How to catch a shark by the tail?

Underwater photos of sharks always cause an ambiguous reaction ... Are you really diving directly to them? How can you not be so scared? What a horror, it's a SHARK !!!

These big fish are terrified by almost everyone ... everyone except the divers themselves.

And divers, as a matter of fact, often dive under the water just to see sharks. And they’re not just diving, but flying specially through half the world to different "sharks" places, to where the probability of seeing them is above all ... In any case, I’m for sure !!!

One such place is Cuba. Just the National Park "Queen's Gardens" and its world famous attraction with sharks. Still not very scary?

Then I tell ...

Sharks are fundamentally divided into two species: carnivorous and carnivorous. As the name suggests, they differ in what they eat. The former feed on flesh, that is, warm-blooded animals. This is just a mile away they smell the "smell of blood" and are potentially dangerous to humans. These include, for example, the famous great white shark. The latter eat exclusively fish and, therefore, do not respond to the blood of warm-blooded ones (it does not enter their food chain). It is to such sharks that divers mainly dive.

Both species are found in Cuba. The first is represented by bull sharks whose aureole is located far from where we were on the south coast of Liberty Island. The second has several species, including the so-called silk sharks. That's just for the sake of these sharks we drove half the world ...

But, as usual, first things first ...

Silk Sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis). Refers to the gray species of sharks. Oceanic species found at vertical walls and seamounts. Maximum dimensions - length up to 3 m. Depth of habitat - from 1 m to 500 m.

These would be the most common sharks, if not for one feature: if the shark bends the very tip of the tail, it falls into a catatonic stupor and cannot move. This mechanism is used for mating: males grab females by the tail, immobilizing them. (However, this also works for males.)

And if you had the opportunity to hold a shark by the tail, would you refuse?

This is how divers from all over the world come for this amazing opportunity - to catch a shark by the tail.

But catching a shark in the natural environment is not so easy ... Unlike what is shown in various unscientific films, in nature sharks are very shy ...

In order to collect sharks, they are lured ...

More precisely, even lure. Fish!

Such feeding is likely to cause horror even for experienced divers.

It caused us ... But we tried not to show it ... The day before, our dive guide, one of the oldest and, without a doubt, the most experienced Cuban dive guides, told a curious story. Once during such a dive, he unsuccessfully injured his hand on corals. Bloodshots lashed like a fountain, dozens of sharks circled around and the scene resembled a sound horror film, inspiring fear on the unfortunate divers who witnessed this scene ...

What happened then ??? But nothing! Shark Behavior EVEN NOT CHANGED!

Just because the "smell of blood" is completely alien to them ... No food reflexes arise, and, as a result, the desire to try for a tooth too. So there is absolutely no reason to fear sharks in this situation. However, to cuddle with them, of course, is also not worth it ...

A good flock of sharks of 10-20 heads (or even more) flies to the smell of fish, which circle around the boat in the hope of getting something tasty and do not go anywhere. Catching them in this situation is much easier, although it also requires some skill ...

Before diving, our diving guide shows a master class in shark fishing. To say that he is not afraid of them is to say absolutely nothing!

Then he will show a master class in the water. But this aerobatics is simply impossible to convey in words and photographs.

There are a lot of nuances in shark fishing. In addition, to catch and correctly break the tip of the tail, you also need to hold it ... Immobilized, it does not break out, but it weighs a lot, so you and the shark almost immediately begin to confidently sink. If you compensate for buoyancy so as to remain more or less at the same depth with the shark, then when you release it, with a high degree of probability the cork will fly to the surface ... Moreover, at a depth of 2-5 meters, where all this disgrace takes place , it is especially difficult to compensate for buoyancy ... But sharks do not swim at the same depth ... As a result, ears are very affected ...

But all this is trifles in comparison with the ability to hold a shark!

However, not everyone succeeds in catching it, even after receiving all the detailed instructions, and despite the fact that they swim literally at arm's length. It seems that you have already grabbed, but at the last moment she slips literally from under her fingers. Therefore, often the guides themselves caught sharks, and then gave them into the hands of those wishing to hold.

You can’t keep a shark for a long time. This species of sharks is in constant motion. In this way they ventilate the gills. They say that if you keep a shark immobilized for 5 minutes, it can die. Therefore, we were allowed to keep the shark for only a minute and a half, no more.

Release the shark is not at all scary. She just instantly goes down into the depths. Revenge is not one of her natural reflexes.

Well, and, perhaps, I will immediately answer a logical question: yes, in the end I still caught one shark! And stroked a little ... To the touch they are like a car tire ... Rubber - rubber ... For nothing, that silk ...