Sharks Behaviour re Bathers plus Divers

DIVER'S Notes Assembled at BARAKA Terminal 1977.

Notes Re Sharks.
Many thanks re yr response.

If the following Shark info is of no interest or u r too busy, chuck it in the bin/delete it. You will probably be more familiar than me with your own sharks in your own area anyway.

I did look at the website content. & noticed Shark related content. such a subject with changes per locations related to temperatures, visibility, situations, & TERRITORY of leader shark, all those TV Documentaries plus info on Sharks & re cages etc are all never to really apply to all sorts of locations areas & conditions.

When we noted one side of Australia has the same sharks & numbers & had no attacks, the other slightly warmer side of Australia ? plenty of attacks !!! we (Divers) had loads around us in Persian Gulf working as they increased in numbers as rigs stayed on locations.

I conducted research into the old Beedes?, S. African McClean & then 'Ozzies' Evans's & Clark's Findings on sharks, we were finding far more things relating to their original observations & aspects they had not covered or introduced Ron & Valerie Taylor’s findings & views seem far closer to actual shark behaviour than the scientific input which states Sharks react to electrical impulse emissions from fish in shoals, this does not seem to correspond to similar electrical emissions from humans whether bathers or divers..

-o0O0o-

Finding firstly:-

A, no shark attacks had been recorded to have occurred in below 72 degrees fahrenheit worldwide.

B, many attack Locations were somewhere near estuary to sea areas & certain early day times were recorded.

C, many attacks on swimmers or surfers were away from estuarial zones & for these, no common time span per day in particular recorded.

D, Key seemed to be from fish, FISH do not use a male or female organ for producing or emitting URINE they emit pure uric acid from beneath scales & more heavily when they are wounded or struggling.

**** Commonly believed is that blood in water mainly is what attracts sharks, yes, it does attract from offal however some uric level is associated with it, but actual content level is with it, though dilutedly is naturally FAR LOWER than purer URINE discharges.

In Australia e.g. at ports & towns near the sea in the past, there were no Filtration plants for Urine/Sewage hence when towns ‘woke’ in the morning & rose to prepare for the day, toilets were used & the river took all discharged to the sea.

Dubai, Ajman, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Bahrein, Ras al Kaimah? etc. had much the same levels originally, however had no sharks that near CREEKS estuaries, neither did they have the number of swimmers & surfers whilst mechanical engineering affected discharges & vessel traffic into & out of Creeks was also far heavier & different..

ABATTOIRS & such plants opened on the Australian Coast recorded as more prone to attack were washed down & again, with a slight change, all flowed out to the sea, visibility lowered, temperature rose a little & when mid morning Bathers took to the beach.

Most Australian & South Afrikaan attacks recorded, SURVIVORS showed leg or hip located attacks, virtually ALL ATTACKS WERE TO STANDING BATHERS, swimming bathers had the uric acid flowing diluted along their legs, away from upper body parts etc, always being swimming forward & damage was lower on legs.

(Naturally a shark cd not easily bite feet in such situations as easily as hip height, however it was a while after such records when someone by chance noted it was shortly after the attack victim had urinated in the water with urine flowing, strongest at where it came from coming out from sides of bathing suits.

When in surf, similar for surfers. A common factor then emerged to humans, >>> we do not run or move around rapidly WHEN URINATING, Human animal instinct. so surfers & swimmers were attacked similarly without definite time or visibility link & a feeding Shark heading for strongest urine source of emitting victim, shark with the eyes nictitating membrane in place end of hunt lets it concentrate on what the nostril guiding flaps assist to that single strongest source.

Offshore Dubai at storage tanker BARAKA anchored beam on to tide flow we once had a feeding frenzy whilst a Diver was down on a surface controlled Operation, using a hose /KMB9 Mask with Dark Green Welding facia, so he was not aware of what he was dragged to surface through.

Diver with welding glass plate was fitted to his hose fed Jirby Morgan KMB 9 was down welding oblivious to a feeding frenxy around him, & we had to haul him out THROUGH THE FRENZY, untouched or harmed, the fish & sharks were feeding on each others, virtually all sea beasts, a bit of a surprise to all, & near where the accomodation & toilets discharge was located & where cooks threw refuse in a large black bag.

ALWAYS if a diver jumped in there he would IMMEDIATELY have a known old resident Tiger shark (named by divers who ‘knew it’ as Kadeesh !) inspecting if he could eat the Diver or whatever splashed into the water there, LUCKILY THOUGH THE ‘TIGER’ OWNING THE AREA was always in the tide flow aft the accomodation , HOWEVER HE WAS ALWAYS KEPT FULL OF FOOD!!!. Plus we Divers knew NOT TO ‘PISS’ IN THE WATER WHEN DIVING! or particularly when on the warmer OIL PRODUCTION hoses to tanker from seabed 165 ft below whilst decompressing!!.(this was normally dived on Heliox or Trimix. Along with several far deeper fields around there

What seldom seems pointed out to Scuba Gas users is that when a Trimix or Heliox mix is made, checked & tested in Normal USDivers or similar Air Diving Cylinders, it DOES LET THE PERCENTAGE MIXTURE CHANGE ** HELIUM is such a thin gas it leaks through air valves & in time lowers the Helium level. Ie Do not store Mixed gas in cylinders long, also recheck before using. (Most users know anyway)

We used to have so many shoals of Barracudas others & Yellow Fin Tuna jacks averaging 25 or more Kilo each we would shoot these when INSIDE OILFIELD PLATFORMS JACKET LEGS since sharks do not naturally enter Oilfield Jackets which have any possible obstructions to their path or way out/exit, these too would be very well fed from Gulf fish shoals they hunted.

When a Diver recovery Zodiac (rubber boat) drifted outside the legs of the inner confines of a Jacket, Sharks wd always try to grab a struggling fish so rules were observed & fast passes at the catch wd be certain from the blacktips & we wouuld lose catches & Guns in Shark passes at them.

Occasionally we would get a 'Jacket' entered by a angry or attracted Shark when Jacks were being ‘ hunted’, only a hungry one though with arched body & fins down & only when we were shooting Jacks, the Oilfield canteens loved them & gave us free Beer for this sly work .SELDOM wd we find one of the ‘indigenous to the location or resident’ sharks behave like this, only a Hungry Shark acted like this & usually we regarded it as a travelling shark from elsewhere & we needed to be wary of it.

Flare stacks however due to warmth of their gasses along the bottom and up the jacket leg even before the flare flame WARMED 'Inhabitants of' THEIR IMMEDIATELY SURROUNDING WATER & DIVING on those was FAR MORE imposing & unpredictable where larger Sharks & others were not within range of local fishermen & also had far more unhunted fish to go for and such territories seemed to be inhabited by regular wildlife..

The Dubai Sharjah Creeks would seem initially to be like Austarlian & South African estuarial zones, NOT SO, swimmers were far scarcer & Pollution from Engineering & martime repair plus construction premises was of a far more unpleasant level & in spite of the Halal Abattoirs content the sharks were also too vulnerable to constant Dhow & Supply boats traffic etc & Sharks seemed to keep further offshore to a fish plentiful area.

Further 'down Persian Gulf' to Ras al Kaimah Hammerheads were plentiful,from there plus outside Straits of Hormuz where vessels anchored. Assorted Sharks behaviour seemed to be to get warmth, & stay out of direct sunlight near the Anchored ship’s flat bottom steady laminar (Hull surface flow speed) wd be normal plus close proximity to the Cook’s black bag of food hittting the water nearby.

Sharks wd be very common close to anchored VLCC/ULCC tankers flat bottoms & this also stopped those stick on 'Remora' fish attaching themselves to the Sharks.

A large & lovely Whaleshark was always around us, having a scratch on Oilfield Jackets in a field 35 miles or so off Dubai, close to 20 metres max long, a lousy pic. during a job on a ship.

When I started Maritime Offshore work well out in Indian Ocean we were very exposed so far offshore & those big ships have Toilets too for attracting large fish!, I was photographing a propellor on a tanker drifting in Indian Ocean & a huge Marlin, (Sailfish). came out o blue depths to about a metre away, turned on its side for about half a minute & then sped down into the Blue again, absolutely beautiful beast, I was too surprised to take pic.

We had most Sharks, Manta Rays & others, Turtles Morays Sea Snakes & worst hazard we had yearly was Jellyfish, concentrates & sting effects & swellings lasted several months & the number in work zones were serious enough to perhaps even disable if sufficient protective cover was not worn etc.

NO NEED AT ALL TO REPLY, I am busy as well as u & need to get back to work here.

Lynn Isaac. (MARCH 1977 at Baraka Oil Terminal Persian Gulf)