Sunday, August 03, 2014

Predictable GWS?

Great pic by Ozzie Sam - source.

From a recent message by a friend.
He runs caged commercial dives with GWS.
Had a very large super female at about 5.5m.
She was an absolute animal and every single dive we did she basically wanted to eat the occupants of the cage. A very very very dangerous animal. Pretty much the only shots I have of her are directly down her maw.
And how about this video.


Story here.
“In what are most likely predatory attacks, sharks take advantage of the clear water to lurk in the darkness below the vehicle, then swim up suddenly and bite it on the tail or mid-section,” researchers explained. 
Indeed.
Most GWS attack survivors report that they never saw the animal, meaning that totally unsurprisingly, those Sharks are wily and know exactly how to surprise their prey. Think that in those situations, those puny pokey sticks are gonna be of any help whatsoever?

So don't be stupid.
The season at Guadalupe is about to open, and the usual gang of suspects are going to be promoting those illegal out-of-cage expeditions to the adrenaline junkies and the naive Shark huggers alike. Hopefully, this year, the authorities are going to step up their supervision and finally get rid of the transgressors - but Mexico being Mexico, this is far from being a certainty.

Should you be on the fence about joining - Think!
I correspond with numerous people who run commercial dives with GWS - and the above message is but one of many similar ones. If there is one thing everybody agrees upon, is that those Shark are nothing like those people would want you to believe. Yes "they" are not out to get us - but they differ substantially on an individual basis, and some of them are very dangerous and will certainly try to exploit a perceived opportunity.

Going cageless is a fool's bet - and the fool would be you.
Nuff said.

PS - Martin about the same topic here.
       Safety over $$$ - that's why I respect the man.
This video shows, what I've been telling our divers all along. "It's not the shark you see, that will get you, it's the one you don't see". Anyone going outside a cage to ride or hug a shark, to show you that they love us, is either a fool or just interested in self promotion. If you claim to love the Great White Shark, you have to respect them for what they are. Awesome predators that are neither out to get us, nor are they harmless pets. Any promoter or operator telling you that you can safely dive outside of cages at Guadalupe either doesn't know what he's talking about, or just wants your money.

1 comment:

Fellow who likes to Opine said...

Actually sharks will "take a run" on tasty Egomania, as witnessed by Herr Peg Leg back in 2002 Walkers Cay.

What sharks seem to avoid is "Douche-Baggery." The more one exhibits the less sharks seem interested.

Which sadly bodes ill for Darwin's theory as one might imagine Douchebags would all go the way of the Dodo - eventually.

Instead they are given TV shows, money, fame, which only serves to inflate said Douchbag-Ness to simply Titanic levels.

It is one of the wild kingdoms last great mysteries.