Reader's Digest

(avery) #1
July• 2018 | 69

in part to make sure it wasn’t too
hungrywhenwedid.Allofthiswas
OKwithmeuntilIreachedthebot-
tom and immediately had to fend of
theirsttigersharkI’deverlaideyes
onall360kilogramsofit.
ThewayDebradescribeditlater
thiswasjust‘Sophie’beingcurious
and friendly. “Shelooovedyou” De-
brasaidbecauseofalltheattention
Sophie paid me during the dive. At
thetimeIwasn’tsure.
But after watching how Vincent
andDebrahandledthemoverthe
nextweek’sdives–caressingthem
afterfeedingthemafishsteering
them gently away when it was time
forthemtomoveon–itbecame
easy to see the sharks in a very be-
nignlight.Notoncedidtheymakea
sudden or aggressive move towards
anyone; they moved slowly and

deliberately swimming in large loops
andthencomingonaglidepathto
thefeedingbox.Ifeltsurprisingly
safe in their presence.
Most of the tiger sharks at Tiger
Beach are habituated to divers used
tobeingfed.Buteventheonesthat
aren’t familiar with the routine gen-
erallyarenotdangeroustodivers.
Tiger sharks are ambush predators
relyingonstealthandsurpriseto
catch their prey.
AtTigerBeachyou’renotblindly
paddlingorswimmingatthesurface
like most attack victims. You’re down
at the sharks’ level presenting your-
self as something other than prey
and reasonably safe.
However there are videos of near
missesatTigerBeach–inoneatiger
goesafteradiver’slegandin 2014 a
diver simply disappeared.

Withjawsandteethdesignedtocrushandshearhardobjectssuchasturtle
shells a tiger shark can aford to bite irst and worry about edibility later

PHOTO: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

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