And to think that it is
a stupid and ruthless predator -
Trivial and flat!
It's just that in the shark world there are different values of life!"
Anacondaz, "The shark doesn't care"
I, in full diving gear, am standing on board a traditional Maldivian dhoni boat converted into a dive boat. My heart is pounding wildly, trying to escape from my chest.
I have been dreaming about what is about to happen since I was nine years old. Almost a month before my arrival, I studied materials on how to properly behave with a shark. About ten minutes ago, Irina and Nikita, my dive guides and experienced shark divers, gave me a comprehensive briefing on behavior underwater. Now I just need to enter the water with my BCD deflated, swim to the reef, and then proceed to the sandy plateau where the tigers gather for a snack.
I jump. Looking down already in flight, I see a huge striped silhouette slowly moving in the water right below me.
You know the expression "jumping a shark"? It's an American idiom meaning that a certain media has exhausted itself and is now generating forced, idiotic stories. It came from some TV series where the hero, in fact, jumped over a shark on water skis. Well, now "The Crazy Naturalist" has officially made this jump. More precisely, not over, but right on.
Another expression that comes to mind while I'm flying is "life flashed before my eyes." Fortunately, the fish is deeper than I thought. We are not touching, and it basically does not pay any attention to me. The shark dissolves into the blue abyss below. However, while we swim to the reef, its comrades begin to approach us, squinting with curious black eyes. We gather in a defensive formation, back to back - like a herd of buffalo at the sight of a lion.
Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)
Finally, we find ourselves at a sandy plateau. The depth here is "ridiculous" - no more than ten meters. I, as if on a seat in an amphitheater, sit down on the dead corals at the edge of the "clearing". A couple of "tigers" with their retinue - giant caranx, triggerfish and other large fish - are already circling around us. Nikita swims to the center of the plateau and releases air from the regulator. Seeing bubbles on the surface, a boat approaches him and throws a huge tuna head into the water. Nikita hides it under the stones and returns to the edge of the arena.
The show begins.
"3 centimeters buried." Nikita hides a tuna head under rocks at Tiger Point dive site.
Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) are commonly seen around the island.
Donatello dodges a tiger shark off the coast of Australia. Video: Jack Garnett.
Secondly, on average, 70 shark attacks occur worldwide per year (not from one, but from all species of sharks!), not every one of which ends fatally. For comparison, about 100,000,000 sharks die at the hands of people per year (this is not a typo). They are mainly killed for the sake of fin soup, and also as a consequence of bycatch. A recent study showed that of the 536 shark species studied in the study, 35.9% are endangered. And for many species, we simply do not have enough data on the population size.
The same, by the way, applies to rays - only 41% of the 611 species studied have a protected status.
When finning, still-living but mutilated sharks are simply thrown overboard to die. Video: Oceana
Severed shark fins are dried in the sun. In Asian countries, they are eaten only because of tradition. The cartilage that the fin is made of has no nutritional value. Moreover, shark meat often accumulates extreme levels of mercury (see Bioaccumulation), which causes poisoning. Photo: Paul Hilton.
The whitetip reef shark (Triaenodon obesus) is a small species of shark found on Fuamula. Other sharks regularly seen on the island include the silvertip reef shark, grey reef shark, two species of thresher shark, and two species of hammerhead shark.
By the way, about this. Probably everyone has heard that sharks are attracted to blood. And this is true, but there is a nuance: first of all, they are attracted to the blood of fish, squid and other creatures that regularly get into the predators' teeth. Sharks are able to distinguish who is bleeding by smell, and human blood hardly has any effect on them.
But the smell of fish really attracts sharks.
In the end, everyone came out on top. Divers can watch sharks, and the island can earn income. Tigers no longer come to the port, and the Maldivian government has protected all sharks from being caught for fins (and basically any killing). Here, they imprison and fine big money for this, since a live shark is much more expensive than a dead one.
Shark. By the way, in the video you can see a hook in its mouth - sometimes they try to steal tuna from fishermen, and in such cases the line is simply cut.
But locals and tourists in the Maldives periodically meet "tiger cubs", so most likely the maternity hospital is located somewhere here. According to divers and scientists, about 300 tigers regularly appear on Fuamula!
At the same time, the feeding behavior of tigers is not particularly disturbed by feeding. Tuna heads contain almost no meat (but they contain calcium in the bones, brain and eyes - a healthy snack, just like shark PP). This is proven by the fact that they do not hang around there all the time, but appear in other places near the island. Once, already on a reef dive far from Tiger Point, I turned away from the reef to look into the "blue", and saw a huge shark approaching Nikita from behind. Honestly, it's surprising that the azure water didn't turn brown at that moment.
So how is safety ensured during diving? Is a bigger boat often needed? Or do shark divers have to take harpoons with them? No and no. The only thing that helps Irina, Petr and Nikita conduct dives is common sense and a thorough knowledge of shark behavior.
Petr "drives away" a shark from me. I am in the foreground. Surprisingly, the "tigers" understand the instructors' gestures perfectly. Video: Irina Britanova.
Never separate from the group.
An animal that lags behind "its own" is sick or weak, since it cannot keep up with the rest of the pack. This is a reason to try to attack.
Always maintain eye contact with the shark closest to you.
Like many predators, sharks prefer to attack prey that does not see them. If the prey has already noticed you, then catching it will be difficult - if you catch it at all. And this is a waste of energy that a wild animal cannot afford. So it is very important not to let the sharks out of your sight under any circumstances and to make it clear in every possible way that you see them. Divers stand back to back on purpose to prevent tigers from sneaking up from behind. Hares use a similar method to avoid being attacked by a fox.
No splashes or splashes. No shiny jewelry. No chaotic movements.
All of these things can trigger the hunting instinct of sharks. The splash and sudden movements make a person look like a wounded or frightened animal (see point 1), and the glitter resembles the scales of fish - the shark's natural prey.
If a shark is rushing at you, lean to the side.
Because of the square snout of tigers, they have a blind spot in front of their head. So, if the shark swims without turning, there is a chance that it simply does not see you. Leaning to the side, you fall into the animal's field of vision. Often they turn away very comically - like a person who was walking, looking at his phone, and almost crashed into a pole.
Do not try to touch the shark. Like any wild animal, it can get scared from touching and decide to attack in response. Once I almost got hit by a decent "bream" with a shark tail - the bait was slightly scattered around the area by the current, and the sharks got carried away, coming too close. I had to move to another "observation platform", and everything became calm again.
If a shark approaches you in "blue", stand upright.
No creature in the ocean swims like that, so the shark will know that you are not ordinary prey, but something new, and probably dangerous.
When on the surface, do not remove the mask and do not forget to look down.
No comments are needed.
If you are not a diver, but a swimmer - I can advise more or less the same. Plus - always swim in a mask, do not swim deep (for example, do not swim along the reef slopes, where sharks come to hunt), and also do not swim in muddy water, early in the morning and late in the evening.
Three sharks on a picnic. The maximum number of sharks you can see at Tiger Point at one time is 20-23! Only 7-8 came to me at one time.
A little more micromanagement of tigers. Video: Irina Britanova.
In conclusion, I want to say that after diving with sharks, Fuamula appears in my dreams.
I dream of reefs, healthy and full of life - not least thanks to sharks. After all, research shows that if you remove them from the reefs, they will soon come to an end. Smaller predatory fish, such as groupers, increase in number and begin to eat the herbivores uncontrollably. The reduction in herbivore populations, in turn, leads to the reef being taken over by algae. Corals are often unable to compete with the plants, and soon the vibrant reef turns into a desert overgrown with mud.
A recent experiment also showed that sharks are critical to seagrass "meadows". They influence the feeding patterns of herbivores (e.g. dugongs), preventing "overgrazing" - after all, herbivores disturbed by sharks spend less time feeding, and more often eat younger grass. In this way, they do not destroy mature bushes, which are critical for plant reproduction.
Both reefs and meadows are the most productive ecosystems in the oceans, without which both their inhabitants and humanity would suffer.
"It's the eye of the tiger,
It's the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival!
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the eye of the tiger!"