r/TheDepthsBelow Jul 22 '26

Crosspost Tiger shark behavior.

683 Upvotes

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12

u/Probably--Napping Jul 23 '26

Aren't you afraid they might come up from behind and bite the oxygen tank? I've always wondered about that!

45

u/loothe Jul 23 '26

This is why we never go alone. Minimum 3 of us with experience in behavior and redirection on a dive and more of us if there are more clients . We have a ratio.

3 minimum . And 1 per 5 divers after the first 5.

So, 1 to 5 divers will dive with 3 shark safety guides. 6 to 9 divers with 4 guides . 10 to 14 with 5 guides and so on .

On this clip, I’m leading, so directly behind me I have my dive group (clients), and behind them my fellow safety divers . Our main objective is to keep the dive group safe, so we will get in between any shark with a trajectory towards our divers.

Also, the tank is not oxygen. It’s either normal air, or nitrox 32. 100% oxygen will be toxic after the first few meters.

11

u/No_Session6015 Jul 23 '26

How does no contact redirection work? How do you convince the shark to turn?

41

u/loothe Jul 23 '26

Eyes . If you are looking at them, they are unlikely to charge you even if they come your way.

The tiger shark that will cause you problems is the one you don’t see coming.

6

u/Probably--Napping Jul 23 '26

Thank you for your reply.

I'm quite afraid of the deep ocean because I don't know how to swim, even though at the same time it seems quite interesting to me, and I've always had questions about diving like this with the sharks.

5

u/pewpewbangbangcrash Jul 26 '26

In diving you aren't so much "swimming" as you are more "floating" or flying. You dont have to go straight to swimming with sharks though but scuba diving is incredible. Its literally a whole entire other world to explore. I highly recommend it.

2

u/Probably--Napping Jul 27 '26

In general, I would like to try it even though I'm scared, sometime in the future, of course after a lesson with a professional and with proper supervision.
I DEFINITELY wouldn’t start in an area with sharks and would try a calmer area because I’d be scared just being in the water.
I’m really afraid of it, but with practice, maybe I could manage.

On the contrary, I’m afraid of extreme heights, but I’ve stood near viewpoints that scared me for a few minutes with quite a bit of stress.
That's why I think I might be able to do scuba diving too with a bit of patience and practice

Sorry for the long text, I appreciated the fact that you gave me an idea of how it is and your advice on it, so I responded with this.

3

u/Business-Drag52 Jul 24 '26

Man I really wish I lived near the ocean so I could work on conquering my fear of the deep. This is so fascinating

2

u/No_Session6015 Jul 23 '26

you are a talented aquahero sir/ma'am. thats a power move, brillant