Shark attack fatality - Bahamas, part II

I purposefully waited before writing my opinion on the matter of fatality in the Bahamas. I think it is disrespectful rushing to judgment and spouting knee-jerk reactions before the facts are in. I am sad for the loss of Markus Groh and no amount of finger pointing and pontificating will change what happened.

What I would like to do is write more about some general feelings that I have about some aspects of shark tourism. I have written about this a number of times. For example here is a link to my latest entry on the subject.

Personally, I am not in favor of creating an artificial situation (chumming) to attract sharks to a dive site. It is entirely possible that what happened in the Bahamas was an unfortunate accident of mistaken identity. If the bull shark (as is reported) wanted to, it could done much more damage to the diver (Markus Groh). However, we need remember that we are dealing with wild animals, in their environment. We as humans are visiting their domain and have to act accordingly.

The most important aspect of diving with dangerous animals is to know their behavior and not create a situation that could lead to an accident. For example, bull sharks are known to be very aggressive hunters that attack without fear - mostly in murky water. With bull sharks, an attack of mistaken identity is a real danger and possibility. The more you know about the species, the better equipped you will be to dive with them, AND truly appreciate their grace and beauty. In my opinion, sharks are some of the most beautiful animals on earth.

An article on the National Geographic website has the following information about the Bull Shark. Note the last sentence of the quote below (italics mine).

They are found cruising the shallow, warm waters of all the world’s oceans. Fast, agile predators, they will eat almost anything they see, including fish, dolphins, and even other sharks. Humans are not, per se, on their menus. However, they frequent the turbid waters of estuaries and bays, and often attack people inadvertently or out of curiosity. (http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/bull-shark.html)

The point is obviously that shark diving should not be a hunt after adrenaline without respecting the apex predator of the ocean. I believe it is not respectful to the animals to treat them as a carnival ride at a theme park. Perhaps I have a minority opinion in the matter, but I trust that we will thoughtfully consider how we interact with the marine animals.

Resources

Link to one of my previous posts on chumming.
Link to a fact sheet on the Bull Shark.
Wikipedia page on the Bull Shark

Shark attack fatality - Bahamas.

Sadly, an Austrian diver, Markus Groh, died after a shark diving in the the Bahamas. (See the article in the Wiener Zeitung)

The details are still unclear, but it appears that Markus was mistakenly bitten on the leg (probably calf), and either died from loss of blood, or died as the result of lung overexpansion injury (alternatively called arterial gas embolism. Wikipedia article on AGE). The exact cause will probably become known in the days to come, but my sincere condolences go out to Markus's family - especially his daughter. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Link to my follow-up post on "shark tourism"

Baby, it's cold outside

The annual insanity hosted by my local dive store (LDS) took place over the last weekend. Every year around this time of the year (early to mid February), the LDS holds an Ice Diving class. The spring fed lake that we use is ideal for the class since the water is fairly clear and within easy reach of store.

This year, the ice was the thickest that I have seen. The crystal clear ice was around two foot thick. The way that the holes are made is interesting. Ice augers are used to drill six inch diameter holes into the ice. The holes are drilled in the shape of a equilateral triangle. Chain saws are then used to cut the ice between the holes. The end result is a hole in the shape of a triangle.

The way we conduct the ice diving is to tether three divers to a safety line. On each dive we have an instructor and two students. The class consists of various activities, but to get the certification, students have to complete three ice dives. On the second and third dives, each student gets the opportunity to be the lead diver. On the first dive, the instructor is the lead diver.

This year we had an eclectic mix of divers participating in our ice diving event from all over the country. It is always fun to have visitors from other states visit us - especially from those that come from the warm weather states. For some reason when you tell some folks that it is cold here they do not totally grasp the idea of how cold zero Fahrenheit is (before wind chill etc.). Fortunately, most of the people who were here we adequately dressed.

The weekend before, we had temperatures below zero with wicked wind chills. Fortunately for the ice diving event the temperatures were moderate. Some years we luck out. I remember one year when the actual air temperature was minus five. When I completed my dive, my hair and face were still a little wet from the water, and when I left the tent to get changed, my hair froze. That made for an excellent photo.

One of the minor annoyances of the weather forecasters and newspapers here is that they like to dramatize the weather. I suppose it is good for ratings. They never fail to accentuate the wind chills. "It is going to be minus 30 to 40 tomorrow so bundle up" they would proclaim on the evening news. But then they would say that would be the wind chill temperature, and the actual temperature will be say minus 15. Ok, I know I am splitting hairs, but can't the weather people treat us like adults and just tell us the actual temperature?

Living here everyone, and I mean everyone, knows how to dress for the weather and wind. For example, it is around zero Fahrenheit today, and here at the coffee shop where I am writing this post, there are people here with light coats and even one person with shorts on (however, I think he might need some therapy). The secret to keeping warm is layering. Everyone here wears at least three layers of clothes on the really cold days. The other thing is that the human body is wonderful at adapting to the conditions. I guess we just get used to the cold living here. You just learn to deal with it. Today I am just wearing a light fleece jacket and jeans. I am just so tired of the heavy coats, gloves and hats. However over the weekend I was completely bundled up with many layers or clothes (fleece and down jackets), since I knew that I was going to be outdoors all day.

One of the interesting features of the water temperature is that at the surface the temperature is around 33 or so. At the bottom of the lake the temperature was around 36 to 37 over the weekend. The unexpected thing is that the water is warmer at depth than at the surface. Of course this makes sense when you think about it in terms of the air temperature, but things that people are surprised by is that the water temperature is warmer than the air temperature by a fair margin. So theoretically if they are comfortable in zero degree Fahrenheit then they should be ok in 37 degree water. This idea seems to calm the students a little.

Thinking back to my first ice dive, I am reminded about how happy and surprised I was that the equipment (dry suit, thermal underwear etc.), actually kept me warm and safe. I think the most
important lesson for me was to trust in the equipment.

Resources
There is an entry on Wikipedia about ice diving for those who would like to learn more about it.

For some more pictures take a look at this site. Note the picture with the radials that point to the hole.

There is a 484 page book on Google Books called Ice Diving Operations with more information that you probably need.

Link to the PADI ice diving specialty class information.

Shark Tourism

Shark tourism seems to be gaining popularity all the time. I think it might have something to do with people having a sense of adventure and wanting to meet face to face with the apex predator of the ocean. An article in the Daily Telegraph in the UK mentions that approximately 50,000 people visit Gansbaai South Africa to participate in some form of shark tourism. The article does not make it clear how many of the 50,000 actually go out on cage dives, but there is no doubt that the impact on the local economy of Gansbaai is huge.

Every year about 50,000 people travel to Gansbaai for a close encounter with the area's great whites, drawn in by the presence of a huge colony of Cape fur seals, and each day boats set out to sea to give tourists a closer look. Dangling bags of "chum" - usually mashed fish - a scent trail is created, and pieces of tuna on a line are used to draw the sharks towards divers in a cage on the side of the boat. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/09/wsharks109.xml)

The article's focus is that there is fear among locals that the chumming to attract the great whites could cause the animals to start associating humans with their natural food (tuna in this case). As far as I know there has not been any scientific evidence that chumming might influence the sharks to associate humans with a food choice. However, it is my opinion that it is truly a sad reflection on our society we would play this dangerous game with an endangered species.

Lets say for example that there is some truth in the idea that the chumming could condition the great whites to start associating humans with food. And lets say that humans (as is claimed by most experts) do not "taste" well to great whites (in other words, great whites do not like how humans taste). The problem is still that sharks will take bites out of humans to be sure that nothing has changed.

I don't know if it is fair to make this comparison, but as most know, there is a bit of a parallel with the behavior of the apex predator of the bush - the lion. Lions do not typically see humans as part of their food, but once a lion has crossed the line and attacked and perhaps killed a human they then learn a new behavior that humans are a food source. These lions are most often killed because of their "man hunting" behavior.

I know that I am speculating a lot in this post. The hypothetical question that I am posing is what if cage diving and chumming causes some great whites to change their behavior and start attacking humans on a larger scale? I think that the natural reaction from humans will probably be to hunt the great whites out of existence.

I have done my share of diving with sharks (not great whites). It is my opinion that it is best to observe marine animals in their natural environment. If that means waiting a little longer for an awesome photograph then so be it.

Go free little turtle

One of the unexpected highlights of my visit to Roatan last September occurred while staying at The Reef House Resort. The owner , Larry, participates in a program to rehabilitate injured turtles. Injured turtles are nursed back to health in a rock pool adjacent to the resort. The rock pool is quite large. So large in fact that I was able to conduct confined water training in the pool on a previous visit.

Larry told me that the turtles are often accidentally caught by fishermen. The turtles are tagged and when they are judged to be healthy enough are released back into the ocean. Larry invited me to be part of a trip to release two turtles and it was the first time that I had the honor to be part of something like this.

We gently loaded the two turtles into tubs with water, got them on the boat and headed south - way away from the regular spots where people dive. My job was to get into the water ahead of the turtles and capture the moment of release. The picture at the top is the moment after the first turtle was released. I was surprised by how fast he moved.

The second turtle was smaller and moved a little slower and I was able to follow him for about 10 minutes or so. In the photo below you can see the tag on the bottom of the right front fin.




If you are interesting in helping the Turtle Awareness Program (TAPS) that these turtles benefited from, you can find more information at the TAPS page of the Loma Linda University. Below is a description of the program from the TAPS page

Our TAPS seek to increase awareness and understanding of juvenile hawksbill and green sea turtles in Honduran waters initially by documenting the movements, habitat usage, and migratory onset of a cohort of turtles 'reclaimed' from local area fishermen by tagging then mapping their locations as they move through the water column and across the sea surface.

Utila Hyperbaric Chamber and hydration

One of the interesting surprises that I had on Utila was visiting the hyperbaric chamber facility. The chamber is located in the same complex as the Bay Islands College of Diving. The chamber seems very well equipped and the staff seem very knowledgeable and current on diving medicine. The chamber staff graciously spent about an hour with my friend and I explaining all the various facets of their operations.

From what I understood, the chamber is funded, at least in part, by a small fee that is levied on each dive. I believe it is called a reef fee, but I am not sure. The chamber is run as a non-profit under the direction of a local doctor.

One of the interesting tidbits that I learned while talking to the chamber techs was that they have had a number of divers who presented with symptoms of decompression sickness, that were dehydrated. It seems that in the very hot and humid climate like Utila divers have a difficult time staying properly hydrated. To me, this again underscored the importance of hydration before and after diving. Interestingly, Dr Campbell describes some factors that contribute to diver fluid loss (http://scuba-doc.com/dehyd.htm)

1. Scuba tanks have extremely dry air inside. As this air is taken into the lungs and saturated--nearly twice the normal amount of water is lost from the body.

2. Negative pressure breathing causes divers to lose about 350 cc/hour from their circulating blood volume, a phenomenon called immersion diuresis and seen also in snorkelers and swimmers.

3. Cold inhibits anti diuretic hormone, causes peripheral vasoconstriction, driving fluid back into the core and stimulating diuresis resulting in losses of plasma volume.

Consequently it is easy to see how one can become dehydrated during a dive.

Personally, I like to drink at least a glass of water before each dive. It is different for everyone of course, but as divers we sometimes forget about how important hydration is.

The following excerpt from Dr Ernest S. Campbell, M.D., FACS (http://scuba-doc.com/dehyd.htm) eloquently describes the importance of proper hydradation.

The importance of entering a dive well-hydrated cannot be over-stated. Prehydration of divers should include regular ingestion of fluids several hours before, 15-20 minutes before and between dives, particularly if multiple dives are to be made each day. The urine should be "clear and copious", the urine test for divers proposed by Dr. Jeff Davis

Say it with pride - say it like you mean it.

This morning we had three IDC (instructor development course) candidates in the pool who were doing teaching presentations. Some of the candidates presented their topics with great skill and confidence. However, as in most of these courses we had one candidate that just did not present his topic with any confidence.

I understand that it is difficult presenting to a group of instructors and your peers, but consider what it will be like presenting to a group of new students. What we need to remember as instructors that a lot of what students learn is from the non-verbal communication as much as from the verbal communication. Some people say that a lot more is "caught rather than taught". How true this is I do not know, but I do know that when we teach a class we should convey the information with confidence and enthusiasm.

If the instructor is half-hearted then the students will tune him/her out and I bet that you will have a lot more problems/challenges with the students. If the instructor is not enthusiastic/passionate about the class, how can we expect the students to be? I believe it is up to the instructor to set the pace and lead by example.

Another pet-peeve of mine is when candidates perform skill demonstrations half-heartedly. No matter how many times we tell some candidates that the skills should be demonstrated at presentation quality level, it seems that they just perform the skill to get it done. For example, in the mask remove and replace skill, I look for the candidate to first flood the mask and pause a second before removing the mask from his/her face. It is a subtle thing, but I feel that if they make the skill look easy then the students will be able follow what the instructor is doing and perform the skill correctly.

Instructor Candidates should remember that you need to model good skill demonstration abilities to your future students. Say it with pride, say it like you mean it and perform your skill demonstrations with style and exaggeration.