An unprovoked shark attack on military scuba diver that took place in February 2009 off the Australian cost in Sydney Harbor gave a new boost to the discussion, which must be as old as scuba diving itself is: what is the extent of danger posed by sea sharks for scuba divers and how big are chances to survive if you do get attacked? The young 31-years old diver lost his arm after being unexpectedly attacked from beneath by an unidentified shark specie, but managed to survive following a short battle with the predator who the brave man, though heavily wounded, had finally scared away.
The accident came as absolute surprise for everybody, even if Sydney Harbor is known for presence of all four species of dangerous sharks responsible for the vast majority of human-targeted shark attacks worldwide. But if taking an unbiased look at the the Australian Shark Attack File maintained starting the year 1792 by Taronga Zoo, it can be discovered that the total of the reported shark attacks on humans in Sydney Harbor has only outnumbered 30 occurrences in more than two centuries. The majority of those attacks took place before the 1940ies, while the last fatality took place this Australian summer, 46 years after the previous fatality in Sidney Harbor back in 1963.
Until this time, at least statistically, the Australian sea waters were not included to the list of the world's most dangerous locations sea locations with extremely high probability of shark attacks on humans, if compared to other destinations throughout the world. Such places traditionally included California and Florida regions in the North America, and ocean locations along the entire coastline of Southern Africa. Recently the situation seems to have changed. Wildlife officials explain that increased offshore sewage has encouraged some of smaller sea animals move closer to shore, and the sharks that feed on them followed them too.
Recreational scuba divers should know this: Sydney Harbor is divided into an inner estuarine region and outer oceanic region. If you dive in the inner estuarine area at popular dive sites where shark nets are set up, your chances of being attacked by a shark stay at a truly zero level.
Lots of people from all countries come to dive in Australia, whose marine life deserves travelling long distance to have a chance to be looked at and explored. I do not mean to discourage them by adding any unnecessary worries that might fuel speculations on recreational scuba diving becoming dangerous at known Sydney Harbor dive sites. Scuba diving in Australia is unforgettable experience, and the diversity of marine life there is fantastic, and it wouldn't be half as fantastic without... sharks. I would like only to make community better aware of some self-defense and shark attack prevention principles to be born in mind and never be forgotten should you find yourself diving in deeper locations off the shore, and closer to the habitats of sharks in general.
Sharks, as you might presume, love deep waters, and it's there that they spend most of their time swimming and looking for a pray. It is from the bottom that they attack their chosen target, therefore a diver should pay special attention to what's happening below him. In accident described at the beginning of this articled the diver too was attacked while swimming on the surface. A hunting shark relies upon its excellent smell, taste, and hearing abilities, rather than on sight, because all sharks don't see very well.
When it becomes clear that the shark is attacking you and that the attack is unavoidable, diver must immediately get ready to counteract in the following manner:
Begin descending, while keeping eye on the attacker;
Aim flow of air bubbles from your dive gear in the direction of the approaching predator;
Scream as powerfully as you can - chances are the shark will realize it has mistaken you for a big fish or dolphin and will stop attacking. Actually, humans are not sharks' favorite food;
If these failed to scare it away, hit the shark's head with a piece of your gear or accessory like camera;
But best of all, if you are recreational scuba diver, always dive in group and never dive at little known sites without being properly instructed by a local guide, or better guided by divemaster.
And finally, however frightful each shark accident description may sound, generally the chances of being attacked by shark while scuba diving are infinitely smaller than probability of getting hit by car while walking on the street. So, let not occasional shark attacks reports lead you to the idea of giving up scuba diving. If only every 1000-th street accident got half as much coverage from media, we'd all stop walking.
By C. Dyson
C. Dyson is an active guy who enjoys traveling to explore new places, meet new people, and who has tried lots of recreational activities including scuba diving. He helps to run the site of scuba diving club he is a sponsor of, and runs his own blog called Scuba Diving Adventures, where everyone can find lots of information regarding best dive destinations, tours, events and online contests which you can join for free and win nice prizes like a piece of scuba gear (underwater camera, wetsuit, diving mask, dive computer, or even a dive tour for two to popular dive destinations/resorts like Thailand, Caribbean, Seychelles, UAE, Red Sea etc.)
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