My name is Nikita Kornilov, I am an ichthyologist, a master of biology, a diver specializing in sharks. I worked for a long time in Moscow oceanariums with different species of these animals. And now I have moved to the beautiful island of Fuvahmulah, and here I work with tiger sharks in open water. Very often I receive questions about how to protect yourself from shark attacks while on a tourist trip. Together with professional shark divers Petr and Irina Britanov, we decided to think a little about this topic. And based on their practical experience and my knowledge, analysis of international articles and various sources on the topic of sharks, we made this article.
First of all, we recommend that you simply use a search engine in advance, like Google, and study in more detail the place of the future trip for the possibility of meeting sharks, are there any there at all, and if so, what kind? You can find out about the places where people and sharks most often collide by typing "international shark attack file" into the search bar and opening the first link. There you will find all the latest information about such cases over the past years: statistics, maps, where the incidents occurred, what kind of sharks they were, whether they were provoked attacks or not, and much more. But keep in mind that all the information is in English. Study the vacation spot for dangerous fauna in advance!
The ocean and seas are their territory, they can swim to this or that place, both temporarily and on a regular basis. There are beaches where sharks live permanently, but rarely encounter people because of the safety rules that are written there.
Open water is not our home. We come there as guests, we just need to have the appropriate training for this and follow the rules. For example, do not swim in the evening, at night and early in the morning in places where there are sharks. Because at this time many species hunt, and can confuse a person swimming at the moment with prey, and simply crash into him in a fit of pursuit of some fish. Or such an example, not uncommon in Australia, where public beaches are sometimes very densely packed, and there are also nets. Some couples or just groups of people decide to move to a more secluded place, where there are no people at all or civilization is not close, besides, there may not be rescuers with access to communication with an ambulance. In such places, animals do not avoid people, especially sharks that have never met a person before. As a result, a collision with a shark may occur, and there may be simply no one to provide first aid or help get to it. Some people even look for opportunities to swim with sharks themselves and look for them, without having any experience or basic knowledge about these animals.
If you still decide to see these graceful creatures in their natural environment, then be sure to take diving / freediving courses and dive with professionals.
People who do not have special skills for this are recommended to swim only from beaches with sand / pebbles / pebbles, in no case swim beyond the buoys, where the propellers of motorboats and other floating craft pose a much greater danger. And most importantly, contact reputable diving clubs specializing in this kind of diving and encounters with these animals. Listen carefully to the briefing, follow the requirements of diving instructors and guides! If they said not to do something, it does not mean that this is a frivolous rule, it means it must be done! Sharks are not dogs or cats, they have their own rules, behavior patterns, hierarchy, reactions to certain actions, irritants, even ways to warn an opponent, which you are not familiar with, unlike the guides. Never underestimate them and especially think that they are just primitive fish. Yes, they are fish, but the highest predators in the ocean, they are stronger than you, faster, but they are not machines, not robots strictly obeying some program, which people far from biology call instinct. They constantly analyze the situation around them and, based on it, make this or that decision, swim there, look there, then study the smell here. Guides see this very well, Nikita will confirm this, as a person who has worked with a variety of animals, that when you work with them for a long time, you get to know their character very well, possible behavior options for this or that stimulus, action, body movement, look, etc.
It is worth adding that in some countries where there are a lot of sharks, there are even signs warning about the risk of a possible meeting and collision with them, such as in the USA, in California and in Australia. Moreover, these signs even say "Swim at your own risk", but local surfers and bathers continue to swim. You should not ignore these signs.
Due to the impossibility of closing hotels with pontoon beaches, you should not initially choose such hotels, and if you do choose, do not go into the water from the pontoons under any circumstances. You can spend time in the pool, get to beaches with a shallow entry into the water, go on yacht excursions to shallow reefs.
On yacht excursions, you should only swim on reefs whose depth does not exceed 15 meters. And you should not feed sharks from the side of such yachts near the coast, because this has repeatedly attracted potentially dangerous species of sharks to the bathers' rest areas, with which you need to know how to behave around them.
When swimming, we recommend using a mask or swimming goggles and fins. This way you can simply see the underwater beauty better, and, in turn, see the shark and its reaction to you in order to react accordingly.
You should not swim near fishing boats and stay away from any type of fishing while in the water. Sharks are attracted to stressed fish, especially fish wounded by a hook! And this is a frequent factor that is never mentioned in the news, during the next "attack of a man-eating shark". So always divide the media reports by two! It is also worth staying away from places where there may be places for underwater hunting. In turn, underwater hunters should be aware of the risk of meeting a shark, do not tie their catch to the belt, as many do, but put it in a separate bag, on the end of a rope that is pulled by the hunter, because such a trophy will attract a shark quite quickly. This is especially true for diving with large sharks, like the same tiger sharks that we work with on the island.
Open water exists for professionals and amateurs, be it diving, freediving and even just swimming. Professionals always have calm breathing and an even pulse, calm movements on and under the water, they know all the risks and algorithms of actions in unforeseen situations. In this way, you show yourself not as a wounded animal or prey, but as a large creature that is simply in the same environment with the shark and watches its actions, but you are not a competitor for prey or territory, so sharks do not consider you either a threat or a food object.
Vacationers splash in the water, creating vibrations like a wounded fish, which attracts the attention of sharks. Splashes and screams at the surface are a typical sign of a wounded or sick fish or marine mammal rising for a portion of air. Sharks are naturally attracted to this, and then everything depends strictly on the personal experience of the fish. Recent studies show that experienced and adult sharks that have repeatedly encountered people rarely or do not react to them at all, but younger, less experienced animals or simply those who have not previously encountered a person can be more impudent and curious. They can go for the so-called test bite. Many sharks are curious creatures in themselves and a bite is the only way for them to learn about the world and the creatures around them, to understand how to interact with them. But it is one thing if it is a bite from a small reef shark, and quite another thing even from a young 2.5 meter tiger shark. In addition, any panicking screaming creature is of interest to any predator. And when you behave calmly, maintain visual contact with the animal, you make it clear that you are not afraid, ready to defend yourself. Even if this is not the case, the shark does not know about it. And it sees you as someone who can give back, and this is a risk to its own health, which any living creature strives to maintain its health. Therefore, when meeting a shark, look at it clearly, do not panic, do not beat your hands on the water, and just watch it, heading to the shore, a boat or your comrades. By the way, about comrades, sharks almost all hunt for lonely and separated creatures, they are solitary hunters. Swimming in a group, you seem like a large school, like dolphins that protect each other and their cubs, a shark will not take such a risk of attack, especially creatures the size of it or even half its body.
Sheep and other things, if they are a factor, then only indirectly. In the sense that any case of collision of people and sharks, resulting in injuries from the latter is a consequence of more than one reason. It is always a hodgepodge of factors that led to this, in addition to some sheep that were dumped, for example, in Egypt, there may be a mating season for sharks, and more excited behavior. Bathers or divers can break the rules when diving or behave like a wounded animal, and as a result we can get such an incident. In other words, everything is not as simple as it may seem at first glance, especially through the prism of media stories, in which the shark always just goes and attacks people, which is not the case at all.