Chuck wrote:
>
> <SNIP>
> > One of the things that seems to characterize the Bahamian shark dives I'm
> > aware of is that they tend to be well away from the tourist beaches.  They
> > seem to have been done for quite a few years without noticable harm to the
> > sharks or the tourists, leading me to believe that, within reason, they
> can be done without serious adverse consequences, but it's still not my
> > preference.
> >
> > Lee
> >
> Not sure I agree.  One of the PM dives I did in Nassau was to the same place
> the AM shark dive had gone.  There were still lots of sharks around and some
> were a lot more 'friendly' and in my face than I was very comfortable with.

The only "shark dives" I've ever done were off Grand Bahama, both UNEXSO
and Xanadu used the same spot, some place out in the middle of nowhere
with little or no reef, just a sand bottom and an old recompression
chamber they claimed was a leftover from Cousteau.  But they never dive
there except for the shark feeding.

So I'm not sure which direction to lean.  While I think that shark dives
serve a purpose (as Lee states) I can also see Chuck's point that if you
jump in the water at "their spot" they will expect a handout.  That
probably isn't very healthy either.  Of course you could argue that you
just don't dive there unless you are feeding :-)  Mixing feeding and
non-feeding dives would seem to be the problem here.

Jeff