This time on Jonathan Bird’s Blue World, an epic Tiger shark adventure!
Hi, I’m Jonathan Bird and welcome to my world!
The Tiger shark.
It’s one of the most dangerous animals in the world, infamous for attacking surfers
in Hawaii and Australia.
It patrols the shallow tropical ocean near shore—where people swim—creating a situation
ripe for disaster.
But there is a place, in the Bahamas, where Tiger sharks and divers can come face to face
on equal terms.
It’s called Tiger Beach.
To reach Tiger Beach, I have organized a unique expedition to the Bahamas on my favorite dive
boat…
…the Dolphin Dream, run by my buddy Captain Scotty, who I’ve known for over 20 years.
We’ll be diving with at least five different species of sharks for 9 days in an effort
to learn more about shark behavior.
On our way to Tiger Beach, we are accompanied by a few Spotted dolphins.
When we arrive, shark handlers Connor Cassidy and Rich D’Argento tie the Dolphin Dream
into a mooring.
We’ll be sitting here for a week of adventure.
Rich gets the action started by dropping a big box of chum into the water.
Then he cuts some smaller bait that the sharks can’t resist.
Within only minutes we have sharks around the boat.
Caribbean Reef sharks and Lemon sharks are circling the chum box.
And up at the surface, they are devouring Rich’s snacks.
While we wait for the Tiger sharks to show up, Connor gives our group a pre-dive briefing.
Then Captain Scotty follows up with a few words of wisdom.
…get the procedures down pat, then as the week goes on we increase with more and more
sharks…
Finally it’s time to hit the water and find out if the Tigers have shown up.
Rich hands me my camera, and I descend to the bottom.
It’s immediately apparent: we’ve got Tiger sharks!
Rich soon joins us on the bottom with his feeding crate full of yummy fish snacks.
These are big Tiger sharks, but they know the routine.
Be cool, and get fed.
The sharks are pretty good about taking turns, going around and getting fed one at a time.
Anything left too close to the fishy scent from the bait box could be a snack, even a
camera.
You have to dole out the food slowly.
Feed them too much, they get full and leave.
Feed them not enough, they get bored and leave.
They have to be fed just enough to keep them interested.
Sometimes the shark handlers have to deal with 6 or more Tiger sharks.
Today we have three, which is plenty!
When a Lemon shark moves in on the action, the Tigers don’t like it.
And they have a way of making themselves understood.
The Tigers are big, and they aren’t particularly maneuverable.
When a shark misses the snack, she opens her mouth quickly, which produces a suction to
try to inhale the food.
She is not trying to bite Rich.
A Tiger shark produces extraordinary suction by opening its mouth quickly.
The Tigers do get a little pushy with each other, but they never actually bite each other.
With this feeding going on for many years now, most of the Tiger sharks have gotten
used to being handled by the divers.
Some of them even seem to like it.
They keep coming around time after time to have their noses rubbed, and even get flipped
upside down.
Connor demonstrates a Tiger shark spin.
You know what I’m thinking, right?
I wonder if I could learn to do that!?
Don’t go Away!
Jonathan is going to learn to flip a Tiger shark!
Interactions with Tiger sharks have come a long way since the last time I was here at
Tiger Beach back in 2008.
It used to be exciting just diving with Tiger sharks outside a cage.
But now, divers play with them like puppies.
Big, hungry puppies that could bite your arm off.
After I begged for a while, Connor and Rich agreed to teach me how to flip Tiger sharks.
You can’t do it like this.
They are way too heavy to lift.
You wait for a shark to approach at least a meter or so off the bottom.
One hand goes on the nose, and the other hand under the chin to hold its mouth closed.
Then you sort of…that’s not really how you do it.
Let’s try that again.
Okay, one hand on the nose, one hand to hold the mouth shut.
Then you sort of push the nose down.
In response, the shark twists its body and throws its tail up to turn.
Honestly, you really aren’t flipping the shark.
The shark is doing all the work.
It seems like a silly thing to do—like teaching your dog to roll over.
It has no real purpose.
Yet, some of the sharks really seem to like it.
This small female keeps coming back to me to be flipped.
I’m not the one doing the feeding—she hasn’t been getting fed by me.
But she keeps coming to me and I keep flipping.
I have to admit, it’s kind of fun to engage with a large shark like this.
Tiger sharks are amazing animals.
They are huge, powerful sharks, easily capable of eating a scuba diver.
Yet around us they are almost docile.
They are intelligent enough to know what is going on—play nice and get fed.
Like any wild animal, Tiger sharks are not totally predictable, and who knows what dangers
a really hungry Tiger shark might present.
But here at Tiger Beach in the Bahamas, Tigers are very cool cats.