Northwest Dive Club

http://www.idivecayman.com/how-to-avoid ... by-a-shark

bating sharks... what do you thing, good or bad....????

I think bad

I've been on several of these shark-feeding dives, some good, some bad.

My take:

Sharks are creatures of habit. If you feed them in the same place all the time, they will associate that place with feedings. This is good when all operators know and agree that That Spot is where the feedings will happen. It has to be far away from any other dive sites. These dives can be done safely and provide an opportunity for divers to see species of sharks that they might never see during years of diving.

So long as the feedings are done only in that one place, and always in a consistent manner, it doesn't seem to affect the sharks' behavior elsewhere.

Trouble starts when an operator decides to feed sharks elsewhere and doesn't tell anyone. Divers who don't know it may go there and the sharks will get aggressive when no food appears (this has happened to me and it was not fun). Also, if a divemaster or divers start hand-feeding them randomly during normal dives, then the sharks start associating food with people rather than a location-- that gets really ugly.

I enjoy a well-run shark feeding dive. But it has to be done responsibly, with everybody working together.