Diving With Reef Sharks and the Nasty Underwater Thug - AKA the Titan Triggerfish
As a dive professional for some years now, it still gives me some amusement to notice that some perceptions don't change so quickly; entry-level student divers especially.
Their worries or anxieties remain the same.
Besides the usual queries about the diving course, anxieties regarding sharks and the perceived threat to their well-being when they go diving are still very much existent.
To the general public, the mere mention of the word "shark" conjures up imagery of a fierce marine animal with sharp jagged teeth able to tear into flesh and bone easily, constantly on the prowl in the sea, ever ready to pounce on the swimmer, snorkeler or scuba diver who has the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time! Thus, as a dive educator, besides instructing the total newbie diver on the skills and safety aspects of scuba diving, there is an added element of trying to reform misconceptions of the marine environment and sway traditional perceptions of dangerous marine animals, mainly sharks! To simplify things, just put sharks into two categories, oceanic sharks and reef sharks.
Oceanic sharks very seldom venture into shallow water coral reefs where it is warmer preferring the colder deeper open sea conditions.
Reefs are too warm for comfort for these creatures.
Coral reefs are mainly in tropical zones and reef sharks thrive in this warm water conditions.
Oceanic sharks are the type that fall into the more aggressive and unpredictable variety.
Makos, Great White, Hammerheads etc.
whereas reef-dwelling sharks are generally of the shy and docile type.
Since a very significant part of dive activity is done in coral reefs, scuba diver's encounters are usually with the reef sharks.
To allay the anxieties of newly certified divers or for those who are in the process of diver certification training, when they go diving in a ocean environment, just be reminded of this fact.
Reef sharks are generally harmless.
Encounters during diving are usually very brief before the shark swims off into the blue; they avoid encounters with people, mainly the annoyingly noisy scuba divers creating so much ruckus with their bubbles, in an otherwise tranquil setting.
If they linger around slightly longer, its probably more out of curiosity towards the divers than aggression.
Their worries or anxieties remain the same.
Besides the usual queries about the diving course, anxieties regarding sharks and the perceived threat to their well-being when they go diving are still very much existent.
To the general public, the mere mention of the word "shark" conjures up imagery of a fierce marine animal with sharp jagged teeth able to tear into flesh and bone easily, constantly on the prowl in the sea, ever ready to pounce on the swimmer, snorkeler or scuba diver who has the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time! Thus, as a dive educator, besides instructing the total newbie diver on the skills and safety aspects of scuba diving, there is an added element of trying to reform misconceptions of the marine environment and sway traditional perceptions of dangerous marine animals, mainly sharks! To simplify things, just put sharks into two categories, oceanic sharks and reef sharks.
Oceanic sharks very seldom venture into shallow water coral reefs where it is warmer preferring the colder deeper open sea conditions.
Reefs are too warm for comfort for these creatures.
Coral reefs are mainly in tropical zones and reef sharks thrive in this warm water conditions.
Oceanic sharks are the type that fall into the more aggressive and unpredictable variety.
Makos, Great White, Hammerheads etc.
whereas reef-dwelling sharks are generally of the shy and docile type.
Since a very significant part of dive activity is done in coral reefs, scuba diver's encounters are usually with the reef sharks.
To allay the anxieties of newly certified divers or for those who are in the process of diver certification training, when they go diving in a ocean environment, just be reminded of this fact.
Reef sharks are generally harmless.
Encounters during diving are usually very brief before the shark swims off into the blue; they avoid encounters with people, mainly the annoyingly noisy scuba divers creating so much ruckus with their bubbles, in an otherwise tranquil setting.
If they linger around slightly longer, its probably more out of curiosity towards the divers than aggression.
Source...