Limbatus Overload......

So there I was yesterday morning chilling with some friends, in fact about 50 new friends. Horse play between friends, they would come in and harass me with charges, bumps and nips to my fins and I would blow sweet little bubbles in their general direction......simple game, but they are often the most effective I find. These Blacktip Sharks have become the 'force majeur' on all shark feeding activities around the Aliwal Shoals these days. So much so that they have started ganging up on Tiger sharks to keep them away from the available bait. A great inter species behavioral dynamic to look into. That doesn't mean though that the Tigers don't get a nibble. They do come in, hard and fast looking for handouts. I have also seen very overt lunge attempts by Tiger Sharks on individual Blacktips, what a great sequence that would be.

Anyway, the attached are from yesterday. Photoshoped images to stop any frowns....the water here is quite green at the moment.

Cheers,

Mark.

Just a nipping at your fins game eh? You guys like to live on the edge

Wow. I maybe out there in a couple of weeks Mark, just trying to sort it out now. Looks like there's a hell of a party going on!

Cheers, Simon

Sounds great mate, PM me if you need any help or info.

Where wil you be staying?

Best,

Mark.

Hey Mark,

You just love making me jealous don't you. Looks great!!!

Steve B)

Just remember to keep rolling if someone does cop it

Great pics and observation on behaviour but shark baiting for divers entertainment is becoming a bit prevalent imo.

Not sure I agree with teaching any sharks, whichever species, to associate divers with a free meal.

Bait them, see them, learn from them. I am here not as a pleasure diver. Look at most scientific field work with sharks, they use bait.

No bait, no see, too many damn fisheries out there targeting the bigger sharks.

After 400 million years as an apex predator I don't think they will break down and cry if the free food gets taken away. I mean let's face it. Would you like to work hard for a snack, small energy benefit, or do nothing and still get fed, larger energy benefit ratio?

Seems smart to me.

Cheers,

Mark.

PS: I'm originally from Bournemouth, small World.

Except for those sharks you are currently baiting daily, the effects of their behavior has been changed tremendously. The C. Limbatus came about 5 years ago as the C.Brachyrus was been hunted down and the tigers were seasonal. Now you've got them year round and that screws with the natural cycle.

The fact that it is done in Aliwal Shoal and there have been numerous UNREPORTED bites, shows that the feeding at Aliwal is detrimental. The final effects are unknown but the immediate effect is shark migration routes may have changed. The effects on the food chain can only be guessed at. If the sharks are there to remove the sick fish or whatever their function is on the food chain, an aggregation of this size has to have effects on the ecosystem.

Their aggressive attitude towards you is indicative of their loss of inhibition. Just 300km south of where you are, full wild C limbatus don't nip at divers unless they are in a frenzy for food like sardines. They swim around and check you out and disappear at any sign of movement.

Back when there was 2 ops doing it perhaps 2-3 times a week, the behavior was that big shark comes, little shark scrams. Now it is almost done daily by 6 ops. The reverse is true. Even the silver tips in Milne Bay zip to the mooring once they hear a boat come. I have 3 videos of silvers going for divers because they are fed and get annoyed when the food is gone but the scent is still around. And that's just 2-3 boats 2-3 times a week.

Sorry Mark. Justify it all you want, but behavioral changes do occur. And the feeding has made quite a few people rich in the Natal coast. And baiting isn't the only method of scientific research. Several scientists studying sharks also take part in the annual sardine migration and study the shark behavior there, in full natural glory. They hardly notice we are around (which is a very good thing when they are feeding). The shark research in the Farallons is not baited either.

pfssssshhhhhhhhhhh pfssssshhhhhhh pfshhh pfshhh..........pfshh ....... pfsh

The sound of people pissing on fireworks !! hehehe

Easy answer, don't dive baited shark dives. Maybe sharks do become bolder and more aggressive, so does any animal when free food is concerned but because we are talking about sharks That makes it a whole different kettle of fish.

How long does it take domesticated dogs to revert to their wild side when abandoned? Not too long, sink or swim in the animal world is a very real predicament. And thats an animal that was raised in a domestic environment.

People attending and those who arrange shark dives by way of baiting are fully aware of the potential risk. They are wild animals. The same can be said for game parks which are to some extent zoos. Why do people flock to see any 'wild' animal feeding whether that be Lions, Tigers or Sharks? An element of danger perhaps? to see another predator feeding? Who knows. The thing is I can't see the reason why individuals who have benefited from this kind of activity in the past either as an organizer or as a client should then turn around to criticize the actions of the animals, which by their own involvement has had an effect on any behavioral shift if that is the contentious point they are arguing. Personally I don't see how 400 million years of evolution can be destroyed by a few freebie sardines.

I will be on the Sardine Run this year so I do hope to finally get to see it, if it goes off. I will not be in a baited situation but rest assured once it is done and if the projects are continuing here with other species then to get the job done I am sure we will go back to baiting.

The thing is I can't see the reason why individuals who have benefited from this kind of activity in the past either as an organizer or as a client should then turn around to criticize the actions of the animals, which by their own involvement has had an effect on any behavioral shift if that is the contentious point they are arguing

I was merely answering your inference that it is natural behavior. Which it is not. And I'm not sure where you heard I've done any of the tiger dives in the last 4 years when they started baiting almost daily. That's behavorial change vs doing it sporadically without altering their feeding behavior too much. I don't participate in chummed shark feeds anymore for that reason. One has to learn and move on.

Game parks do it in the safety of a vehicle with 600mm lenses. These parks also protect the animals and allow them to act as normally as as can be in an enclosed environment albeit in a few thousand acres of land.

I don't believe I've been to a game farm where they bait the lions to feed for photographers, unless you count the Mara river, which is natural baiting like the sardines in South Africa.

The issue is broader than just a few gawkers on holiday. One serious encounter is all that is needed to reinforce the shark fears and will set the public outcry that will put more squeeze and less sympathy on sharks.

I was generalizing, I never stated that you, personally, had taken part in any Tiger Shark baiting dives on Aliwal Shoal.

It is natural for any predator to take the easy option for a meal, that in part is what hones them and elevates them to their lofty position. To claim otherwise requires scientific knowledge and proof. If you have that then you have an argument.

If a barrel of sardines and chumming at pretty much the same spot is a natural daily occurrence, then I'll shut up now. Otherwise it's an artificial. The frequency of the feeds and location and association with boats is all unnatural.

Other examples of natural feeding behavior: C Brachyrus migrates south to head off the sards and Tiger sharks wait off Raine Island and Vanuatu for turtles during egg laying season but everyday? Now you are saying as long as they are eating from the barrels, it's natural? What about their work on the reefs (which is part of the natural eco system?) By taking them away from their 'lofty positions' as top level predators on reef dwellers daily, you are interfering much more with the natural state of things compared to just pop in once a week.

Now if you say that the Ganges and Bull sharks picking off the dead carcasses and corpses along the Ganges is natural, you may have a point. But that doesn't happen in a can or with any sort of regularity?

I have no issue with feeding/chumming than the safety and implications for the sharks. But to call it 'natural behavior' is much akin to Pavlovian behavior. Is it conditioning or conditioned?

One has to also accept that chumming and feeding are the most effective way of getting good shots of the beasts. Not the most natural way and that's why Doug Perrine's shots are so special.

And for reference, I've done shark dives with 50(that I could see) Limbatus, Brachyrus and Leucas hanging around, but my chum was a sardine baitball and their natural curiosity to check me out. They move off when bored or they get frisky if there was feeding in the area. Not a good time to have shiney objects.