Sharks
 

Does anyone know if there is a certain country in the Carribean where seeing sharks is more common? I am on the fence on whether I agree with shark tours or whether I would participate in one, but has any one been on one? Where and what was your experience like? Thanks

Hi quebec.

I have been on 2 shark dives in the Bahamas (not really the Caribbean).
These, and snorkeling tours are very common there.

Many marine biologists will tell you they're not a good thing because the sharks learn to associate people with food - yikes - but these are Caribbean Reef sharks, and they are not an aggressive species, and there have only been 1 or 2 minor injuries in literally thousands of these dives.

I absolutely LOOOOOVVVE sharks, and always have, and I must say that the first dive ranked right up there on thr All Time Top Ten List of things I have ever done.

It was very professionally run, and the sharks came so close to us you could touch them (if you were silly enough to do such a thing - we were given strict instructions to keep our hands to ourselves :)

We had both dives videod and trot them out once in awhile to watch.

Now one thing I did do and will NEVER do again was a dolphin dive. (Don't even get me started on that one!)

Diana,

Do you mind if I get you started? I am personally against swims with captive dolphins but I'm not sure what would be bad about swimming with wild ones?

Thanks :)

quebec,

Have gone on shark dives with Stuart Coves on Nassau, Bahamas. Both shark encounter dives and shark feeding are a real rush. If you have never experienced it, I recommend going. You will never forget it! The sharks we saw were Caribbean Reef sharks from about 5 feet to 9 feet long. During feeding, they will swim so close that they often bump into you. The sharks are wild, and in their habitat, so you will be told to follow rules of encounter. It is a real thrill.

good luck,

Lars

My hesitation to shark dives is that I don't want sharks to associate boats/humans with food. I have no idea if that would increase attacks on humans, but if it does, people are more inclined to want to hunt the animals. Humans can be a bit soft in the head at times and decide the animals are at fault, while we are in their habitat. I just don't want to see an increase in attacks and therefore more hunting of sharks. But I am intrigued by the dives. They seem amazing.

Try Arecebo on the northern coast of Puerto Rico. But, be careful !!!

Hi Liza.

The dolphin dive I did in the Bahamas was in the open ocean. They told me at UNEXSO (the outfit where I did the dive) that it could leave any time it wanted to, and that's why I did the dive after years of fighting with my conscience.

I learned later that it involved a captive dolphin that had lost its ability to hunt in the wild because it had been captured and become dependent on humans for food.

I've regretted the experience so much. Even when we were doing it it was so commercial and forced, and the dolphin did demeaning "tricks" and had no interest in us. It was obviously very hungry, and was fed only after it "performed" acceptably,

I've since become very vocal in my opposition of any swim with the dolphin programs.

Thanks Diana, I had no idea captive dolphins were "planted" in the sea for open dives.

Liza,
It was very sad.
Actually, the dolphin lives in a teeny tiny pen in brackish water in the sound and does not get fed for long stretches at a time.
It has been taught that if it follows the boat out to the dive site and "performs," it gets to eat.
It then follows the boat back to the little pen where it spends its time.
If you've ever had to work in a cubicle, it's easy to understand the concept. :(

Yuck.

We've had some accidental dolphin encounters...twice sitting on the cliffs on the west end of Negril (Jamaica) we were watching the sunset and got a pod of dolphins swimming along and playing, that's neat.

Last spring we were in a small boat going from Treasure Beach (JA) to Black River and had 2 follow our boat for awhile, that was really thrilling. I've heard others that have done that trip have jumped in...sometimes they stay, sometimes they take off at that point, I guess it depends on their mood.

It's really thrilling to see them free and happy and CHOOSING to be with you!

You may want to think twice before paying money to force dolphins to entertain you. Captive dolphins live only about 5 years vs the 40+ years they live in the wild. So, wild pods are sought and adults are netted. A baby dolphin must live with its mother for at least 3 years to fit into the complex social system of the pod, and to learn how to evade sharks. As long as such captive dolphin entertainment remains popular, more are captured and taken from the wild. They are free-ranging mammals that are highly intelligent and very social marine mammals. They become dependent upon man for food, and do tricks for you only to obtain food. People who seek the entertainment of captured wild dolphins aren't nasty, mean people. I was one of them before I learned what the research uncovered. Robert

Got to do shark dive/feeding in Bimini (Bahamas) recently- it was one of the most thrilling things I've ever done. The sharks seemed to be trained and came into the area as soon as divers hit the water. Anywhere in the Bahamas seem to be a very popular place for these dives. The best part though was snorkeling off a beach one day in 5' of water and a wild dolphin swam right up to me a played for a few minutes. That is something I'll never forget.

Yeah right....and Sigfried and Roy have "trained" tigers.

I prefer the sharks at Universal Studios on the Jaws ride. That's about as close as I'll ever want to get.

This url/photo would have a lot more impact if they allowed links on here!

Paste this one in! It is kick butt!

http://www.coralscubadivecenter.com/...es/photo14.htm