After reading about all of the shark attacks occurring recently I began thinking about 2001, aka the “Year of the Shark.” I was working in the Florida Keys that year as a Divemaster and Instructor and can remember getting a lot of cancellation calls from customers who were too afraid to dive in Florida waters because of the number of attacks occurring there. I also fielded a lot of questions from folks who wanted to know more about sharks and shark attacks.

Folks, here is a cold hard fact: Most shark attacks are caused by a case of mistaken identity on humans who are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time! Most attacksconsist of just one bite. Once a shark realizes they’ve got the wrong prey, they let go (because frankly we taste like crap to sharks and they prefer a more tasty diet!) The problem is that when a large animal takes an “exploratory” bite on a mere human it tends to do a lot of damage, often the fatal kind.

Let’s also take a look at the location where most attacks have happened, near beaches. A few species of sharks actually hunt for prey in shallow waters. Guess what? That is also where most of their interactions with humans occur. When the attacks happened, what were the conditions in the water, the visibility, and the proximity of bite fish? In bad water conditions can we honestly justify blaming these fish for a case of mistaken identity especially when we are mere guests in THEIR HOUSE?!

Granted, some sharks are known to attack humans on purpose. According to research statistics, of the more than 350 shark species swimming the world’s oceans the Bull, Great White, and Tiger sharks are the three most likely culprits. That sure leaves a large majority of innocent species with an undeserved bad rep.

When it comes to sharing the water with sharks the best thing you can do as a SCUBA diver is to educate yourself. And I am definitely NOT suggesting you watch the garbage and falsehoods put forth in shock value Hollywood movies! Research the subject by listening to, and reading reports and books by, scientists and other experts in the field. You can also gain valuable knowledge by watching respected and fully researched programs like the ones featured during the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week.

Photo by Dr. Mathew Gilligan/NOAA

I’d like to share a few of my encounters with sharks in the hope that you will learn to share my appreciation, love, and respect for these magnificent creatures:

On one of my first dives as a newly certified open water diver I came upon a nurse shark resting under a ledge on a coral reef. I remember being scared, but curious at the same time. After the dive I started researching sharks and was shocked to discover that nurse sharks are responsible for quite a few bite encounters. The nurse shark will bite in self defense if stepped on or bothered by divers who assume they’re docile. As I continued studying, I found out that most of the attacks happen to divers that find a nurse shark sleeping under the coral and then proceed to pull on their tails or otherwise harass it. One diver actually picked a shark up to get a picture with it in his arms! Can you blame the poor shark? How would you feel if some stranger showed up in your living room and picked you up? I bet you’d beat the crap out of them!

Years later I was working as a Divemaster, conducting a local orientation dive, when I saw the biggest fish I had seen yet. We never got close to the animal and it just kept moving slowly away from us. It wasn’t difficult to identify that this was a Bull Shark. Now, I had heard from other local divers that Bull sharks were really “bad” sharks and should be killed before they had a chance to kill us. Based upon the behavior I had witnessed during my dive, I again got curious and started asking more questions about them. Turns out that most times these sharks had attacked a diver, it was because they were following the bloody trail these people left from speared fish they were carrying on stringers attached to their sides! Bull sharks are also hated by charter boat operators because they routinely attack hooked fish like Marlin and Mahi-Mahi and a half eaten trophy fish doesn’t make for a good picture. Yeah, it’s the shark’s fault he was hungry. I so get that as a valid reason to hate them…NOT!

Over the years I continued to see Bull sharks while diving in the Florida Keys and every time it was the same, the animal was more interested in getting away from the divers than interacting with them. On one occasion we had unusually good visibility during a wreck dive. As the divers were descending, a group of Bull and Reef sharks moved away from the wreck and hung out about 100 feet away. They stayed there, just circling the perimeter, until the last diver left the wreck. Let’s not forget what I mentioned earlier…statistically Bull sharks are in the top three most likely to attack humans. If they are THAT dangerous, how come I’m still here to tell you first-hand details about my many encounters with them?

Are you getting my point yet?

I could probably go on for hours about my shark experiences but the last story I want to share happened not long after the so-called “Year of The Shark”. I was the Divemaster on a snorkeling boat (with about 30 snorkelers on board.) On the way out to the reef I saw a Hammerhead and several Nurse and Reef sharks. Once we arrived we got busy helping our customers get into the water and I didn’t think about the sharks anymore. At the reef, it was my job was to monitor the snorkelers in case anyone got too far from the boat or needed assistance. Some time had passed and I began to see a number of shark dorsal fins about 100 feet away from my snorkelers, on the other side of the reef. They were in an area that is very shallow, about 10 feet deep with a sandy bottom and turtle grass beds. I got the captain’s attention and we started counting sharks. I lost count at 50 animals. They were moving very slowly and several times got as close as 25 feet away from the snorkelers. When it was time to go home and everyone was back on the boat we made a big announcement about the unusual number of sharks in the area and moved the boat closer so the customers could see them. There were several species in the group (Nurse, Bull, and Reef,) in varying sizes. To this day I still don’t know what these sharks were doing in the area but, if Sharks were the “man-eaters” many would have you believe, I would have a very different story to tell!

The sad fact is that humans, whether out of ignorance, fear, or both, kill more sharks every year than can be reproduced. Just take a look at the endangered species list and see how many shark species are on it. Through habitat destruction and overfishing, we’ve become more dangerous to sharks than they are to us. And folks, if we allow them to disappear, all ocean life will suffer!

Shark specialists estimate that 100 million sharks are killed for their fins alone, annually. It’s a horrible and gruesome way for these animals to die and over what? GREED! One pound of dried shark fin can retail for $300 or more. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry that is going to take some serious efforts to fight. For more on this subject, I would recommend you watch the multiple award-winning movie “Shark Water”

If you’ve ever been afraid to share the water with sharks, or believed the Hollywood version of their behavior, please do yourself a favor and get educated about them. I have no doubt that you will find them to be fascinating animals. It’s high time that everyone understands that WE are the real predator, not the shark!

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