July⢠2018 | 69
in part to make sure it wasnât too
hungrywhenwedid.Allofthiswas
OKwithmeuntilIreachedthebot-
tom and immediately had to fend of
theirsttigersharkIâdeverlaideyes
onall360kilogramsofit.
ThewayDebradescribeditlater
thiswasjustâSophieâbeingcurious
and friendly. âShelooovedyouâ De-
brasaidbecauseofalltheattention
Sophie paid me during the dive. At
thetimeIwasnâtsure.
But after watching how Vincent
andDebrahandledthemoverthe
nextweekâsdivesâcaressingthem
afterfeedingthemafishsteering
them gently away when it was time
forthemtomoveonâitbecame
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
arenât familiar with the routine gen-
erallyarenotdangeroustodivers.
Tiger sharks are ambush predators
relyingonstealthandsurpriseto
catch their prey.
AtTigerBeachyouârenotblindly
paddlingorswimmingatthesurface
like most attack victims. Youâre down
at the sharksâ level presenting your-
self as something other than prey
and reasonably safe.
However there are videos of near
missesatTigerBeachâinoneatiger
goesafteradiverâslegandin 2014 a
diver simply disappeared.
Withjawsandteethdesignedtocrushandshearhardobjectssuchasturtle
shells a tiger shark can aford to bite irst and worry about edibility later
PHOTO: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC