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Posted
  On 2/16/2022 at 6:37 PM, Gourmand said:

Yep, or you drown first. It would definitely suck and be terrifying but sharks aren't looking to eat/kill you the way an angry or hungry bear is if you come across one at the wrong time. 

My wife was camping in NoCal many years ago with her ex-bf and they were awakened in the middle of the night by a sound outside of their tent. She didn't know what the noise was, opened the tent slowly and looked right into the face of a big brown bear no more than five feet from her. Fortunately some campers nearby heard the bear activity (there was one other as well) and came running out with a bear horn and scared them off. She says it was probably the most terrifying moment of her life.

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Thats funny I used to live in NoCal and took a chic camping once.  I still remember the look of fear on her face when she unzipped my pants.  We must have been getting it on a little loud because some people eventually blew a horn at us.  She nicknamed my schlong the big brown bear ever since.

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Posted
  On 2/17/2022 at 2:58 PM, Not a cat said:

Fuck you.  As a claustrophobe the title should have been some warning, but still...

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I never really knew I was a claustrophobe until I watched the horror movie the descent. Crawling through those tight cave spaces and the thought of getting stuck freaked me out way more than the monsters.  

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Posted
  On 2/17/2022 at 1:11 PM, Onboard 2.0 said:

I always wanted to do the great white cage thing, had it scheduled when we were in S. Africa back in '14, but bad weather canceled it. 

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That’s where we did it.  The week we were there they had the first of several orca attacks, which has caused the great whites to somewhat flee the area.  Because of this thread I took a peak at the website of the company we used, and it doesn’t look like they see a whole lot of great whites these days.  We got there just in tIme because we saw 5 or 6 and had pretty consistent activity.

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Posted
  On 2/17/2022 at 5:48 PM, conVINCEd said:

That’s where we did it.  The week we were there they had the first of several orca attacks, which has caused the great whites to somewhat flee the area.  Because of this thread I took a peak at the website of the company we used, and it doesn’t look like they see a whole lot of great whites these days.  We got there just in tIme because we saw 5 or 6 and had pretty consistent activity.

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When you think of the millions of years of minimal evolution on such an apex-esq predator that is the great white....and how Orca's scatter them like ants.  It's wild to think about how devastating hunters those whales really are.  You hear stories of white's found dead missing just their livers from surgical Orca attacks.  

I'll be on the beach sipping my fruity drink with a straw.  

Posted
  On 2/17/2022 at 5:17 PM, bschoolprof said:

I never really knew I was a claustrophobe until I watched the horror movie the descent. Crawling through those tight cave spaces and the thought of getting stuck freaked me out way more than the monsters.  

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Had a friend that is a "master" diver (whatever that means).  He's done it all.  Technical dives.  Diving expert-level wrecks.  All over the world.  What he WON'T touch - cave diving.  That makes my hands sweaty just thinking about adding water and silt to the underground tight spaces.

Posted
  On 2/17/2022 at 12:48 PM, South Austin said:

Fear is a natural survival mechanism.  Declining to swim with sharks isn't letting fear dictate my life.

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I do not disagree that fear is a survival mechanism. I am no adrenaline junkie so I would hope my view does not come across like that. I just choose to do things in life that are off the beaten path.

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Posted
  On 2/17/2022 at 5:58 PM, BabaYaga said:

Had a friend that is a "master" diver (whatever that means).  He's done it all.  Technical dives.  Diving expert-level wrecks.  All over the world.  What he WON'T touch - cave diving.  That makes my hands sweaty just thinking about adding water and silt to the underground tight spaces.

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I have a friend that is a diver for the New York Aquarium. Diving is his life’s passion. He’ll go diving anywhere if he can afford to do it. Cave diving is a huge favorite of his. He can talk your head off about it. I think it would be fun to try at some point.

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Posted
  On 2/17/2022 at 10:01 PM, UpperWestside said:

I have a friend that is a diver for the New York Aquarium. Diving is his life’s passion. He’ll go diving anywhere if he can afford to do it. Cave diving is a huge favorite of his. He can talk your head off about it. I think it would be fun to try at some point.

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That is about the most dangerous thing you can do underwater apparently... sharks aside that is.

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Posted
  On 2/17/2022 at 10:01 PM, UpperWestside said:

I have a friend that is a diver for the New York Aquarium. Diving is his life’s passion. He’ll go diving anywhere if he can afford to do it. Cave diving is a huge favorite of his. He can talk your head off about it. I think it would be fun to try at some point.

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I think like any extreme undertaking, the safety is in the preparation and who you engage with.  Like base/sky jumping or wing suit diving.  If you are 100% dialed in on your craft, it's not too bad.  If your friends are spending most of your time making sure your Go-Pro's are on so you can immediately post to social media.....those are the one's I'd stay away from.  

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Posted
  On 2/17/2022 at 10:08 PM, Onboard 2.0 said:

That is about the most dangerous thing you can do underwater apparently... sharks aside that is.

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From what he has described of it I would have to agree. He’s undergone a lot of training and tests to be where he is at with it. He and his girlfriend are planning to move to this place in Florida that has a cave dive they can do regularly. I am not sure I’d move to Florida for that reason. Wish I could remember the exact place he said. 

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Posted
  On 2/17/2022 at 10:11 PM, BabaYaga said:

I think like any extreme undertaking, the safety is in the preparation and who you engage with.  Like base/sky jumping or wing suit diving.  If you are 100% dialed in on your craft, it's not too bad.  If your friends are spending most of your time making sure your Go-Pro's are on so you can immediately post to social media.....those are the one's I'd stay away from.  

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Absolutely. I would steer clear of folks like that, especially if you are going to be going into something that is going to require you to be on your game so to speak. I have a lot of respect for people who are really good at things that require them to be 100 percent dialed in. Alex Honnold would be someone in that mold. The El Capitan ascent was amazing.

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Posted

I believe that the three types we saw were a Sand shark, Galapagos and Hammerhead. Apparently the hammerhead is fairly rare to see around there, but it appeared briefly. Was really cool just watching them swim. One woman was fairly scared of them before we went in, but her friends got her to go. She really seemed to enjoy the experience. I would definitely do this again on my next trip there. Watching them get within 3 or 4 feet of us and just swimming away was unique to see.

Posted

Have also wanted to do the shark cage although I don’t dive.  I’ve looked into doing an excursion out of Cape Cod for Whites, a bit expensive but would be a huge bucket list item checked off. 
 

wasn’t there a poster on here who did shark dives/swims?  Lou Holtz spits or something like that as username, 

Posted
  On 2/18/2022 at 2:06 AM, UpperWestside said:

I believe that the three types we saw were a Sand shark, Galapagos and Hammerhead. Apparently the hammerhead is fairly rare to see around there, but it appeared briefly. Was really cool just watching them swim. One woman was fairly scared of them before we went in, but her friends got her to go. She really seemed to enjoy the experience. I would definitely do this again on my next trip there. Watching them get within 3 or 4 feet of us and just swimming away was unique to see.

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I've had that experience with barracudas and 100-200 lb groupers but never a shark. 

Posted
  On 2/18/2022 at 2:15 AM, Hate said:

I've had that experience with barracudas and 100-200 lb groupers but never a shark. 

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My wife and I were snorkeling near Tulum and saw a parrotfish that was bigger than we were. It wasn't moving much so we hung around it for a good length of time. Your post made me google parrotfish and the googles are stating 4ft. and 48lbs max. It makes me think that we saw one for the record books.

Posted

I've spent a decent amount of time in the surf off various US coasts, and have pretty much just told myself that I'll pay attention to the little fish so I know when to get out.  I mean, it's a completely ignorant point of view, but whatever works.  Then one day thousands of fish started leaping out of the water off St. Pete Beach, so I hauled ass.  No idea what they saw.

What I DO know I saw was a huge hammerhead swimming up the pier towards the beach, at night, in West Palm Beach.  I mean, I was on the pier, and it was still chilling.  The lights provided perfect illumination for that machine.  It had to have been 10 feet long, and "menacing" doesn't do it justice.  I just went to the bar and drank.

Posted
  On 2/17/2022 at 5:58 PM, BabaYaga said:

Had a friend that is a "master" diver (whatever that means).  He's done it all.  Technical dives.  Diving expert-level wrecks.  All over the world.  What he WON'T touch - cave diving.  That makes my hands sweaty just thinking about adding water and silt to the underground tight spaces.

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Watch the documentary on the Rescuenif the Thai soccer team. Friggin crazy.

 

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Posted
  On 2/18/2022 at 2:10 AM, Underdog said:

Have also wanted to do the shark cage although I don’t dive.  I’ve looked into doing an excursion out of Cape Cod for Whites, a bit expensive but would be a huge bucket list item checked off. 
 

wasn’t there a poster on here who did shark dives/swims?  Lou Holtz spits or something like that as username, 

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Unless you live on the east coast or have a hookup, take a liveaboard from San Diego to Guadalupe.. Much better experience. One of my dive buddies was on the Vortex for 3 years.

 

https://www.liveaboard.com/diving/mexico/socorro-vortex?m=08/2022

 

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Posted (edited)
  On 2/18/2022 at 7:08 AM, rage-a-holic said:

Unless you live on the east coast or have a hookup, take a liveaboard from San Diego to Guadalupe.. Much better experience. One of my dive buddies was on the Vortex for 3 years.

 

https://www.liveaboard.com/diving/mexico/socorro-vortex?m=08/2022

 

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NY.  
 

The excursion out of CC is just a boat ride out to see GWS, they apparently send out a chopper to spot them for the Captain to take you out.  Last I checked, it was about $1500 bucks but could be split up among other passengers( no more than 5 or 6). 
 

Only visit to CC was a few years ago, missed out on a sighting and seal attack near Chatham.  

Edited by Underdog
Posted
  On 2/17/2022 at 5:55 PM, BabaYaga said:

When you think of the millions of years of minimal evolution on such an apex-esq predator that is the great white....and how Orca's scatter them like ants.  It's wild to think about how devastating hunters those whales really are.  You hear stories of white's found dead missing just their livers from surgical Orca attacks.  

I'll be on the beach sipping my fruity drink with a straw.  

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Might wanna pull the lounger up around the dunes.

 

feaf40b0-67e4-44f5-ac95-f2867d15ceb9

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Posted
  On 2/18/2022 at 2:11 PM, Underdog said:

NY.  
 

The excursion out of CC is just a boat ride out to see GWS, they apparently send out a chopper to spot them for the Captain to take you out.  Last I checked, it was about $1500 bucks but could be split up among other passengers( no more than 5 or 6). 
 

Only visit to CC was a few years ago, missed out on a sighting and seal attack near Chatham.  

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ah. This is the full underwater encounter experience, costs about 3x more.

Posted (edited)

Grew up swimming/surfing/now mostly SUP surfing on SPI and it’s still what I do every day I can when back home.  All the videos of how close we really are to sharks from drones/ airplanes/etc make me feel better and not worse. When you think of how many people and hours we spend next to each other without shit happening, you realize that for the most part they DNGAF about us.

One of my favorite photos from a morning on the Laguna Madre side on my board is not a shark but a bottlenose. Not gonna lie— a bit unsettling.  They are bigger than they look and when you can’t track where they are under you, you realize they could fuck up your world if they got a mind to. Still not an experience I’d trade for the world. 
 

image.thumb.jpeg.580b06a75440b2da2fe3354024e80bf2.jpeg

 

Edited by 956 Worldwide
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Posted

Years ago I was in chest deep water speck fishing the Chandeleur islands when I felt a tug on my belt-looped attached stringer of trout in tow. Much to my surprise a bull shark was chowing his way up the stringer towards me. Released the stringer to the youngster and gtf out of the water and never went back.

Posted
  On 2/20/2022 at 9:27 AM, 956 Worldwide said:

Grew up swimming/surfing/now mostly SUP surfing on SPI and it’s still what I do every day I can when back home.  All the videos of how close we really are to sharks from drones/ airplanes/etc make me feel better and not worse. When you think of how many people and hours we spend next to each other without shit happening, you realize that for the most part they DNGAF about us.

One of my favorite photos from a morning on the Laguna Madre side on my board is not a shark but a bottlenose. Not gonna lie— a bit unsettling.  They are bigger than they look and when you can’t track where they are under you, you realize they could fuck up your world if they got a mind to. Still not an experience I’d trade for the world. 
 

image.thumb.jpeg.580b06a75440b2da2fe3354024e80bf2.jpeg

 

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Had one pop up really close to us like that in Galveston. Water was about thigh deep for me, had the 6 and 9 year old with me. Started coming straight at us and I thought maybe it charging us. Those things can move. About 20’ from us it popped a mullet up out of the water and ate it. We backed up a little to give it some room and watched it heard mullet and eat for a couple minute befor it moved on. 

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