Baiting animals for a shot

sheahanmcculla · Post by **sheahanmcculla** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 12:42 pm

I just got a case for my digital camera, and it works great! But I was wondering if there is a way to bait in more animals so I can get a better shot. If I just leave a onion bag of chicken and go away for awile, and then come back will there be any critters there? Any help would be great!

WylerBear · Post by **WylerBear** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:38 pm

I really hope you're kidding.

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 3:47 pm

(donning vest and helmet)

sheahanmcculla · Post by **sheahanmcculla** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:00 pm

I don't understand what the big deal is am I missing something?

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:06 pm

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:12 pm

Many people consider it in poor form to bait or otherwise feed the critters. Other people don't have a problem with feeding the animals, though baiting for pictures is new to me.

There is a video of a guy who lost his thumb feeding hotdogs to an eel (not around here)... that was used to being hand fed. ](*,)

In my opinion, you'll see enough if you dive regularly. I started seeing all sorts of things I'd previously missed once diving became more "natural" and my actions were more intuitive. Then the animals seemed to be everywhere!

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 5:44 pm

It does make for an interesting discussion though... Seattle Aquarium baits for sharks. Would this be any different?

BTW - Welcome to the group!! We enjoy meeting new people. You just might have started a great debate with your first post!!

sheahanmcculla · Post by **sheahanmcculla** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:11 pm

Thanks for the information I did not mean to rile anyone up about this. You bring up some good points. I see many pictures of people feeding wolf eel and octos so I was qurious. I remain undicided at this point. I hope others will give there opinion!

THANKS!

Diver_C · Post by **Diver_C** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:29 pm

Well, obviously we know what it takes to bait a 'sounder' - a seastar, or a lampshade (depending upon whether under or above the water)

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 9:07 am

Diver_C wrote:Well, obviously we know what it takes to bait a 'sounder' - a seastar, or a lampshade (depending upon whether under or above the water)

It just depends on how deep you are....

Thanks for the information I did not mean to rile anyone up about this. You bring up some good points. I see many pictures of people feeding wolf eel and octos so I was qurious. I remain undicided at this point. I hope others will give there opinion!

THANKS!

As you can probably tell (from seeing pictures/video of people doing it and others like me sharing my opinion), there are very different opinions on feeding the wolfies, octos, etc. My personal opinion is not to feed them, but then again many people do it.

It helps to have someone like Janna or John explain what kind of issues can be caused by feeding them.

It should also be noted - the picture in my avatar is a sunflower star on my head... BUT the star had grabbed my light can as I swam by it and stuck to me - THEN I relocated it to my head. Another one hitched a ride on Tom Nic in a similar fashion only a moment earlier. Yeah, Titlow can get boring at the 70 minute mark... evidently, even for sunflower stars.

I don't make a habit of harassing or feeding the wildlife and try hard to keep my light out of their eyes... unless it's crabbing season.

Zen Diver · Post by **Zen Diver** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 8:53 am

Best way to find the critters is to take a critter class, such as Janna's for example. Once you know what the things look like, where they hang out, and what time of day you'll find all kinds of stuff, sans bait.

-Valerie

Tangfish · Post by **Tangfish** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:45 am

I use pepperoni pizza bites. They thaw out nicely by about 15 minutes into the dive. Alternatively, if I'm looking for sharks I bring Burntchef along with me. /kidding

Huskychemist · Post by **Huskychemist** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 2:04 am

Well, you asked for more opinions.

I choose not to bait the animals.

I have a few reasons: I see quite a few things without baiting. I enjoy the challenge of getting good pictures/videos without baiting. And I feel as though I'm a visitor, and should treat my "hosts" with respect. I don't have any knowledge of the shark program at the aquarium...so I'm not sure what type of baiting, etc. they take part in.

And to be honest, I did take part in a shark dive off Catalina Island last summer that put chum in the water. (Well, so did I...and that was natural!) Call me a hypocrite if you'd like...because there's some truth to it... But my dive buddy and I chose an operation that made the chum from fish that are naturally part of the shark's diet. The operation also does tagging of the sharks for educational purposes. In fact, one of the sharks they tagged was caught off the coast of Japan. It was a great experience (all in a cage), but I'm not sure I'd do it again... Hard to say.

Grateful Diver · Post by **Grateful Diver** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 6:16 am

Well, if you get them to the point of where they associate divers with food, there may be some unintended consequences ... particularly when other divers show up without anything for them to eat.

You've also just "domesticated" the animal ... at which point, you might as well be taking a picture of the family dog.

I realize there are varying opinions on the subject, but I'm for leaving the animals wild. I've managed some pretty decent photos, and not once have I had to resort to using food to get them to pose for me.

For those who choose to do so, are you using food that's something the animal would normally eat? I've seen people feeding hot dogs to wolfies ... man, that's cruel. I wouldn't feed those things to a human, much less a wild animal ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Northwest Dive Club

Baiting animals for a shot

Baiting animals for a shot

I choose not to...