tigers...Woohoo!!

So when I read this post, I thought I'd share a few pics from my past...Glad to see you are all enjoying our finny friends and that your shark dive(s) was/were a success.

FWIW, I like the fact that these dives can expose people to these wonderful and intelligent creatures (and counteract the "Jaws" mentality). But these dives are somewhat of a "controlled/non-natural" environment. They also have an undeniable risk attached to it, and possibly some behavioral repercussions IMO...

While there is nothing quite like seeing 50+ sharks swarming around a man-made bait ball (I also did a "Walker's Cay Shark Dive" not too long ago myself), there's something awfully special about seeing them in their more natural "normal" setting, especially when you least expect it

They are truly magnificent creatures....

Cheers, ja

PS...I may be accompanying my college shark buddies to snorkel with the Great Whites down in South Africa...So if I can get the time off work and come up with the $$ to get down there(please please please) I'll be sure and post some fun pics for you nice folk!

[ March 16, 2002: Message edited by: southfla ]</p>

 

[coralsandbar]

Hi Ja,

Nice pics!!! Very cool!

Sounds like you had some nice and incredible research time!

I'd be a little more leary myself, snorkeling versus scuba diving. I'd rather be under the water versus on top of it.

Yeah, the great white thing would be awesome. I have to admit it took me about 5 minutes to past the initial fear of my shark dive and after that it was no big deal.

I think with the great white though, I'd probably have to change wetsuits! LOL!

Yeah, if you do go, post the pics. That would be awesome!

Rob

 

[coralsandbar]

Here's a link to my undercontruction shark dive page with a small mpeg on it.

http://www.coralsandbar.com/sharkdive.html

Rob