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Just their name, their size, and their menacing looks can evoke feelings of terror, fear and instinc- tive rejection. However, if you have the privilege to be able to dive with big tiger sharks, as I have, you might fall in love with them, at least you will bond with them in a mysterious way. They are certainly not as “cute” as marine mammals or anthropomorphized clown fish, but they will have an impact on you that could change your per- ception of sharks, and marine life, forever. with Tiger Sharks How safe is it? Text by Wolfgang Leander Photos by Wolfgang Leander, Roger Horrocks and Sijmon de Waal

Sijmon de Waal

64 X-RAY MAG : 18 : 2007 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED Wolfgang blessing a large female tiger shark appropriately baptized “Dances with Wolf” focus Tiger Sharks Tiger sharks are, along however, you can degree of corporal mobility, which in my with the great whites, say this—no bait, no opinion only apnea diving will allow you. probably the least sharks. But then again, this is my choice. Most understood of all other people will feel more comfortable horrocks sharks. They Sharks diving with tanks—being relaxed under- are are shy and water is really what roger elusive, espe- should be all about. cially the larger I began freediving 52 years ago in ones. Therefore, if you southern France, and to this day I can are against baiting sharks, Apart still fully relive the overwhelm- chances that you will see them from that ing sensation and get close to interact with them one should I felt regu- are rather slim. As any shark photog- always be aware larly rapher will tell you, there is no way to of the fact that sharks, being approach tiger sharks unless one attracts especially the “requiem” then them with chum and fish carcasses. sharks, have no serious adversaries being in the oceans, which makes them the able to Behavior undisputed lords of their habitat. enter into referred to as To be sure, tiger sharks are not “docile” these were recorded another extremely dangerous “man- marine animals, even though they swim Attacks as fatal. The SRI lists the world— Cousteau’s eat- ers”, which, as many slowly compared to other more nervy So, what about so-called shark attacks? shark species in their silent world—and weightlessly enlightened divers and experienced sharks and, thus, appear to be “cool”. I would venture to say that not more glo- bal shark attack files swim in it. “sharkmen” know by now, is not the They are formidable and highly devel- than five to ten tiger shark related acci- only when they are 99-100 Freediving with tiger sharks for the first case; Tiger sharks are neither “extremely oped predators capable of hunting other dents happen each year worldwide, of percent certain about it. Surfers, time in my life and just four months ago dangerous” nor do they eat men (or sharks and biting through the shells of sea which perhaps one or two may result in swimmers, and spear-fishermen appear in in a place called Tiger women). turtles. Not understanding and correctly fatalities. According to the Princeton- to be at a higher risk of being bitten by Beach, left me just as breathless, literally, “Dangerous” can be circumstances interpreting their body language is prob- based Shark Research Institute (SRI), a tiger shark than snorkelers and scuba as I was back in 1955. To swim with tigers and wrong attitudes like harassing or ably the highest potential risk factor while between 2000 and 2006 some 35 inci- divers. spoiled me completely. I have to admit provoking them, or else disregard- encountering them in their environment. dents involved tiger sharks; only eight of These findings, although not complete that all other sharks I have seen and ing other basic safety rules such as not as not every incident is being reported, spear-fishing in their presence. Being with simply confirm that tiger sharks—or any tiger sharks in a feeding situation where sharks for that matter—are not at all they might view you as an intruder or a what ignorant and sensationalistic media competitor could incite them to display people still call the “monsters of the dominance, which, if not recognized and deep” or “mindless killing machines”. respected, could possibly trigger a bite. That said, diving with sharks, even with fully grown tiger sharks, should not be Chumming regarded as a “hazardous” activity or an Typically, shark operators will bait tiger “extreme” sport. If you want to dive with sharks with chum or fish parts in a perfo- tiger sharks, and assuming that you have rated plastic drum, which has proven to some experience diving with other sharks, be a safe method to attract them. Some the question should not be: Is it safe or people are opposed to baiting sharks— not? Rather, the question is whether to they allege that baiting sharks alters their freedive or scuba dive with the sharks. attitude toward divers, as they will asso- ciate humans with food. Unfortunately, To freedive or not to freedive... ignorance fuels fears. There is abso- I prefer freediving for two very basic rea- lutely no evidence that baiting condi- sons. First, as a mammal, I find it unnatu- tions sharks to attack people. As a rule, ral to breathe underwater, and second, interacting with sharks requires a high “Up close and personal”—this is what shark operators call tiger shark encounters roger horrocks Large but graceful as a prima ballerina wolfgang leander 65 X-RAY MAG : 18 : 2007 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED Freediver, Roger Horrocks, photographing “Dances Tiger Sharks focus with Wolf” Close encounters Location As a freediver, I have had my Which place is “better”—Tiger close encounters of the “striped” Beach or ? This is a kind mostly at the surface where tough question, which I have the tigers look their best, pho- been asked many times after I togenically speaking. Nothing returned from South Africa. Both beats the sight of a tiger shark spots are great. To my knowl- that comes up to the surface to edge, these locations are the only check you out. Once the tigers ones in the world where you are feel good about you and move (almost) guaranteed to see tiger in perhaps a bit too close for your sharks on every dive. taste, don’t —just place Tiger Beach in the Bahamas your hand on their heads and is what you’d expect from first push them down very gently. class tropical diving in pristine Never, never hit a shark on its waters—the visibility is superb, and nose as some “experts” advise. the sandy bottom as background Handling sharks roughly is asking makes for “clean” photographs for trouble. Sharks are sensitive and videos. The diving is easy, and responsive. They can tell a and as you can get there only on klutz from a tactful person. a live-aboard (Jim Abernethy of leander wolfgang

swum with—even large speci- around long before the dinosaurs mens—pale in comparison. roamed our planet. No other sharks have a stronger A few weeks after my first encoun- expression of character than tiger ter with tiger sharks in the Bahamas, sharks—the square head, the I flew to South Africa to freedive wide, blunt front, the compara- with the tiger sharks of Aliwal Shoal. tively huge mouth—often tightly Here, I was able to experience the shut when they get very close— most incredible interaction with big and those inquisitive, intelligently tiger “girls”. Swimming up very close looking black eyes. to these gentle creatures was what When I saw the first tiger shark I would call the climax of a lifelong swimming out of the blue mist of love affair with the ocean and its the Bahamian sea—which struck sharks. me as the quintessential shark—I felt reborn, miraculously invigor- ated by the spell of a perfect animal that has already been LWolfgang interacting with one of his tiger girls roger horrocks

66 X-RAY MAG : 18 : 2007 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED Scuba Adventures and Scottie Smith of the Dolphin Dream Team are the guys to go with), you have unlimited dives while anchored at Tiger Beach. Aliwal Shoal, in contrast, is for the hard core shark divers—darker waters, usually less clear than in the Bahamas, at times rough launches from the beach as the skippers have to get past the surf. However, if what you are looking for is close and intense interaction with tiger sharks, I’d recommend that you go all the way to Umkomaas, about 25 miles south of Durban, and book at least 7-10 dives with the operator I consider the most experienced, and whose team members are all excellent, enthusiastic shark divers, with or without tanks—Blue Wilderness. Mark Addison of the Blue Wilderness team pioneered tiger shark diving in South Africa and is the guy people like Editor’s note: The opinions expressed David Doubilet and Doug Perrine go with not wanting to admit that by Wolfgang Leander in this article if they want to photograph the tigers or the darker side of our nature reflect his own assessment of diving dive the by now famous Sardine Run. is not bestial but human. We with sharks. While we believe that div- Perrine shot his award winning image of have refused to realize in our ing with them is relatively secure if and the copper shark coming out of a cloud hubris that our God is the God when generally accepted safety rules of sardines there. that also created them, not a are observed, it should be stressed that lesser god, a god of sharks— sharks are wild animals and accidents What’s next... peace to them, finally. ■ could happen My next diving plans? In December 2007, I will be back at Tiger Beach, with the Dolphin Dream Team, and in March 2008, you’ll find me with my son Felix in South Africa where we have some great friends waiting for us—Roger Horrocks (www.rogerhorrocks.com), the Blue Wilderness team, and, of course, “my” girls, of which one I will take out for a dance to renew our special relation- ship... I am hopelessly hooked on tiger sharks. I love them. They are to me the para- digmatic sharks—the sharks of sharks. If somebody would ask me what I feel for them, for all sharks, this is what I would state: We have stripped them of their dignity, we have vilified them throughout the ages, we feared them irrationally out of ignorance, and now we persecute them mercilessly, exploit them as if they were a commodity. We have likened their innocence to the worst of human traits,

67 X-RAY MAG : 18 : 2007 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED