My name is Petr Britanov and I work as an instructor and safety diver in the far south of the Maldives, on the island of Fuvahmulah. It is a lonely island of volcanic origin in the equatorial zone of the Indian Ocean, far from civilized countries.
Here we dive with tiger sharks and ensure the safety of both scuba divers and freedivers. Not long ago in the diving world, in countries where commercial diving with potentially dangerous sharks is done, they began to practice diving to these predators without cages. In some places, so-called sticks are used to ensure the safety of divers - metal sticks that are given to each participant before the dive.
Supporters of this method believe that the stick creates a barrier, a kind of indicator for the shark that it will not be able to swallow a large object, it should seem like that to it when the diver holds it in a vertical position. In addition, this gives safety divers, who directly control the dive, a false illusion of the guests' safety. As can be seen in the photo of underwater photographer Anatoly Beloshchin, a tiger shark easily knocks the stick out of the diver's hands. The photo clearly shows that this does not stop curious sharks. Moreover, the stick shines and reflects in the sun, which arouses the curiosity of striped predators. Of course, there is nothing scary about this, professional underwater photography equipment in the hands of a diver is no less attractive, and this can be considered a plus if you want to take a close-up photo of a shark.
So what can stop them? Eye contact with the predator plays an important role. The shark will not attack if it meets the eyes of a potential enemy - the object of its curiosity. Self-control is also very important, you must breathe calmly and maintain a steady heartbeat. In the nasal and lateral parts of the shark's head are the ampullae of Lorenzini - a powerful sensory apparatus that gives it information about the size of an object, its heart rate and the distance to it. Sharks are not bloodthirsty, as they like to show in tabloids and Hollywood horror films. People are not included in the sharks' diet, it was formed hundreds of millions of years ago, when people were not in sight. However, do not forget that these are powerful predators, and they can cause serious damage if safety precautions are not observed in their presence. Just calm and clear eye contact! We convey all this and other useful information at our briefings when we prepare guests for a dive with these predators. Unfortunately, no matter how hard we try, we can never be 100% sure that all the information necessary for safety has been fully absorbed. People are people, and the human factor cannot be discounted. That is why it is so important that the teamwork of safety divers is flawlessly debugged.
The diving time with tiger sharks is limited by the schedule agreed with other diving centers. Since tiger point \ tiger point (I can't bring myself to call this place a zoo) is located right under the entrance to the harbor, we start and finish the dives 15-20 meters from the position we need. Due to its location, the diving conditions can be safely equated to the conditions with an overhead environment. We cannot dive and surface directly at this site. There is quite intense shipping here and it is unsafe to surface directly above this place.
One of the safety guides dives first to check the current and conduct reconnaissance to choose the right position on the bottom. Visibility under water plays a major role in choosing a place. All this gives us an understanding of where to seat the group of divers, where to signal the captain of the dive boat to release the fish, and under what rocks to hide some of the tuna heads to make this dive as spectacular as possible. After all, it is the spectacularity that annually attracts hundreds and thousands of photographers and videographers from all over the world! Do not forget about the safety of the divers, this is our number one priority! After reconnaissance, we dive in an organized group to 5-8 meters and proceed to the seating area chosen by one of the guides. Then we seat the divers in one line, practically shoulder to shoulder, surrounding the group and providing control from the front and back. As has been said earlier, we cannot be 100% sure that the briefing was equally absorbed by all participants of the dive. Many divers, especially creative individuals such as photographers and videographers, can easily become distracted by a small colorful fish or moray eel, or get hung up on the settings of their equipment.
Some female tiger sharks, most of which we can identify, can be quite pushy at times and approach too close, especially if they see a diver distracted by a fish or a photographer busy adjusting his camera. In such cases, which are very rare, we redirect the sharks with our hands, without causing them any physical harm, unlike the poking with sticks used by their supporters. As naive as it may sound, I am absolutely sure that sharks should be felt, respected and under no circumstances should even the slightest discomfort be caused to them!
Private diving is, of course, much more interesting. With one or two guests, we can get much closer to the sharks, while ensuring the safety of our divers and sharks. We also organize freediving with tiger sharks. Recently, the world record holder, Russian Igor Azhikin, came to us with his group. These were the brightest emotions and impressions, but I will tell you about this some other time. What I would like to say in conclusion, fly to our wonderful island - Fuvahmulah, for a close and safe acquaintance with tiger sharks and other large pelagic creatures. Our tigersharkprofi team can organize and accommodate comfortable and safe diving for groups of up to forty people. We have two diving boats, two pickups for transfers, a cozy diving center with a sufficient number of compressors, cylinders and other equipment. But the main thing is the sensitive and friendly staff, who love their work and do everything possible to make our guests happy! Come! We will warmly welcome you regardless of the time of year!