DIVING WITH BULL SHARKS
There are only a few places around the world where you can experience a close encounter with bull sharks. One of them is Playa del Carmen in the State of Quintana Roo, Mexico, where every year, between the end of November until the beginning of March, a population of pregnant female bull sharks congregates in the shallow waters along the coast of Playa Del Carmen before giving birth in deeper waters.
Diving with Bull Sharks is an exciting experience for the advanced diver. Our shark dives are conducted in a controlled and safe manner at a depths of about 75 feet on a sandy bottom. Our objective is to provide divers with an opportunity of a close encounter with these majestic creatures to get a new perspective on sharks.
Diving with Bull Sharks is an exciting experience for the advanced diver. Our shark dives are conducted in a controlled and safe manner at a depths of about 75 feet on a sandy bottom. Our objective is to provide divers with an opportunity of a close encounter with these majestic creatures to get a new perspective on sharks.
Bull shark dives have been conducted in the Playa del Carmen area since several years and have gained a worldwide reputation. Our practice is not to feed the bull sharks during the dive. Although we can not guarantee the sight of bull sharks (after all this is happening in the big pool where we have no control over what's going to swim by), we generally get visited by smaller groups of 3-7 bull sharks on some days and sometimes up to 15 bull sharks on others days.
Please note that we have suspended our bull shark diving services for this season because, unfortunately, too many diving operations in Playa del Carmen are now offering these dives of which many of them are feeding the animals to attract them, which, we believe, will change the animals’ behavior.
About Bull Sharks
The Bull Shark, also known as the Carcharhinus Leucas, Zambezi Shark,
Nicaragua Shark, or Ganges River Shark, has a stocky figure and a broad,
flat snout. They are gray in color along their backs with white
underneath and sometimes have a streak of grey along their flanks as
well. They are short, wide and heavy fish with a second dorsal fin about
only a third of the size of their first one and a caudal fin larger and
lower than other sharks of comparative size. Their small eyes make
scientists believe that their eyesight is poor.
The bull shark is
known as one of the top 3 sharks most likely to attack humans (the
other two are the Great White Shark and the Tiger Shark). But, we also know that shark attacks are extremely rare…you are more
likely to be stung by a bee or struck by lightning…but nonetheless, this
shark has been nicknamed "The Pit Bull of the Sea" because of its
aggressive behavior.
The bull shark is one of 43 shark species
that can live in both seawater and freshwater. Most sharks have the same
salt concentration in the blood as the sea water they are swimming in.
This is not the case with Bull Sharks. They only have 50% of
the salt concentration in their blood which makes them very special as
they are able to switch from saltwater to freshwater very easily.
Bull sharks tend to stick to the
shallow waters, and rarely dive lower than 30 m (100 ft) from the surface, although
they have been recorded at a depth of 166 m (500 ft). The map to the left shows all the
places where bull sharks have been found, and as you can see they prefer the
warmer equatorial, tropical and subtropical water.
A full grown bull shark is normally no more than 11 feet (3.3 m) long and weigh approximately 500 pounds (226 kg). This is the largest they will ever get. The average female, which grows larger than the male, is about 7.8 feet (2.3 m) and weighs around 285 pounds (129 kg). The male only grows to about 7.3 feet (2.2 m) and weighs about 210 pounds (95 kg) on average.
Females reach maturity after about 10 years (which would be about 50
years old in human terms based on an 80-year lifespan). Females grow their young in the womb like humans, instead of depositing massive amounts of eggs outside of their body like many fish do. However, they are about 1-2 months longer pregnant than humans, and can carry anywhere between 1-13 baby sharks, or pups, at a time.
The bull shark's hunting technique is known as the "bump and bite." This means that they will typically head-butt their prey before sinking their teeth into it. The bump is an investigative technique used to help the nearly blind shark figure out what it's about to bite.
Bull sharks are officially listed as "Near Threatened" on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) list of threatened species.
Shark Conservation
Shark Conservation
HUMANS are the greatest danger to sharks! It is estimated that 100 million sharks are killed by people every year, due to commercial and recreational fishing.
Sharks are a common seafood in many places, however, most often, sharks are killed for shark fin soup. Fishermen capture live sharks, fin them, and dump the finless animal back into the water. Shark finning involves removing the fin with a hot metal blade. The resulting immobile shark soon dies from suffocation or predators. Shark fin has become a major trade within black markets all over the world...selling for about $300/lb. Poachers illegally fin millions each year and only a few governments enforce laws that protect them.
In Asia, shark fin soup is a status symbol and is considered healthy and full of nutrients. However, the US FDA lists sharks as one of four fish (with swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish) whose high mercury content is hazardous to children and pregnant women.
Sharks generally reach sexual maturity only after many years and produce few offspring in comparison to other harvested fish. Harvesting sharks before they reproduce severely impacts future populations.
The majority of shark fisheries have little monitoring or management. The rise in demand for shark products increases pressure on fisheries. Major declines in shark stocks have been recorded—some species have been depleted by over 90% over the past 20–30 years with population declines of 70% not unusual. Many governments and the UN have acknowledged the need for shark fisheries management, but little progress has been made due to their low economic value, the small volumes of products produced, and the sharks' poor public image.
To learn more about sharks and their vital role in the marine ecosystem you can visit Shark Research Institute whose primary goal is to creating value for sharks as sustainable natural resources for the dive industry, particularly in developing countries. By so doing, a steady revenue stream is also generated for local fishers that might otherwise slaughter the sharks for immediate gain.
The short movies below, one trailer from the award winning documentary "Sharks in Deep Trouble" by filmmaker and shark conservationist Lesley Rochat is an indicative of
the global plight of sharks, and the other one "The Tide is Turning" by HKSharkFoundation, highligts how nations, cities, and people around the globe are saying "No to Sharkfin."
