Shark Cage Diving

            This post is going to be a bit different than most of the ones I’ve been making recently. Instead of just being an update on how my time in Africa is going, this one is going to be focused on a specific topic. While working with White Shark Projects I got a request to make a post on the controversial topic of cage diving with white sharks. So, without further ado, here goes.

            The concept of cage diving with white sharks brings about different thoughts and emotions for different people- thrill, fear, exhilaration, excitement. Some say it should be left strictly for biologists and adrenaline junkies. Others believe that coming face to face with one of the world’s top predators is tempting fate and asking for trouble. Still others say that the practice is dangerous for everyone in the ocean because it gets the white sharks to associate people with food, and that’s where the real debate comes in. Does spending time around cage diving boats make white sharks more dangerous to other people in the ocean? When people think about cage diving in its simplest terms, it would seem like the answer to that question would be yes. Because, of course, in order to get the sharks to come and stay by the boat, there needs to be something to entice them. That thought is just what prompts the misconception that cage diving boats feed sharks. Yes, that is a misconception- the crew of cage diving boats do their best to make sure the sharks do not get any food while around the boat. Many people that have been on one of these ecotourism boats, however, will remember the strong smell of chum permeating the air around the boat. Doesn’t that chopped up fish mixed with oil and salt water mean food for the white sharks? Actually, no. Chum serves as a food source for only the small baitfish and sea birds. When it comes to the white sharks, chum is only a smell. Out of their six senses, sharks rely heavily on their very acute sense of smell to find food. When they swim past the chum line that the current takes out, that smell is what draws them to the boat. In fact, chum is part of the reason that white sharks do not become habituated to hanging around cage diving boats. When they follow the smelly chum line, sharks expect to find food at the end of it. When they come to the boat and don’t get any food out of it, their motivation to stick around cage diving boats essentially disappears. Yes, many of the white sharks will chase the bait, which the boat crew uses to bring the sharks closer to the cage for a better look, but the large majority of sharks that visit the boats get absolutely no food out of it. Due to that, researchers have found that most white sharks spend a very small portion- less than one percent- of their lives around cage diving boats. It’s really a pretty simple concept- they smell the chum, follow it expecting food, then are disappointed when they come to the boat and don’t get any food, so obviously they wouldn’t want to return. White sharks, in fact, are not the mindless killers that people once thought they were. Four hundred million years of evolution have essentially perfected this apex predator, and it is one of the smartest fish in the sea. Not only do these animals have strong individual personalities, they have problem solving ability and long memories. Therefore, when they visit cage diving boats and remember that they didn’t get the food that they were hoping for, they are seriously discouraged from returning to the boat. So, returning to the main question that sparks controversy around this practice: does spending time around cage diving boats make white sharks associate people with food, and therefore more dangerous? No. If anything, it’s the exact opposite.