Divers swim freely with great white sharks -- good or bad?

 

When Lucas Ransom was fatally attacked by a great white shark last Friday, as he was bodyboarding off Central California, Amos Nachoum was concluding a week-long diving expedition off Mexico, during which he and nine others in his group ventured outside steel cages and swam freely with the top-level predators.

The obvious question is ... why?

Nachoum, who runs Big Animals Expeditions, heard about the Ransom incident from aboard a boat at Guadalupe Island west of Baja California. In an email to media representatives he wrote that he was saddened by the attack but also by the "media going wild" over an extremely rare event -- and by the lack of attention his "positive, peaceful encounters" are receiving.

Guadalupe is a seasonal gathering place for adult great whites, which prey on seals and sea lions, as they do off California. There are a handful of commercial cage-diving operations, California- or Mexico-based, that allow divers up-close encounters from within submersed cages.

Though some operators take bigger risks than others, only Nachoum openly advertises outside-the-cage diving.

Patric Douglas, whose Shark Diver company has been operating at Guadalupe since 2002, describes what Nachoum is doing as "insanity" and says that if a diver is killed or even bitten, Mexico will close the island down.

"What's going on here is not sustainable over the long haul and is a disrespect to the Biosphere rules and regulations, Mexico, and ultimately the sharks," Douglas said.

Since the dive operators are the only reliable watchdogs, such a ban could open Guadalupe's remote waters -- the island is 165 miles from shore -- to poachers, who could easily decimate the island's shark population.

White sharks are ambush hunters but are specific and even cautious about what they eat. Rare attacks on surfers and swimmers usually occur at the surface, where their silhouettes might resemble those of seals or sea lions.

Nachoum believes that scuba divers, if they are calm, can safely swim with white sharks at their level in the water column, under certain conditions. He dictates whether conditions are suitable -- if there aren't too many sharks and if they're not acting aggressively -- and which clients will be allowed outside the submerged cages.

"These 20 divers I have introduced this season for the Everest of diving become the best ambassadors for aquatic wildlife," Nachoum stated in the email. Alluding to Friday's attack on Ransom, Nachoum added: "Are you going to join us and learn first-hand rather than from the newspaper or TV reporters that have no appreciation or understanding of the ocean and its wildlife?"

My answer would be, "Thanks, but no thanks." I've been to Guadalupe twice and have leaned from wide gaps in the cage bars to obtain proper angles for photos and observation. Though the water is stunningly clear and I could see sharks approaching from far off, I was astonished at how some of the sharks would mysteriously vanish and then reappear directly behind me.

Some outfitters allow professional photographers with extensive diving experience to venture outside the cages, but for the most part they keep their clients behind bars or at least within ducking range -- one outfitter allows clients to stand atop his cages.

The perception of other outfitters, based on interviews, is that Nachoum has raised the bar to a ridiculously dangerous level to create his own niche in a highly competitive market. Nachoum, however, believes his unique adventures are doing more to dispel "the myth of danger and hype" often associated with the world's most notorious predator.

This was his second season. Would you want to join him for a third?

-- Pete Thomas

-- Images courtesy of Amos Nachoum

-- Editor's note: This post also appears on the GrindTv.com outdoors blog

Comments

[Eric Anderson]

I just watched Dark Water, a movie filmed off South Africa. I never knew people swam, intentionally, with Great White Sharks. So I googled and found this site. Your comments are interesting and it was nice to see people commenting without resorting to childish name calling. My only comment is to agree with all or most of you, especially the person who wrote about the gun and the 1 in 6 chance of killing yourself. I think it's okay unless or until human interaction threatens the shark. Thanks again. I wouldn't do it. I think it's safer than getting into a cage with a Lion. If the shark is hungry it might end up being a bad day.

[Wade Hughes]

It's terrific for people - anyone fit enough to climb into a cage to be able to see great whites in the wild. There are issues with how cage diving is conducted, but it is a generally positive activity because it raises appreciation of an essential predator. However, the cages do filter out the interested from the committed. It is not a true great white experience if there is anything but water between the fish and the human. Have never met Nachoum, but the people who get out of the cage, are the ones getting the real experience. Go for it if you're committed. Stay out of the way of those who are, if you are not.

[Danny DeMichele Entrepreneur]

I would be highly respectful, but mightily enthused. If I could afford the trip to Guadalupe I'd shake that man's hand! He understands the shark.

[website hosting]

I have very big collection of different types of fishes. But never seen white and black fish any time. It is very best and good to share with us, really very amazing photographs of colourful sharks.

[Cage Diving with the Great White Shark]

Cage diving with great whites is an enthralling experience. A once in a life time opportunity if you are in South Africa.

[Insanuty Matters]

Make no bones about it Amos is in this for personal glory no more and no less. He's discovered a holistic somewhat new age verbal clap trap about feelings and understandings of sharks but at the end of the day he's much more interested in SELLING the images he takes from his dubious and very illegal Everest expeditions.

The dive industry has been inundated over the past two weeks with Amos emails asking, begging, for his images to be bought, and re-printed.

One more trip Amos got lucky.

When pulling the trigger on a loaded gun with one round in the chamber you have a 1:6 chance of success. You keep pulling that trigger and your luck runs out.

For $5000 per diver is it ultimately worth it?

[Nigel]

Having had the pleasure of diving with all the "maneaters" except the Great White - some planned and others spontaneous - I have to say I would not be in the least bit interested in cage-diving with sharks.
The open sea is the only true experience worth having IMO, and no, I'm not a thrill seeker just a guy who would relish a meeting with the top predator. I would be highly respectful, but mightily enthused.
If I could afford the trip to Guadalupe I'd shake that man's hand! He understands the shark.

[drudown]

As a threshold matter, the majority of White sharks that come to cage dives off Guadalupe Island are not in "predation mode" and therefore do not pose a comparable risk to humans as did the individual shark that attacked and consumed Lucas Ransom. Notably, it is neither a function of the latter shark being a "rogue" shark or having an affinity for human flesh. To the contrary, any man-eating predator's "threat" to people is inversely proportional to how strong its metabolic drive to feed is in any given place at any given time.

Humans are like a "bridge meal" for a White shark, i.e., they eat enough to last to the next meal. If the shark is very hungry, it will often eat the entire human, e.g., Lloyd Skinner. Perceiving these self-evident dynamics, the real danger of exiting the cage on a White shark dive is that a less dominant White shark (i.e., displaced by more mature and/or experienced sharks at the cage dive feeding events) may be in a more palpable state of "predation mode" than its brethren that are, in my personal experience, in "free meal at the cage dive" mode.

But to say "humans aren't on the shark's menu" is flat out false. How can you reconcile the evidence that proves otherwise (e.g., Heather Boswell attack, Lloyd Skinner attack, USS Indianapolis, et al.)? It can't be done. Crocs, sharks, bears, hyenas...all generalist feeders, all opportunistic man-eaters on occasions.

[Jasen Anderson]

In reply to Roy Malleappah....Lions and crocodiles are known to include humans on the menu without exception when they can get their teeth around one. Sharks on the whole do not and their behaviour is reasonably well understood, so the comparison is an illogical one. Having dived with a number of various types of sharks myself apart from great whites, I can see this all too clearly.

[Jasen Anderson]

You won't see me diving with them but I have no issue with it. These sharks do not realise that surfers(humans) are not a part of their menu, which is proven by the fact that they do not appear to go after divers(other types of humans). Sharks have always made mistakes when it comes to surfers or swimmers on the water surface regardless of the shark diving industry....and the trend has not seemingly increased as a result of it. These divers do so at the own risk however and one would hope accept all responsibilities for the outcome should the circumstances change, no less than a climber would when scaling Mt Everest.

[Dominick]

"He who swim with sharks will get bitten by man."

[Leanne Bentley]

Dangerous, yes. But so is driving a car or crossing the street. If you venture outside the cage to this degree, you must understand that you are taking a huge risk - this is a very big, and not wholly understood, animal. Unfortunately, these sort of "relaxed" interactions can lead to a lessened sense of that risk, and people get more bold, which is when accidents will happen. That shark can get to you in a split second - a lot faster than you can get back to the cage. An animal of this size only needs to have a "nibble" at you for you to be dead. So long as this guy isn't chumming the water, I have no strenuous objections, although the risk is way too great for me. I will stick to standing on top of the cage.

[Roy Malleappah]

I totally agree with Mr.Douglas.We humans always think that we can predict wild animals,which is very foolish.Tempting fate is absolutely stupid and irresponsible,especially with the public.If for some reason there is an attack on a diver,Mexico will shut down all access to the island,causing everyone to suffer.If this is done for scientific reasons,that's one thing but doing it to prove a point or personal satisfaction involving the public is absolutely irresponsible. Andre Hartman of south Africa has done it at Guadalupe,that's his own undertaking.Next time you are in Africa why not swim with Nile crocodiles,or go pet a lion in the Serengeti.You get my point.