Diver riding great white shark video

[Sarah]

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/371423/ocean_channel

[Zero]

That goes a long way to dispell the myth that GWSs are ruthless man eaters. Speargun or not if one of those sharks want to take a taste test out of him there would of been no stopping it. One very intelligent creature in my book.

Matt

[connyx]

Amazing vid!
Thanks for sharing idc

[hbh2oguard]

crazy or dumb ... or just both? no thanks, I'll pass!

[Zero]

crazy or dumb ... or just both? no thanks, I'll pass!

Do you drive a car? Could be the same thing really.

Matt

[seasnake]

poor bugger was a little small to be ridin' 'im like that, don't you think?:p

[Red Sea Shadow]

Thanks for sharing :)

[nashhunter]

I thinik I just pead a little in my wetsuit:eek:

[SoCalDiveGirl]

Great video~ it is very brave of the diver, although I'm sure the shark was sufficiently fed before a human went into the ocean with it :D

But, I'm going to be the party pooper here~ I don't think it's a good idea for humans to interact with ocean creatures in such a way..
I think shark dives are not one of the brightest things that people can do- not because of safety issues- but for the reason that once an animal is fed by a human, interaction begins. Think of ducks in a park, stray cats in the neighborhood, bears around campgrounds, or fish at commonly dived reefs~ once they realize that humans are a source of food, they will continue to come around when they see the humans.. Now, for people who have no intent on feeding these animals (sharks included), the animals are nothing but a source of annoyance, and unfortunately some humans become abusive towards these animals... The animals may end up injured or dead, although their only intention was to get some food from the humans (species, not specific humans) who had been feeding it.. I read several news articles a year about bears who have been shot and killed because they were getting too close to humans- getting into their food supplies, yards, etc... But the bears were only doing what they'd been shown was ok- "look at the bear! throw him some hot dogs! Maybe he'll come closer so we can get some pictures of you feeding him!".... But to the next camper, they may think they're getting attacked by the bear and shoot it in "self defense"...
I'm not talking about animals in captivity- just ones in the wild..

Just my thoughts... (yes I know I'm about to get reamed by other members of this board...) :cool:

[seasnake]

Actually, I'll throw my hat (or mask, I guess) in with you on that one right now. I always encourage new divers to just look and not touch. I think you get more out of it and it's obviously going to be better for the wildlife. I compare it to: imagine a giant coming into your neighborhood, pulling the roof of your house and picking you up and poking you and squeezing you. As far as sharks, in my neck of the woods we have a lot of wild bears. No one in their right mind would walk up to a bear in the woods and try to touch it, let alone pet it or try to ride it. You would be eaten, no question.
As far as people feeding the fish, we have one particular dive site here where this occurs and now the little fish we have here, perch, are aggressive. I get bitten by them all the time because as far as they are concerned, diver=food.
I did my first ever warm water dive trip last year, on a live aboard in the Bahamas, and a "shark dive" was on the agenda, which I figured meant feeding. I was wrestling with it in my mind all week, because I didn't really want to do it, but I didn't want to miss a dive. But what actually happened was the boat got to the spot but they didn't feed the sharks . . . we just got in and watched them cruise around. It was awesome. And I felt really good about the dive afterwards.
So I'm with you ... I feel like a guest underwater. I just want to explore and try to leave things like I found them.
Ron

[Daddy-h2O]

2 thoughts, First this guy, has guts. I have not seen a great white in the open ocean.

Second, if he was biten it is a shame the shark will be blamed. Animals are called wild for a reason. This diver must have spent a lot of time around Gw's and more power to him for it, he probly has a greater understanding of them, then the rest of the world.

But once on film every "jerk" diver will think he can do the same and the sharks will be at fault if someone gets killed. Are you thinking of Jack A** the Movie?

You only have to look at what was reported after Steve Erwin was killed by a stingray. Apparently the stingrays were caught and thier spikes were cut off. (of course I read this on the internet and realy haven't verified it)

On the other hand it is good to see positive footage of GW's in the open ocean.

As always this is just my rambilings....

[Zero]

You only have to look at what was reported after Steve Erwin was killed by a stingray. Apparently the stingrays were caught and thier spikes were cut off. (of course I read this on the internet and realy haven't verified it)


Thats been going on for years but only got big publicity after his death. Anyone that got stung by a ray was in the paper for a while afterwards too.
As to the humans = food it runs true with a lot of animals. With captive snakes it is highly reccommended that if you intend to handle them never hand feed them and never feed them through the same door as you pick them up. They become aware that a hand coming through the door means dinner time and are known to strike. On the other hand when they are fed with tongs from a different door they tend not to strike at a hand unless startled or feel threatened. Animals are intelligent creatures and can be very cunning. They dont get to the top of the food chain by making mistakes.

Matt

[Daddy-h2O]

Thanks Matt,
now if you can make cricket sound as simple....

I believe it is just hype to sell newspapers anyway. I am cynical like that...

[Zero]

OK now for the cricket. Stay home the Aussies will/have win/won.
Simple enough?

Matt

[Daddy-h2O]

OK now for the cricket. Stay home the Aussies will/have win/won.
Simple enough?

Matt

What about the "Ashes"?:confused: :confused:

[Zero]

Didnt we win them? One dayers i think were a different story. Im not a real fan of it.

Matt

[Sarah]

Alice Video - Condividi i tuoi video (http://dailymotion.alice.it/video/xjbfz_nage-avec-le-grand-blanc)

[seasnake]

Oh yeh, pull his tail ... that seems like a good idea . . . :rolleyes:

[amtrosie]

You have to love someone smacking him on the nose......NOT!!!! That man forgot his funny white coat. He is on the par with snake charmers, with stunts like this.

[rubber chicken]

A couple of years ago, I was returning from a dive in Fiji, several of us were sitting in a small, local fishing boat, happily chatting away about this, that and the other. The conversation gradually turned to cage diving with Great Whites. The fijian boat driver suddenly leaned foreward and asked "What do you want a cage for ?"
We looked at him askance and stuttered "Well, because they are big... lots of teeth...eat people...teeth, big.. dangerous" etc,etc
"Nah!" said the fijian, " We see them all the time here. Hand feed them!"
"we sit on the bottom with a tuna head and wait for shark to come along, Hold tuna head up and just before shark gets to you, throw the tuna up. Shark eats the tuna! Once they've been fed, you can stroke them, pet them, hang onto their fins and go for a ride. No problem"
We sat their, open mouthed, staring at him in fascinated horror when he suddenly looked thoughtful and completely ruined the effect by saying in a much quieter voice. " Mind you, My brother was killed by a shark!"

I did ,recently, read an article about a guy in S Africa who interacts with GWS in this sort of way. Many people think that he is mad but apparently he is the man scientists go to when doing radio tagging and that sort of thing. A intuitive understanding of shark behaviour and psychology allows him to get 'up close and personal' with GWS in a manner that would result in us mere mortals becoming nothing more than a fishy belch. He claims that individual sharks have personalities and some are friendlier than others.

IMO the most dangerous thing in the sea wears neoprene!

[DrBill]

Of course a number of folks have been with great whites without benefit of a cage. Back in the late 90's or early 2000's Jean-Michel Cousteau rode one by holding on to its dorsal fin... something he was taught by another who did it.

When I was diving with the great whites at Guadalupe, Baja California Sur, Mexico, I was happy to have the bars of the cage between me and them (well, until the bars ruined some of my footage). Of course friends of mine on two separate trips there had GW's go right through that flimsy cage.

[seasnake]

Yeh, I can imagine people do it all the time. I'm sure it's an amazing thrill for them too. But I don't think you'll find such activities on the "Top 10 Smartest Things Done by Mankind" list . . .