WTH!? We have Great Whites in South Florida now?
- Thread starter blackthunda77
- Start date
Zoodiver
As seen on TV
The idea of pushing the nose is some what real, but the idea of punching the gills or going for the eyes isn't. In fact, you probably will miss and only be showing more aggression towards the shark.
Most fish keepers know that all sharks have a rostrum lined with ampullae of lorenzini, which are just gel filled pockets that act as sensory receptors. If you make contact with them, you can over stimulate them. 50% of the time, they get confused and turn away. The other 50% of the, they will get frustrated and aggressive. Not something I would suggest anyone do without some serious shark training.
The idea of rolling it into 'tonic immobility' won't work with all sharks. I've never seen a white shark succumb to it. In nature, when breeding, the males will latch onto the female and try to roll her over to get her to be submissive to his breeding attempts. It's part of the biological design of elasmobranchs. Ironically, rolling a female OR male over will sometimes induce the trans-like state of relaxation for them. In a controlled setting, TI is often used for medical procedures, health checks or any other time a person needs to interact closely with an immobile animal without the use of artificial sedation (drugs).
If you run into a big bodied shark that you aren't ready for, best bet is to get out of the water as quickly as you can. If not, stay calm, swim slowly, look big / stay vertical and to not swim or gesture/wave toward the animal. Also, don't yell. I have dealt with a lot of people yell at them. Sound travels VERY well underwater and it will only draw the sharks attention towards you.
All of that being said, I'm hopeful that this week I get some free time to head out and try to see "Katharine" face to face as she heads South past us. I'll be sure to post pics if I get lucky enough to cross her path.
Most fish keepers know that all sharks have a rostrum lined with ampullae of lorenzini, which are just gel filled pockets that act as sensory receptors. If you make contact with them, you can over stimulate them. 50% of the time, they get confused and turn away. The other 50% of the, they will get frustrated and aggressive. Not something I would suggest anyone do without some serious shark training.
The idea of rolling it into 'tonic immobility' won't work with all sharks. I've never seen a white shark succumb to it. In nature, when breeding, the males will latch onto the female and try to roll her over to get her to be submissive to his breeding attempts. It's part of the biological design of elasmobranchs. Ironically, rolling a female OR male over will sometimes induce the trans-like state of relaxation for them. In a controlled setting, TI is often used for medical procedures, health checks or any other time a person needs to interact closely with an immobile animal without the use of artificial sedation (drugs).
If you run into a big bodied shark that you aren't ready for, best bet is to get out of the water as quickly as you can. If not, stay calm, swim slowly, look big / stay vertical and to not swim or gesture/wave toward the animal. Also, don't yell. I have dealt with a lot of people yell at them. Sound travels VERY well underwater and it will only draw the sharks attention towards you.
All of that being said, I'm hopeful that this week I get some free time to head out and try to see "Katharine" face to face as she heads South past us. I'll be sure to post pics if I get lucky enough to cross her path.
PDAlber
New member
A couple of years ago, one of my buddies had a great white encounter off Pompano. He had a diver down, spearfishing on a deep wreck. The diver speared a big amberjack and sent it to the surface with a lift bag. As my buddy was retrieving it, a 14-ish foot great white grabbed it right at the dive platform. He said it was like something out of Shark Week. Here's a pic of the results:
The diver never saw the shark.
The diver never saw the shark.
treetopflyn
New member
A couple of years ago, one of my buddies had a great white encounter off Pompano. He had a diver down, spearfishing on a deep wreck. The diver speared a big amberjack and sent it to the surface with a lift bag. As my buddy was retrieving it, a 14-ish foot great white grabbed it right at the dive platform. He said it was like something out of Shark Week. Here's a pic of the results:
The diver never saw the shark.
Is that Brad?
Zoodiver
As seen on TV
Whites are more common down here than many want to admit. I think now they some of them have sat tags and can be tracked, the media is more active in feeding it to the public. (No pun intended)
Reeferz412
Coral Hoarder
that golbin shark catch was pretty crazy. Good thing is that they released it back into the waters. So i read. That's one thing I would not like to encounter.
IMO that would be a cool shark to see. Though they live too deep to ever expect to see one diving.
Reeferz412
Coral Hoarder
G_Sanab922
New member
Katherine is in the keys now.
I've been spearfishing and have occasionally ran into different sharks (nurse, black tip, reefs, small hammers, bonnetheads). Normally just a poke with a speargun (if too close) gets them off of me. But those are 3-6 ft sharks. Don't think that would work for the guy in the video though. And like mentioned before, don't think its a good idea to be pointed towards them the whole time. Will admit though, when you have a camera and see one that big it's nice to get some good footage but not too much where you are possibly lunch for them!
Btw someone said that it would've been funny if the shark would've bit this person doing the video. How could you wish something like that on someone? That's cruel..
I've been spearfishing and have occasionally ran into different sharks (nurse, black tip, reefs, small hammers, bonnetheads). Normally just a poke with a speargun (if too close) gets them off of me. But those are 3-6 ft sharks. Don't think that would work for the guy in the video though. And like mentioned before, don't think its a good idea to be pointed towards them the whole time. Will admit though, when you have a camera and see one that big it's nice to get some good footage but not too much where you are possibly lunch for them!
Btw someone said that it would've been funny if the shark would've bit this person doing the video. How could you wish something like that on someone? That's cruel..
Zoodiver
As seen on TV
I don't.
While they don't have swim bladders to rupture, the trauma of being hauled up in net from depth was likely fatal in the long run.
roblack
Active member
You'd be surprised what will cause even a large shark to let go. As mentioned, the best place to hit an aggressive or overly curious shark is in the nose area (ampullae of Lorenzini). They are extremely sensitive there. More effective than a nut-shot. I have read about several people halting an attack from large sharks (13 - 15 feet) by hitting it in the nose. Ignoring a large curious shark is foolish. If you are going to die, die with your boots (or flippers) on!
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