Swim with Great Whites?

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubeacTZvsgs

[Wingman]

Very cool!!! I still think I will leave my float tube home for fishing in the big blue.

[Rick J]

We saw a good sized tiger shark when fishing at TCL two weeks ago - kinda following the schools of big tarpon!

[gryhackl]

I did exactly the same thing in 1976 with an American River squawfish.

[Wednesday Caster]

Thanks Bill.
What a difference there is between knowledge and fear!
Very insightful.

[Rick J]

I would not necessarily classify that as knowledge! I have swam with sharks alot but never a great white and never try to touch them - 99 times out of 100 you might be ok but these are very primitive animals that react in ways we do not understand so it may be knowledge if he does not eat you but stupidity if he does!

[Wednesday Caster]

I too have been in waters with sharks on the So Cal coast and local islands. The experiences of viewing and touching them have been awesome (for the lack of words).
It was clear that Monsieur Cousteau did not advocate these joy rides. I would never recommend it either without proper specialist guides. My comment of knowledge is for the preservation of these great creatures. I'm not a conservationist nut but believe that many of these creatures have been slaughtered based upon unwarranted fears.

[Rick J]

On this I totally agree - there is absolutely no reason to kill these magnificent fish (any shark for that matter) - and you are right - much of it is due to fear and lack of knowledge.

I still think what he did was pretty foolish and could have very easily ended in tragedy.

[Wednesday Caster]

Rick,
Sometimes I wade too deep. We all have our "duh" moments...

[jbird]

I agree with you rickj. It is a very awe inspiring clip, Kind of a cross between educating and "Wanna see sumthin scarry? watch this!" No question it appears that they did every thing they could to control the situation..ie. no bait in the water, clear water, etc. Still, it is about as wild an animal as youll find on this planet and a very succesful predator. to say one can predict what s going to happen in that situation is just silliness. what happens when the big fellas friend shows up and theres suddenly 2 sharks? Somebody is GOING to die if this keeps up.

Jay