Sad News in Egypt

WHOAH -- that is a bad idea! Bright yellow fins, snorkeling??

eric, i couldn't agree more! i'm the snorkeler(i had already burned a cylinder and decided to get back in the water when the oceanics showed up)(frink charter) in question, captured in the terrific dennis liberson photo(while on scuba). an identical reaction from another oceanic occurred 2 days later while snorkeling with a pod of dolphins. i plan on purchasing a pair of black cressis prior to our next excursion to the southern red sea,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,phil

reefman

key largo

It is sad yep.

This is a really bad season for sharks. they become more agressive right now, probably because of the "spring" effect and everything that follows.

my friend working on sharks with me had the same problem recently, with sharks becoming more a more mad. when it's usually possible to feed at some place, it became just impossible as the sharks are getting crazy, starting to attack the boat if we use any chum, when they normally never do.

could be that, could be something else. longimanus are known to be dangerous, going snorkling with them with a poor security is not the best idea.

All sharks should have a man walking in front with a red flag. Oh, sorry - that's cars. Well they are far more dangerous. Have you seen the statistics?

WHOAH -- that is a bad idea! Bright yellow fins, snorkeling??

If anyone ever hears (and can post) what colors this unfortunate snorkeler was wearing, it would be interesting to know.

most of the sharks might have a different color perception than we do. they can make the difference, but I cannot think about any paper showing a different behaviour depend on the color they see.

edit : some people says they fear yellow.

for color, see Hueter and Gruber (1982), Gruber (1975)

most of the sharks might have a different color perception than we do. they can make the difference, but I cannot think about any paper showing a different behaviour depend on the color they see.

 

edit : some people says they fear yellow.

for color, see Hueter and Gruber (1982), Gruber (1975)

Some very experienced shark people would strongly disagree. Sharks clearly react differently to light / bright colors than they do to dark colors. The actual color is probably less important than the brightness.

It's also a bit of a generalization to speak of the behavior of all sharks as being the same.

Oceanic Whitetips are very curious, and respond very quickly to anything white, bright yellow, bright blue etc - it makes sense as this usually corresponds with food.

Appears to be a simple case of an Oceanic species of shark doing what comes naturally and is common knowledge as portrayed by many wildlife films - feeding at the surface on seal, turtle, bird, swimmer, surfer, snorkeler etc. Shiny flashes and bright colours plus the smell of food only adds to the attraction !!!

HEPCA advice is to avoid surface activities when these sharks are known to be in the area (especially no feeding), whilst SCUBA is still permitted (divers look less like food).

Open and shut m'lud

You rarely see any solid black fishing lures...most are a bright colors like neon green or yellow.

You rarely see any solid black fishing lures...most are a bright colors like neon green or yellow.

I'm sorry that this is more than a little off topic but fishing lures are coloured to catch the angler, not the fish...

Some very experienced shark people would strongly disagree. Sharks clearly react differently to light / bright colors than they do to dark colors. The actual color is probably less important than the brightness...

Consensus of those I've heard/read/spoken with is that any color that is bright and "flashy" in the light (white, silver, yellow...and presumably materials in other bright colors) triggers a predatory response in sharks, barracuda, etc. because their brains are evolutionarily hard-wired to react to the shiny flash of an injured fish. Hence the reports of barracuda hitting earrings, sharks being attracted to white fins, silver camera housings, etc.

I'm sorry that this is more than a little off topic but fishing lures are coloured to catch the angler, not the fish...

I disagree. I've been a fisherman most of my life. The color of the lure is extremely important when fishing crankbaits. It pertains to colors attracting fish...ie sharks.

Oceanic whitetips are a bit a special case.

I actually found behaviour you have is having more influencies on sharks than any color or brightness.

By the way, he asked for color, not for brightness, so I anwered for color, don't blame me about brightness differences and, we are not speaking about lures, but about divers. most of the sharks will not be in hunting mood anymore when meeting a diver, and would not care anymore about his color because the diver behaviour/size/noise will give suffisant informations for to know it's not something to eat.

I actually have better close encounter when hiding myself in the rocks, only letting my eyes out for the shark to see. they usually, then, come very close.

it would actually be a good idea to make some "in the wild" experiments, with a yellow diver and a black diver, and see what kind of behaviour the sharks does have.

I think that it is a combination of colour and brightness that does attract their attention. I actually wrote about this last week in the Wetpixel Oceanics Trip Report - but have not posted that update yet - because it is on my computer in England and I am away.

In the Bahamas the Shear Water crew have built up quite a bit of experience with the Oceanics there - and a couple of things are worth mentioning.

They are certainly attracted to shiny and or bright and brightly coloured objects. For example the normal white plastic buoys that they used to use to hang the bait from were always being munched by the sharks - while other species paid them no special interest (tigers would occasionally munch them, but the oceanics would target them). The Shear Water no uses black buoys for the oceanics and they ignore them.

Colourful diving kit also attracts sharks in a big way. Particularly fins because the are usually the fastest moving part of the diver. Yellow is an obvious no no. But blue is an interesting one. Both Jim and Mike on our trip had blue Mares fins - Jim's were just a few shades darker than Mikes and the sharks ignored them. Mike got so much attention on his fins that after one dive he coloured them in black with a black marker pen (sharpie). So I do think that it is the brightness of certain colours that really made a difference.

In the Bahamas one of the main prey items of the oceanics are Mahi-Mahi (dolphinfish) which flash bright yellows, greens and blues when stressed (being chased) and I think that this is the reason for this populations sensitivity to these colours. In the Red Sea with different prey items the sharks may not respond in the same way.

Silver housings and white (Ikelite) strobes also work well for attracting them. Plus any fluorescent dive gear. On our trip Martin took off a orange DSMB that was clipped to his BC because he was getting too much attention. This definitely reduced the attention he was getting.

Alex

In my 20's (too long ago...) I remember a conversation with one of the UK's premier pike anglers. His tactic was livebaiting (lets not debate the morality of this practice please) and IIRC he had caught more than a dozen pike in excess of 30lbs in weight. Other than using very large livebaits he also attached a disk of soft red plastic to one of the points of the treble hooks which were embedded in his unfortunate baits. His exhaustive comparisons evidenced that this additional colour did provide a trigger and those baits were taken preferentially to unadorned baits fished alongside.

There's no doubt in my mind that 'spot' colour which contrasts well is very likely to evoke, at the least, increased interest and possibly a feeding or attack response. Thats a bugger as my travel wing has fluorescent orange panels but on the upside, after a dozen or so overseas trips, the colour is mellowing nicely...

One can speculate about different colors, probably without conclusion. But what seems to be clear, at least with Oceanic Whitetips ( and to a lesser degree other sharks) removing color and brightness is one's safest bet i.e. black is best.

A question does then come up - would sharks like great whites that feed on seals etc, be more attracted to darker colors

Anyone have a camo wetsuit?

it would actually be a good idea to make some "in the wild" experiments, with a yellow diver and a black diver, and see what kind of behaviour the sharks does have.

Thats a great idea. I will wear the black wetsuit and you can have the yellow.

Stew

A question does then come up - would sharks like great whites that feed on seals etc, be more attracted to darker colors

Anyone have a camo wetsuit?

Andre Hartman wears one. Now I know why.

Stew

Ok guys, was waiting for a collegue to return from St Johns to get the lowdown.

In the past week there have been 4 shark attacks at 4 different locations in the south red sea that caused injury or death, regardless of what had been publicised.

On top of that these 2 guys had 3 close encounters on 2 seperate occasions. The first one was at 5m with a vidoe rig and now has some deep scratches in the port and had to use the camera to fend of the OWT. Her partner was descending on a 84m dive at the time and it then turned from her and shot down at a 60 degree angle to 30m chasing him (he was in a black suit, black fins, black mask, black megladon rebreather!!!) He had to remove his bailout stage and fend of the shark with the tank.

The second incident occurred a few days later and occurred at about 12m (same kit as before).The shark came 'sniffing' round them and then became very aggressive.

These guys have hundreds of hours diving in this area and the said that the behaviour is totally different to what you normally get. Unfortunately the back street rumor is that a knee jerk 'cull' is on the cards not from the authorities but from boat owners etc!!!

Stew, I laughed about your description of the Egyptians investigating this in a methodical way..........there was a rebreather accident about 3 weeks ago and CDWS took the unit to inspect. They then turned to one of the divers and said, 'whats wrong with it then?' he replied, 'sorry, but arent you the accident investigator!!!!!'

How about this for forward thinking on the Egyptians behalf. Turn up at Travco as boats are due to leave, arrest 60 dive instructors / guides leaving hundreds of guests stranded and cancelled trips........only to releasethem hours later and fining the dive operations for having european instructors!!!! That soon backed off after they lost a fortune in lost tourist revenue!!!

Finally, the woman who died made it back to the boat and as the crew dragged her in the shark was still attached to her leg!!! She then died from blood loss and shock.

It is very sad and hopefully the reasons for this behaviour will come to light however expecting a rational and well planned response is highly unlikely. Just look at the mess they made of improving and protecting the Thistlegorm. No-one uses the HEPCA moorings as they are downright dangerous for the guides and the guests and they boats will smash themselves to pieces and they are too weak and snap!!! A second example, Ras Katy - Glass bottom boats driving between the reef and the back deck of dive boats where the depth is 4m and divers are descending. CDWS is responsible for there operations but do nothing. It will not be long until we get a major incident, but the police earn far too much money to worry about divers safety.

Anyway, rant over!!!

Duncan

Hi Duncan, I thought perhaps you had gone walkies as you havent posted on this thread until now. Bloody hell what you have just informed us with there is quite concerning. PM sent

Stew

(he was in a black suit, black fins, black mask, black megladon rebreather!!!) He had to remove his bailout stage and fend of the shark with the tank.

 

The second incident occurred a few days later and occurred at about 12m (same kit as before).The shark came 'sniffing' round them and then became very aggressive.

Doesn't surprise me. EM and galvanic charges also get sharks excited. I routinely get 2-3 different species of shark hitting the props of the boat. I sometimes actually want the "protection" of open scuba, but oceanics are mean SOBs and don't back down once they get riled up. Especially when they have the numbers or size advantage.

Unfortunately the back street rumor is that a knee jerk 'cull' is on the cards not from the authorities but from boat owners etc!!!

Rumors like that never surprise me. They are protecting business and the negative fall out of publicity of someone dying from shark bites.

Andre Hartman wears one. Now I know why.

Stew, many spearos wear camo suits and mirrored lenses. But you'd be surprised to know that the purpose of the blue/green camouflage pattern is actually to ATTRACT fish by disguising the human body shape, thus the game fish will approach closer for the kill. Andre wears one because he's a spearo and doesn't have another other wetsuit, not because he wants to hide from sharks