The family and I went to Playa Del Carmen for 9 days over Thanksgiving. Had a great time. Went on two, 2 tank dives. On the second day, dive 1 we ran into 5 bull sharks at 60 - 80 feet. We went to another site, 30 - 40 feet and ran into 5 more bull sharks. A guy I met on our dives, dives hundreds of times per year. Most of his vacations revolve around diving. Lives in West Palm Beach, Fl.
He brought his pro diving camera on all the dives and shot the video below.
This was not a specific "dive with sharks" trip where they bring food down and feed the sharks. This was a dive where we ran into some sharks, and then stayed there for a while to watch and observe them.
We had a GREAT time at the Royal Haciendas. Will be going back.
______________________________ “I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.” ― John Wayne
I've had the good fortune to be close to dangerous beasts a few times, it is a very stimulating and for me anyway....a humbling experience.
Had a lioness at 30 feet in RSA , that wanted to take a springbok , one of the party had just shot. She had stopped and I had my .338-06 trained on her. But when she came running IN, it was very intense.
Had a close encounter with a big grizzly out in western MT once too....NO gun available in that situation.
We think we are SO SUPERIOR with our big brains and opposable thumbs. I think it's good for us to get "humbled" a bit by something that can eat us.
Those sharks appear to be associating SCUBA divers with food. You see this kind of congregation and approach behavior a lot around Freeport and Bimini in the Bahamas, where there are a lot of outfits conducting shark encounter dives. Thirty years ago you would never have seen Bull sharks acting this way. They would swim to maybe 30-40' away and then leave, or circle for a moment and then come in for a 'bump and bite'. Good quality video, not my cup of tea anymore, but I'm sure that was an exciting dive.
MOO means NO! Be the comet!
Posts: 2769 | Location: The Tidewater. VCOA. | Registered: June 24, 2009
Originally posted by CaptainMike: Those sharks appear to be associating SCUBA divers with food. You see this kind of congregation and approach behavior a lot around Freeport and Bimini in the Bahamas, where there are a lot of outfits conducting shark encounter dives. Thirty years ago you would never have seen Bull sharks acting this way. They would swim to maybe 30-40' away and then leave, or circle for a moment and then come in for a 'bump and bite'. Good quality video, not my cup of tea anymore, but I'm sure that was an exciting dive.
So... what he does…he has his spear. When he sees a shark he spears a permit fish. This causes the fish to freak out and flutter all around. That calls in the sharks. That was all he did.
In the video, around the :50 second mark, you can see he has a fish on the spear, then he releases it as the shark gets close. I think he was hoping the shark would eat the fish there. The fish swam up to the surface, and all the sharks went up there. Then, they came back down about 3 minutes later.
Posts: 5763 | Location: 7400 feet in Conifer CO | Registered: November 14, 2006
Originally posted by 1967Goat:In the video, around the :50 second mark, you can see he has a fish on the spear, then he releases it as the shark gets close. I think he was hoping the shark would eat the fish there. The fish swam up to the surface, and all the sharks went up there. Then, they came back down about 3 minutes later.
Nice video. But playing that game will bulls will get someone bit soon. Happens now and again over in the Bahamas.
I've been in and around a lot of big sharks (unplanned), bulls I never turn my back on.
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving." -Dr. Adrian Rogers
Posts: 6390 | Location: Mogadishu on the Mississippi | Registered: February 26, 2009
