great whites

[liberty hound]

It seems we have had more than usual great white sightings this year off of jacksonville.
The latest was in todays paper about a man and his son being approached by a g.w. .
I've heard that you guys in ca. see them quite often.
Any advise on their habits or what to do if I see one?
I don't plan on stopping diving in the winter but a little advise from people with experience in this situation would be helpful
thanks

[VicT]

Any advise on their habits or what to do if I see one?

Not sure about there habits or what to do if in the water. But we Californians like to keep an extra pair of underwhere in the car just incase.

V.T.

[Vandolin]

I just read that article. Wow!!! The father sounds like he has his head on really well. Good choice it seems, to have been agressive with the White. It sounds like the shark was intent on "exporing" the boy. Coming up at a 45^ after showing interest earlier, also sounds like attack mode. Even an exploratory bite may well be lethal. I bet that Dad will have fresh power heads with him the next time. Thanks for the heads up on the story.

[Quietdiver]

There are a few things we West coast divers do when G.W. are in the area.
1. remember that G.W.'s are ambush preditors, they prefer to attack from underneath their prey. So make sure you dive near the kelp, dont stray to far into open water.
2. Keep your buddy close in case the unthinkable happens.

Most importantly just use your head, dont dangle a bunch of dead fish off of your body, use a boogie board as a float, and hang your game fish off it. Make sure one of the divers caries a rubber cord to use in case of an attack, to slow down loss of blood.

We see these sharks all of the time, without incident.
Be aware, and dive with care, most of all dont panic.

[DFC5343]

From what I have heard when you "see"one it usually got you from the waist down.

[Peter R.]

As far as the coast goes, I don't think GW's are much of a presence here from say, Malibu south, for shore diving at least. But then again, perhaps I'm like the boy who whistles in the dark to convince himself he's not afraid. I've seen alot of Harbor Seals and sea lions up pretty close and I've never seen any bite marks on them. (How's that for scientific research?!)
Not much of a presence until someone buries a whale on the beach and the leaching matter provides a multi-year near shore bait chum for Great Whites! :eek: Nice going.
I try to pay attention to stuff like that; environmental or man induced changes that could increase the presence of GW's along our coast. If I'm holed up at work for a few days and some yahoo buries a whale at my favorite dive spot, I want to know about it before the Whites move in and it becomes a TV news item!

Perhaps more on target though: as I develop as a underwater hunter, I find I'm more selective about diving in the clearest waters possisble (so that hungry White can see I'm not a seal) and I should think of some way to add some sort of tourniquet material to my gear.

[Dan33]

Most hardware stores carry surgical tubing in the same section that they have the rope in. I just bought some the other day and it was sold by the foot, so it cost like three bucks for about three feet of it.

[pakmat]

if you use a bungee float line you could easily cut a chunk and tie up with that... maybe double wrap...
chop a power band too....?//
probably both viable options