Shark Dive Comparisons

[Zenagirl]

I'm not a big fan of shark feedings either, but I do think that it does expell a lot of myths for people when they participate in it. I've participated in two, one was the hand feeding type and the other was "drop a chumcicle on a chain" type. The hand feeding one bothered me a lot more as it directly associates food with a diver, the frozen bait on a chain associates it more with the boat (I think).

The coolest part was diving the feeding site the day before the feeding and watching the sharks congregate around the boat. I never felt threatened as a diver and felt very privileged to dive with them. The next day when food was introduced, you could really see the difference in the body language of the sharks, but since the bait was like 20' (or more) above and in front of us, we were never directly associated with the food like the guys who hand feed.

It's kinda like SeaWorld and zoos...don't really like the animals confined and sometimes doing tricks, but if it gets people to care about them in the wild, maybe it's the lesser of two evils. Tough one, you know?

[chinacat46]

I tend to disagree with you Zenagirl. The one shark feed I did was a chumcicle on a chain. We dove the site the day before and the sharks followed us around while diving. Very unnatural for a shark. They usually are more afraid of us then we are of them. They just don't like the bubbles. They definitely associated the divers with being fed. I just feel feeding any wild animal is wrong regardless of size or location.

[gtjason2000]

So is the major problem people have with the shark dives is that it is dangerous to associate food with divers? Or is it that wild animals need to have a healthy fear of humans to keep them from getting hurt by us?

[Travelnsj]

I have also avoided shark dives....after seeing 3 Grey Reef Sharks feeding naturally once in Palau....really do like being that close to them....plus i do not want to be part of unnatural feeding....I've been tempted to do Bega Lagoon in Fiji....I think I would sit out that famous Shark dive.

[chinacat46]

I don't like shark feeds because you are feeding wild animals and thus changing their normal habits. I like to see wild animals in there natural habitat not an artificial one created by feeding them in the wild. Zoos are a bit different since I don't really consider those animals wild in the true sense of the word.

[loudgonzo]

Originally Posted by chinacat46

I don't like shark feeds because you are feeding wild animals and thus changing their normal habits. I like to see wild animals in there natural habitat not an artificial one created by feeding them in the wild. Zoos are a bit different since I don't really consider those animals wild in the true sense of the word.

I didn't opt for the shark dive with Stuarts Cove for the reason above, and will not do them in the future for the same reason.

[cgvmer]

Well I did the Stuart's cove shark dive with my 2 sons.

Yes, it is a sit in a circle and watch the chain-mailed guy feed the sharks.

But, the sharks did get close to you, actually a group of them came into the cirlce so fast that my son was knocked over by their wake.

I understand the negative issues with changing the habits of wild animals, but I also understand the positive impact this can have on the treatment of sharks. Sometimes the positive impact will overwhelm the negative, each must make their own mind up which way this goes, negative or positive!!!!

[Zenagirl]

Originally Posted by chinacat46

I tend to disagree with you Zenagirl. The one shark feed I did was a chumcicle on a chain. We dove the site the day before and the sharks followed us around while diving. Very unnatural for a shark. They usually are more afraid of us then we are of them. They just don't like the bubbles. They definitely associated the divers with being fed. I just feel feeding any wild animal is wrong regardless of size or location.

You're 100% correct, I stand corrected.

[greyzen]

I don't like shark dives, or any feeding systems, because of the examples above.

While I do agree that getting the message out there is important, getting into a diving situation and hand feeding isn't something that is as effective as education and exposure that could happen in aquariums, imo.

The danger isn't when you feed the shark... it's when you stop feeding the sharks and forget to learn how to speak shark and explain it to them.

When you step up and force yourself onto an ecosystem as a food source, the entire system becomes almost dependent on you. I know it sounds funny but it's domesticating the local wild creatures (to a point).

These animals are designed in a delicate balance of eating and reproducing. When we interrupt that balance we change the system, and I personally think that is a horrible thing.

I got into diving for several reasons... one of those is to witness first hand things of beauty and grace, spend time swimming amongst creatures that are specialized and beautiful. When you start enforce behavior or modify how they should respond, you are doing as much damage as kicking coral to watch the dust settle.

it's a circle of dependence and when you disrupt that circle, you destroy something greater than imagination.

[Aussie]

I think it more important to educate people about the Shark Fining industry than shark feeding. For starters you wont have any sharks to even feed after a longliners goes through. A few famous shark sites (Asia/Pacific) are sharkless.

Aussie