# Would you swim with sharks? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 17, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481 "2009-09-17T19:14:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/1 "2009-09-17T19:14:48Z")
I’ve learned that there are some aquariums where you can do just this. Presumably after the sharks have been fed. And of course, there are also cages and the like in the wild. Would you do either? Both? Why or why not? I wouldn’t. I scare easily. Looking at the blank empty stares at the sharks through the glass is freaky enough for me! ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/2 "2009-09-17T19:23:14Z")
Well, there are sharks and there are **SHARKS**. Every summer at La Jolla Shores beach, leopard sharks (up to 5 or 6 feet long)cruise the shallows right along the surfline. People flock there to get the “thrill” of swimming with them. As far as I know, leopard sharks are harmless; they avoid the swimmers as best they can. Unless you tried to grab one, I doubt you’d be in any danger. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/3 "2009-09-17T19:23:59Z")
Yeah, I was reading on another board about how people really do swim with sharks…and I’m thinking, wussy nurse sharks? Or hardcore sharks? Also, I think that if you go into a tank after the sharks have fed that’s probably less frightening than say a shark cage where they put chum down and drive the sharks into a frenzy. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/4 "2009-09-17T19:26:51Z")
Depends on the shark. Whale sharks? Absolutely! Great whites? Not so much. I will admit that a few years ago a great white (I think) was spotted off of Cape Cod, where I was doing a lot of snorkelling, and I kind of wished I’d see it. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/5 "2009-09-17T19:29:03Z")
Okay, let’s make them scary ass hardcore sharks. The kind that ride elephants, trampling and eating everything in their path. Would you, **tdn** , man of mystery and lover of sharks, get into a shark cage with Great Whites while people are chumming them and driving them into a feeding frenzy? Hammerheads? Tigers? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/6 "2009-09-17T19:29:20Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Also, I think that if you go into a tank after the sharks have fed that’s probably less frightening than say a shark cage where they put chum down and drive the sharks into a frenzy. There’s a big tank at the New England Aquarium that holds all sorts of big fish, including IIRC a hammerhead. The feeder gets right in the tank and never gets attacked. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/7 "2009-09-17T19:30:22Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Would you, **tdn** , man of mystery and lover of sharks, get into a shark cage with Great Whites while people are chumming them and driving them into a feeding frenzy? Hammerheads? Tigers? No. ---
**Author:** ![MissIntent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/97f17d/32.png) [@MissIntent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissIntent)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/8 "2009-09-17T19:33:37Z")
Oooooh I want to. Cage diving with the great whites off San Francisco was supposed to be a graduation present, maybe next year though. I’m not sure if they still chum the waters, environmentalists are pretty against that. And even if they did, I’d be surprised if there was a frenzy. But I just want to see one, next to me… And the great whites near San Fran are supposed to be huge, some of them nearing 20 feet long… I’m terrified and fascinated by sharks. This has been a dream since I found out you could do it several years ago. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/9 "2009-09-17T19:34:16Z")
My Wife and I have. Blue Hole, Belize. NOT wussy Nurse Sharks, Blue Sharks and Reef Sharks. 6 to 8 footers I would say. We where stuck at a decompresion stop, and about a dozon or so circled us. The dive boat was chumming for them so we would get the thrill. Glad that’s all it turned out to be. ---
**Author:** ![spoike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@spoike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spoike)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/10 "2009-09-17T19:35:41Z")
I swam with leopard sharks last month (at La Jolla Shores, just like you said, **blondebear** ), on a number of occasions. Leopard sharks are bottom feeders, and can’t really hurt humans. I suppose they could, if you stayed really, really still and promised to let them gnaw on you for a while, but they don’t, is my point. Anyway, the first time I looked through my snorkle and saw a group of these 6 foot sharks swimming below, I actually got a little freaked out. I knew, logically, that they couldn’t hurt me, but I had some sort of instinctual panic reaction for a second. I saw the shadows below me, and then they just sort of swam into focus, and with that came my thought of “Holy crap. Those are sharks!” It took me a couple of seconds of deep breathing and forcing myself to stay calm before I settle down enough to enjoy them. Given that reaction to the harmless leopard sharks, I don’t think I’d be well suited to swimming with actually-dangerous species. I would love to it, but I don’t think I could convince myself I’d be safe. If I could convince myself, an aquarium would be the only place I’d consider. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/11 "2009-09-17T19:39:43Z")
I have. Carribean reef sharks, so not quite as badass as Great Whites or tigers, but still enough to hospitalize you. It was on a dive trip to the Bahamas, and it was specifically billed as a shark dive. There was a divemaster in a chainmail suit feeding them, and 20 or so of us tourists kneeling on the bottom watching. There must have been 30+ sharks. They’d often swoop right over your head or between 2 people as they were trying to get to the food. The video is really fun to watch. I’ve been on other dives in the Carribean and in Australia where sharks made an appearance, including some 10-12 footers. Never bothered me. I’d definitely do a cage dive with Great Whites, but it’s not within my recreational budget right now. ---
**Author:** ![pipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pipper)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/12 "2009-09-17T19:50:42Z")
Absolutely! I would love to do a great white trip. We’ve done both the Bahamas shark feeding “dive” (which, as muldoonthief described, is really more of a “sit” or “kneel”) as well as the Blue Hole, where 8-10 footers just seemed to circle in an endless loop around the inside of the hole without paying any attention to the throngs of divers. Funny, in all the dives I’ve done the only thing that has bitten me and drawn blood was a 1 1/2 inch damsel fish (about half the size of your typical goldfish), that was VERY possesive about it’s tiny little patch of reef. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/13 "2009-09-17T19:56:05Z")
I couldn’t get in the water with a Great White, even with a cage. No way. A couple of years ago I went on a Whale Shark tour out of Exmouth in Western Oz. I just happened to pick the only trip of the season that didn’t spot one. The tour operator offered a voucher for a free trip if you didn’t get to see a Whale Shark, but I didn’t have an extra day. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/14 "2009-09-17T19:58:04Z")
I’m a lawyer. I do it every day. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/15 "2009-09-17T20:30:26Z")
Depends on the sharks. Yes with blue, leopard, whale, black/whitetip reef, and nurse sharks. Not that different than hiking near bobcats, wolves, or moose. No with great white, bull, oceanic whitetip, and tiger sharks. Too much like hiking near lions, tigers, and grizzlies. Others would need further study. I’ve heard that nurse sharks are involved in a small proportion of diver deaths. Apparently, morons harass them and wind up with the fish clamped onto their arm and/or a severed air line. Any truth? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/16 "2009-09-17T20:31:15Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > No. Wussy! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/17 "2009-09-17T20:36:32Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Wussy! 😃 Well you see, I just don’t have the time, what with the alligator wrestling and all. ---
**Author:** ![Shark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Shark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/18 "2009-09-17T20:45:38Z")
Yes? I guess I know now why no one wants to get in the pool with me ☹ It’s either that or my leopard print speedo. ---
**Author:** ![kitemaker\_chuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a88e4f/32.png) [@kitemaker\_chuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitemaker_chuck)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/19 "2009-09-17T20:49:53Z")
I’d do it! All you got to do first, is to just tell them to “Be nice!” After that, they’ll all be very sweet, then you can frolic and play with them, (they love to be tickled, right under their “fin” pits.) There’s even a game, where you can take their food away from them, and you can play fetch!! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481/20 "2009-09-17T20:55:07Z")
Actually, I recently saw part of a documentary where divers were stroking and befriending great whites, and the sharks were showing complete submission. That would be awesome. The scenario I was imagining was provoking them and having them go all bitey on the cage. That’s an experience I don’t need to have. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-swim-with-sharks/510481.md?page=2)