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The 1992 cageless shark-diving expedition was the world's first recorded intentionally cageless dive with great white sharks, contributing to a change in public opinions about the supposed ferocity of these animals.
The dive took place in January 1992, during the filming of the National Geographic documentary Blue Wilderness, at Dyer Island, South Africa. After 8-10 large Great White sharks had been kept around their boat for about 6 hours using chum and sea mammal flesh, four scuba divers carried out the world's first dive amongst these animals without a safety cage, or any other protection, like chain-mail suits. The divers were Ron and Valerie Taylor, notable Australian film-makers and pioneers of underwater exploration, their friend George Askew, a South African diver and photographer, and Piet 'PJ' van der Walt, who had founded the South African cage-diving industry in 1988.
The Taylors and Askew, recognised shark experts and authorities, were testing their hypothesis that these animals had a much fiercer reputation than they deserved. Their hypothesis was based on many years of experiences with various types of shark, including face to face encounters underwater. In 1978, Askew had written an article entitled "The Jaws fish - Myth or Maneater?", published in the UK magazine Underwater World, proposing that Great Whites did not deserve the horrific image and reputation that Jaws author Peter Benchley and film director Steven Spielberg had imprinted in people's minds. Askew postulated that, as they rely on stealth and surprise when attacking, Great Whites would be unlikely to attack if you were aware of their presence. He had two more articles on the same subject published in 1983 and 1991, and then went on to prove that point with the historic dive in 1992.
Whilst surface testing of the prototype "Shark POD" Protective Oceanic Device (now Shark Shield) for the Natal Sharks Board, the divers discovered that despite having been excited for hours previously by large amounts of blood-laden chum (mashed fish, blood and oil) and chunks of dolphin and whale meat from washed up carcasses, the sharks were actually very shy and difficult to approach, even scared of these unknown intruders. After a long 20 minute wait, the divers had several timid encounters with the very cautious sharks and were never at any time challenged, nor made to feel uneasy. This ground-breaking "Underwater Everest" conquest, a huge leap forward in ocean exploration, strongly challenged the idea of the Great White as a "Mindless Monster" eating machine, and changed the way the world viewed sharks.
The Taylors felt that the Australian sharks may have a slightly different disposition to South African ones, but as it is now known that Great Whites swim between South Africa and Australia, this is open to debate. On two occasions many years before, they had released Great Whites trapped in wire ropes from cages without being harassed, despite touching the animals.
Askew had encountered Great White Sharks several times previously over the years whilst spear-fishing. The first was in 1960, when meeting one was considered to mean certain death. This encounter was with a very gravid female who had come into a small cove to drop her pup/s. She was in such an advanced stage of pregnancy that her body was distorted, with her mouth actually facing forward above her hugely distended stomach. She was what is referred to as a "Drop-Gut". In the animal world a mother is usually very protective and aggressive just before and just after giving birth, and yet this large Apex Predator showed no aggression towards him. Because of this and similar encounters, and those of his colleagues, he became more interested in this question.
Just before the dive, Askew and Ron Taylor were kneeling on the dive platform a few centimetres above water, with their hands in the water filming. Askew stood up and stepped back, and at that moment a four-metre Great White slid onto the platform and stopped 3 inches from his foot before sliding back, but made no attempt to snap or lunge at him. It would have taken his camera and arms, and maybe pulled him in if he had not got up. Askew sees that incident as pure opportunism and not savagery.
The Prototype 'Pod" Valerie is seen wearing during this dive was a dummy for continuity and afforded the divers no protection.
That first close encounter dive demonstrated that Great Whites are not built only to devour people but are very curious and can be quite 'friendly'. This dive is directly responsible for the upsurge in Shark Tourism – especially free-diving (i.e. Out of cage swimming) with big sharks. When existing and potential operators around the world learnt of the theory that the Great White was quite approachable and not likely to attack, it was hypothesised that the same applied to other dangerous sharks such as tiger sharks, bull sharks and oceanic whitetip sharks. This proved to be the case and shark tourism began to expand rapidly. It is now a multibillion-dollar a year industry, and has provided a lot of useful insights into sharks.
Since this dive some divers have attempted cageless dives with big sharks, even hitching rides on their dorsal fins and touching them underwater. However, such attempts are not recommended as sharks are still Apex Predators and very opportunistic. Although there have never been any serious incidents from free-swimming with Great Whites, the same cannot be said for other sharks. There have been a number of fatalities and other injuries.
The great white shark, also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major oceans. It is notable for its size, with larger female individuals growing to 6.1 m (20 ft) in length and 1,905–2,268 kg (4,200–5,000 lb) in weight at maturity. However, most are smaller; males measure 3.4 to 4.0 m, and females measure 4.6 to 4.9 m on average. According to a 2014 study, the lifespan of great white sharks is estimated to be as long as 70 years or more, well above previous estimates, making it one of the longest lived cartilaginous fishes currently known. According to the same study, male great white sharks take 26 years to reach sexual maturity, while the females take 33 years to be ready to produce offspring. Great white sharks can swim at speeds of 25 km/hr (16 mph) for short bursts and to depths of 1,200 m (3,900 ft).
Spearfishing is a method of fishing that involves impaling the fish with a straight pointed object such as a spear, gig or harpoon. It has been deployed in artisanal fishing throughout the world for millennia. Early civilisations were familiar with the custom of spearing fish from rivers and streams using sharpened sticks.
A shark attack is an attack on a human by a shark. Every year, around 80 unprovoked attacks are reported worldwide. Despite their rarity, many people fear shark attacks after occasional serial attacks, such as the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916, and horror fiction and films such as the Jaws series. Out of more than 489 shark species, only three of them are responsible for a double-digit number of fatal, unprovoked attacks on humans: the great white, tiger, and bull. The oceanic whitetip has probably killed many more castaways, but these are not recorded in the statistics.
Shark cage diving is underwater diving or snorkeling where the observer remains inside a protective cage designed to prevent sharks from making contact with the divers. Shark cage diving is used for scientific observation, underwater cinematography, and as a tourist activity. Sharks may be attracted to the vicinity of the cage by the use of bait, in a procedure known as chumming, which has attracted some controversy as it is claimed to potentially alter the natural behaviour of sharks in the vicinity of swimmers.
Fabien Cousteau is an aquanaut, ocean conservationist, and documentary filmmaker. As the first grandson of Jacques Cousteau, Fabien spent his early years aboard his grandfather's ships Calypso and Alcyone, and learned how to scuba dive on his fourth birthday. From 2000 to 2002, he was Explorer-at-Large for National Geographic and collaborated on a television special aimed at changing public attitudes about sharks called "Attack of the Mystery Shark". From 2003 to 2006, he produced the documentary "Mind of a Demon" that aired on CBS. With the help of a large crew, he created a 14-foot, 1,200-pound, lifelike shark submarine called "Troy" that enabled him to immerse himself inside the shark world.
Rodney Winston Fox is an Australian film maker, conservationist, survivor of an attack by a great white shark, and one of the world's foremost authorities on that species. He was inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame in 2007.
Ocean Guardian is the manufacturer of devices that use Shark Shield Technology. The Ocean Guardian electronic devices create an electromagnetic field to deter shark attacks and are used by surfers, scuba divers, snorkelers, spearfishers, ocean kayak fishers, swimming areas off boats and for ocean fishing. It is considered one of the few electrical devices on the market that has performed independent trials to determine the effectiveness at deterring shark attacks, Whilst it is noted the Shark Shield Technology does not work in all situations, new modelling research from Flinders University states that the proper use of personal electronic deterrents is an effective way to prevent future deaths and injuries, it is estimated that these devices can save up to 1063 Australian lives along the coastline over the next 50 years.
Ron Josiah Taylor, AM was a prominent Australian shark expert, as is his widow, Valerie Taylor. They were credited with being pioneers in several areas, including being the first people to film great white sharks without the protection of a cage. Their expertise has been called upon for films such as Jaws, Orca and Sky Pirates.
The Red Triangle is the colloquial name of a roughly triangle-shaped region off the coast of northern California, extending from Bodega Bay, north of San Francisco, out slightly beyond the Farallon Islands, and down to the Big Sur region, south of Monterey. The area has a very large population of marine mammals, such as elephant seals, harbor seals, sea otters and sea lions, which are favored prey of great white sharks. Around thirty-eight percent of recorded great white shark attacks on humans in the United States have occurred within the Red Triangle—eleven percent of the worldwide total. The area encompasses the beaches of the heavily populated San Francisco Bay Area, and many people enjoy surfing, windsurfing, swimming and diving in these waters.
One of the first shark species to be protected was the grey nurse shark. The biology, distribution and conservation of this species are dealt with in the following paragraphs with a main focus on Australia as it was here it first became protected.
Shark tourism is a form of eco-tourism that allows people to dive with sharks in their natural environment. This benefits local shark populations by educating tourists and through funds raised by the shark tourism industry. Communities that previously relied on shark finning to make their livelihoods are able to make a larger profit from diving tours while protecting the local environment. People can get close to the sharks by free- or scuba diving or by entering the water in a protective cage for more aggressive species. Many of these dives are done by private companies and are often baited to ensure shark sightings, a practice which is highly controversial and under review in many areas.
Michael Rutzen is a South African conservationist, film maker, and cage diving operator.
Peter R. Gimbel was an American filmmaker and underwater photojournalist.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sharks:
South African born Chris Fallows is an expert on great white sharks and their hunting habits. He has amassed the largest database of predatory events involving great white sharks in False Bay and was the first member of the scientific community to observe the breaching behaviour.
Representations of the shark are common in popular culture in the Western world, with a range of media generally portraying them of eating machines and threats. In some media, however, comedy is drawn from portrayals of sharks running counter to their popular image, with shark characters being portrayed as unexpectedly friendly or otherwise comical.
Neptune Islands Conservation Park is a protected area occupying most of the Neptune Islands in South Australia about 55 km (34 mi) south-south east of Port Lincoln. It was established in 1967 principally to protect a New Zealand fur seal breeding colony. The conservation park was subsequently expanded to include the adjoining waters in order to control and manage berleying activities used to attract great white sharks. As of 2002, the conservation park is the only place in Australia where shark cage diving to view great white sharks is legally permitted.
Dangerous Reef is an island and reef system located in Spencer Gulf in the Australian state of South Australia about 32.5 kilometres (20.2 mi) east-south east of the city of Port Lincoln. It is the southernmost member of the Sir Joseph Banks Group. It has been the site of a navigation aid since 1911. It is notable as the site of a breeding colony of Australian sea lions. The waters adjoining its shore are notable as a place to view great white sharks to the extent that it was both a popular gamefishing and shark cage diving venue during the twentieth century, and was used to film footage for the following motion pictures – Blue Water White Death and Jaws. The island has enjoyed protected area status since 1900 and it has been part of the Sir Joseph Banks Group Conservation Park since 1989.
Valerie May Taylor AM is a conservationist, photographer and filmmaker, and an inaugural member of the diving hall-of-fame. With her husband Ron Taylor, she made documentaries about sharks, and filmed sequences for films including Jaws (1975).
Deep Blue is a female great white shark that is estimated to be 6.1 m (20 ft) long and is said to be over fifty years old. The shark was first spotted in Mexico by Mauricio Hoyos Padilla, a researcher. Deep Blue has been featured on the Discovery Channel's Shark Week. The shark had also been spotted in Hawaii by marine biologists who had been in Oahu to study tiger sharks. Various videos have shown the shark to have been calm and non aggressive around humans and notably even a few dolphins.
