Shark diving


can migrate back and absorb most of the light. This means that they are able to switch from night vision to a proper pare of skiing goggles, in a matter of moments, meaning consistent vision in any light condition... making sight without a doubt one of their most important senses. If we want to enter their world we need to have a very good understanding of what it is we are dealing with and make adjustments on our side so that we fit in. The aim for every successful shark dive is to be able to not be seen as food, nor as a threat. This unfortunately doesn’t always happen, and most of the time it’s because we are seen as a threat, and thus don’t see as many sharks or maybe a specific specie like we were hoping for. Obviously sharks cannot


but react to what they see. They run through their check list to see


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whether something sighted could be food or not. If it behaves like food and looks like food, they will go and investigate. If we, for example, enter an environment where things are seen in contrast, with bright colours like lime yellow or silver fins, we are inadvertently creating attraction to predators that hunt things that reflect light in a very similar way. Please understand that different sharks in different areas react differently. They hunt different looking prey and will react to different visual stimuli, and there is just not enough research to prove what is best at each location. Now, on normal dives, most


of the time divers travel in little ‘schools’ themselves as they cruise along the reef. And there is always safety in numbers, so most of the time sharks in this case will see you way before you know about


They will react to what they see, and with their other senses, try and figure this out


them. They would have already made their verdict as to either get a closer view and monitor our behaviour, or as is mostly the case, decide that this could be a threat and to not proceed. In the case of diving with


sharks on an event like the sardine run, as well as baited dives, these can be very different scenarios. The sharks in this case make their way to the baiting station knowing that there is food... that’s why they are there. Exactly what the food is though, they might not know yet. They will react to what they see,


and along with their other senses, try and figure this out. This means that a brightly striped fin, the silver on your BC, the first stage and valve on the cylinder, the front and back of your hands that change from light to dark as you move around, silver camera housings and strobes, all could possibly be the food they are smelling. This means that they will, to the most extent, swim up to it and try it. Sharks are not maneaters – that is a fact. Sharks have without a doubt scavenged on dead bodies which have started to rot after a


September/October 2011


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