Shark Attack - What to do !

Hey Buddies,

Its common to meet reef sharks while scuba diving or even spearfishing. Sometimes anxiety of seeing a shark makes the situation worst. 

If you have been spearfishing and currently holding your catch, release the catch and quietly exit the area. It is likely that the shark has been attracted to the sound and smells associated with your activity and it is aroused and interested in consuming your catch. Let it have it – no catch is worth the risk of personal injury.

If a shark is acting overly aggressive – making rushes at you, hunching its back, lowering its pectoral (paired side) fins, swimming in a rapid zigzag course, or swimming with rapid up and down movements (sometimes rubbing its belly on the bottom) – look to back up against whatever structure (reef, rock outcropping, piling) is available, thereby reducing the angles with which the shark can approach you. If you are in open water, orient back-to-back with your dive partner and gradually rise to the surface and the safety of your boat. If you are shore diving, gradually descend to the bottom so you can find cover. If a shark begins to get too interested in you by coming closer and closer, the best strategy is to leave the water – swim quickly but smoothly, watching the shark all the time, with your dive partner close at hand. Sharks are less likely to attack a “school” of divers than a solitary individual.

Use whatever inanimate equipment (spear gun, pole-spear, camera) you have with you to fend off the shark (when diving in known shark-inhabited waters, it is always good to carry a pole or spear for this purpose). If a shark attacks, the best strategy is to hit it on the tip of its nose. This usually results in the shark retreating. If the retreat is far enough away, then human retreat is in order – again, swim quickly but smoothly, watching the shark all the time, with your dive partner close at hand. An aggressive shark often will return, however, and each subsequent hit to the snout will be less effective, so take advantage of any escape opportunities. If you do not have anything to poke with, use your hand, but remember that the mouth is close to the nose, so be accurate.

If a shark actually gets you in its mouth, we advise to be as aggressively defensive as you are able. “Playing dead” does not work. Pound the shark in any way possible. Try to claw at the eyes and gill openings, two very sensitive areas. Once released, do all you can to exit the water as quickly as possible because with your blood in the water, the shark very well could return for a repeat attack.

Check out my last post on How to Maintain your gear @https://divingintrinidad.blogspot.com/2018/04/how-to-dive-gear-maintenance.html

and my post on panicking https://divingintrinidad.blogspot.com/2018/04/know-when-someone-is-panicking.html