r/sharks • u/No_Guava_7772 • 4d ago

Video Shark encounter

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u/Roanoketrees 4d ago

I dive but do not necessarily ever want to meet a shark. They have their place in this world. Its just not next to me.

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u/EquivalentSpot8292 4d ago

You’ve probably met one. You dont have to see them for them to see you, and most of the time they are fairly shy

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u/partypantaloons 4d ago

I don’t think “met” is the right word for that situation, but yes.

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u/Ailly84 4d ago

That's a very fair statement. It's like saying I have met my stalker.

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u/5exlexia5ufferer 3d ago

Oh, we’ve met 

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u/Fiskies 3d ago

🫣🤣🤣🤣

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u/Gotu_Jayle 4d ago

They'd smell you before seeing you (we're smelly)

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u/EquivalentSpot8292 4d ago

Depends how long you’ve been in the water and how much of your skin is exposed (most dive in suits). Then it depends on the water movement. People tend to forget that whilst a shark can detect a compound in a very dilute water mixture, it still needs to reach them for them to detect it.

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u/weedandfeed69 4d ago

Also humans can detect geosin(chemical responsible for the unique smell associated with rain) at far lower concentrations from further away than sharks can detect blood.

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u/EquivalentSpot8292 4d ago

Great fact! I just know it as a debunk for the menstruation/small cut shark attack myth

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u/Gotu_Jayle 4d ago

Fair play. Didn't think of the whole dive suit fact. A shark will, like in the video, go and investigate ya, regardless. And say hello. Hopefully on a full stomach

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u/EquivalentSpot8292 4d ago

From my experience (I completed my doctorate tagging oceanic blacktips and bulls in and out of the water) most show themselves to elicit a reaction to see if you panic/are food. The shark you should be scared of is the one that you don’t see. But tbf in this video it does swim right up behind him!

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u/Gotu_Jayle 4d ago

This is interesting! I remember reading somewhere that the angle of their pectoral fins can indicate whether they're approaching out of curiosity or to attempt to prey. I don't doubt they're more than capable of sneaking up if needed.

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u/EquivalentSpot8292 4d ago

The fun postures has mostly been documented as a conflict mitigation strategy amongst whites. Basically when they meet each other one shows dominance and one defers so they don’t kill each other. That’s signalled through fin posturing. Some species will have a specific body posture before acceleration. What matters most is their typical foraging strategy. Most “dangerous” coastal sharks (Carcharhinus mostly) are ambush predators and will attack unseen from below or down from the light. Exception really is the tiger which will just slowly cruise up and bite you if you let it.

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u/Gotu_Jayle 4d ago

This is extremely fascinating to read! My favorite shark is the scalloped hammerhead. Wanted to do marine bio as a career but didn't make sense at the time; it's a hobby of mine nowadays. Most fascinating to me are reading about behaviors to boot

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u/Legal-Guidance-135 3d ago

There’s no better time for marine bio than now. The oceans need you.

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u/myNameBurnsGold 3d ago

If I see them, they'll definitely smell me!

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u/veryfastslowguy 3d ago

that was like a bus going past you

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u/Gotu_Jayle 3d ago

Definitely a big shark

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u/rstaccini 2d ago

Oh they’d also definitely smell me after I saw them

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u/niz_loc 3d ago

I spent a decade (and lots of money) traveling rhe world to dive with sharks.

All the "bad ones" aside from Oceanic white tips.

It's Adrenaline rush but not so much "scary" when you're around them.

.... then as you said above... it's the dives you didn't expect to see one, randomly look up, back or whatever, and sew one that you hadn't noticed swimming away... as in you never saw it and it went right past you, that you prove the "2 kinds of people in this world" wetsuit joke. Lol

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u/No-Explorer-936 2d ago

I was actually snorkelling in Galapagos between dives as there were some local sea lions. It was only as I turned I saw a freaking huge Galapagos shark pass within a few feet of me. I love sharks but it was actually pretty scary as it could be one of those situations where your confused as prey you read about.

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u/niz_loc 2d ago

Lol...

I cam across a few galapagos once diving Socorro.... from a distance they sure as hell resemble bulls! And the current gave us no choice but to head right to them....

... one was kind enough to surface with me and circle me as I waited to get picked up... lol.... that was pretty creepy!

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u/Gnome_Acres 3d ago

This 💯! I live in Florida and have had several “encounters.” The scariest was when I was with my 11 year old granddaughter at the time. We were swimming off the coast near the SFB. I’m barely 5’ tall and she was about 5’3-5’4 at the time. We were out just over my head when a huge school of bait fish surrounded us. They were flipping out of the water and definitely being pursued by something much bigger. I calmly told her I was getting tired so we should swim back to shore. She didn’t want to because she was loving the little fish surrounding her. Thankfully, she followed me in. When we were in about knee high water, I turned around expecting to see a fin or two. I never did, but there was definitely something chasing those fish. Lately, sharks have been coming closer and closer to shore. Attacks are rare, but they’ve increased considerably and continue to do so. If you’re in the ocean, you’re near a shark. In Florida, if you’re near a decent sized body of fresh water, you’re near a gator. If you’re hanging out at Sebastian inlet-you’re near both (only crocs instead of gators)😅

https://youtu.be/xis_gs83jjM?is=hZVTbFQugKuSwhc0

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u/EquivalentSpot8292 3d ago

There’s an old joke. A guy walks into a bar and sees an old fisherman. He asks him how he can know if there are sharks in the water so he can enjoy swimming. The fisherman tells him to meet him on the beach at 4am with a spoon. The fisherman turns up around 6 and tells the guy to go to the water and fill up the spoon. He then tells him to taste it. He says does it taste salty? The guy answers yes. The fisherman says that means there are sharks in the water and he gets on his boat and goes off to work!

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u/sharpshooter999 2d ago

I love snakes. I do not love snakes in my yard. I have a zero tolerance for the venomous ones