See full version: 5 Potentially life Saving Tips When Scuba Diving With Sharks
Shiny materials can attract sharks that end up mistaking you for a fish with shiny scales glistening against the rays of sunlight in the water. Stick with dark or matte metals, as well as black or blue wetsuits and gear. more
What are your thoughts on scuba diving with sharks? Would you like to do so or would you pass on the opportunity? Let us know in the comments below.
Always respect sharks and give them plenty of space. Do not, no matter how tempting it may be, pursue a shark from behind, as he may turn around, viewing you as a predator, to attack you in self-defense.
Other sharks may instead be curious and approach you. If you do encounter a shark that begins exhibiting (aggressive) behavior, how you respond will make the biggest difference with regards to the outcome of your encounter. more
Limit time on the surface: Try to enter and exit directly from a boat, avoiding long surface swims. Many sharks hunt for dead or distressed animals on the surface and as a swimmer, you might be mistaken for these.
Divers who want a safe close encounter with sharks should: here
Voluntarily entering the home environment of a widely feared apex predator sounds like a slightly crazy thing to do. In fact, providing it’s done respectfully the odds of being attacked by a shark while scuba diving are minuscule.
Avoid shallow or murky water: Poor visibility increases the chances of an accidental encounter. Bull sharks, in particular, prefer to hunt in exactly these conditions. [links]
Given that sharks don’t generally consider humans food, and that they have good reason to fear us, why do sharks attack people? The most common reason is likely to be that they get confused. Surfers or swimmers are mistaken for more natural prey such as seals, which spend a lot of time on the surface. The chances are the shark just takes a single bite then realizes its mistake. Since even a single shark bite can be large this isn’t much comfort to the person who’s been attacked. here
Sharks know what they like to eat
“She was just this big beautiful gentle giant wanting to use our boat as a scratching post,” added Ramsey, who swam with the shark all day and captured stunning pictures. “We went out at sunrise, and she stayed with us pretty much throughout the day.”
The divers spotted the shark, which is believed to be at least 50 years old and weighing an estimated 2.5 tons, on Tuesday while a group of sharks were feeding on a sperm whale carcass off the island of Oahu. here
A diver who encountered and swam alongside a 20-foot great white shark off the coast of Hawaii has described why she had no fear being unprotected next to the predator.
“We saw a few (tiger sharks) and then she came up and all the other sharks split, and she started brushing up against the boat,” Ramsey told the Honolulu Star Adviser. [links]
The shark is believed to be one of the biggest on record, Agence France-Presse reports. here
“It fills my heart with joy and takes my breath away,” diver Ocean Ramsey told NBC’s Today show on Friday. “Truthfully, they swim past surfers, swimmers and divers all day every day, and it’s so rare they ever make a mistake. It’s less than 10 human fatalities globally annually … yet people kill 70 to 100 million sharks every year.”
Always swim back to the reef wall at the end of a dive and wait to be collected there. Never swim so far from the reef that you cannot quickly return to it – do not allow yourself to be sept away from the reef into open water. In the event that you are swept off a reef into deep water, you may need to collected quickly, so when you are in the water always carry a fluorescent orang safety flag or tube. [links]
When diving with sharks always stay in a group – sharks typically target a solitary individual.
Be able to identify the species you see so that you can make a preliminary estimate of the threat it is likely to pose. Tiger sharks are known to have an unspecialised diet, but many species of shark will only feed on certain animals – a shark that specialises in eating shellfish or lobsters, for example, such as the tawny shark, has teeth designed for crushing shells. Such an animal is no more likely to try to eat a human than is a goldfish. Nevertheless, it can bite defensively if threatened – and to considerably more effect than a goldfish. Defensive biting is a natural response by many animals, and sharks are no exception. The fact that a shark has no intention of eating you does not mean that it will not bite you. here
If a large shark such as a tiger shark appears and then vanishes, keep a good look out for it, as it may return.
Avoid swimming with sharks at dusk or dawn, many sharks are crepuscular in their feeding patterns, meaning they feed at dawn and dusk unless other opportunities arrive. I have on occasion been harassed by grey reef sharks at dusk which during the day had been timid and kept their distance. more