Shark attacks bite back

Cage diving helps ecotourism and conservation in South Africa.

Alexandra Wexler (Duke University)January 8, 2010 12:01Updated May 30, 2010 12:13

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — They were big, though not nearly as big as what we divers had anticipated.

Nothing like the jaws that faced Chief Brody as he threw bits of bloodied fish over the side of his boat, the Orca, in the 1975 movie, "Jaws."

But then we saw the teeth.

When they lunged for the chum, or bait, their mouths opened really, really wide. Rows upon rows of giant white jagged teeth glared at us. Their huge, blank, black eyes rolled back in their heads.

It was awe-inspiring. It was exciting. It was petrifying. Adrenaline crept up my spine and churned in my belly every time a Great White cruised next to the cage which we divers were soon eye-to-eye with underwater.

Pulses quickened and hearts pounded, first in excitement and then in panic. The sharks were curious and quick, but also quick to lose interest.

The divers alternated between fascination, terror and thinking this was the coolest thing ever. Some couldn’t wait to get in the water. The enthusiasm of others waned the further we got from shore during a bumpy three-hour ride.

I had researched the safety of cage-diving before I signed up. Would the sharks associate me with the bits and pieces of chopped up fish, or chum, the tour operators sprinkled into the sea to get their attention? Would they try to barge in between the cage bars?

John McCosker, senior scientist and chair of the aquatic biology department at the California Academy of Sciences said there was no evidence that sharks associate chum with the contents of the shark cage.

“I think that’s giving them too much credit,” he said.

However, McCosker mentioned that chumming, or fishing with bait, is not allowed near shark-cage diving in California because some correlation exists between shark-cage diving that uses chumming and attacks on surfers and swimmers.

If shark attacks on people increase, he said, animosity toward sharks will increase, which makes conservation more difficult. Does he advise people to be more careful in the areas where shark cage diving is going on?

"Most certainly," McCosker said.