Emma, a 15′ Tiger shark, introduces herself to me at Tiger Beach. She’s one of the superstars there, and a personal favourite of Jim’s, an now of mine too.
July 2018.
Tiger Beach is a shallow bank made-up of sand and patches of coral reefs, about 25 miles North West of Grand Bahamas Island. It has gained a reputation among divers for reliable, close-up interactions with Tiger sharks in crystal-clear, calm, blue water. But you will also see loads of Lemon sharks and Caribbean Reef sharks. You will leave a different person, and with a new appreciation and respect for these apex predators.
Tiger Beach is most often visited by divers during the winter months when it’s “red hot”, with lots of migratory Tigers and even Hammerheads. But I chose to visit in the summer because you get two more hours of daylight, the water is warmer, much calmer, and therefore with better visibility. You decide how much time you want in the water, and since the depth there was only about 30′ you have plenty of it. However the excitement is high, and an hour-and-half dive can seem to pass in only minutes.
What to expect. Everyone dressed completely in black to avoid body parts looking like fish (chum). Divers are arranged in the typical “V” formation pattern of shark baited dives, with the bait box at the apex as shown here. Divers without large cameras are provided with a length of pvc piping that they plant vertically into the sand in front of them if they feel a Tiger is within their comfort zone. Note the line at the stern of the boat’s platform, which is for divers to use when ascending/descending- moving straight up and down- with no time spent floating at the surface. You don’t want to mimic a Tiger’s favourite prey item, a Sea turtle. Note also the underwater ear phone clipped onto the diver’s mask band above. This allows one way communication with the guide.
As you would expect, Jim gave a serious safety and information briefing before the first dive. Believe me, you’ll have no problems paying attention. No one has spent as much time in the water cageless with these apex predators as Jim has, so he has a lot of fascinating insight and knowledge to share. Tiger sharks by nature are ambush predators, so the most important rule to observe around them is to maintain eye-contact at all times, as a safety precaution. This lets the shark know that you are watching them, and from my experience, was all that was required to keep them at a distance of a couple of arm-lengths away or more. However I never once felt threatened or made uncomfortable by any of the sharks present. My favourite line of the briefing: “A sharks ecological role is to remove the dead, dying, diseased and the dumb”. So don’t do stupid things or behave like a prey item!
Waiting for the Tigers to arrive. A Caribbean Reef shark glides by massive school of Horse-Eye Jacks beneath the Shear Water boat.
There’s a lot of interesting shark behaviour to see. Lemon sharks can “buccal pump” water over their gills, and therefore don’t need to continuously swim to “breath”. This Lemon just “plopped” itself almost in front of me to rest and get cleaned by a Remora.
The Lemon and Caribbean Reef sharks are the first ones on the scene, arriving within minutes of anchoring. The Tigers didn’t show up until the second day, owing to slow dispersal of the chum slick by a very weak current. Once the Tigers arrive you’ll ignore all the other sharks.
Love, love, love these guys! Curious, sleek, and agile. These sharks are made for interaction. A Caribbean Reef shark checks out her reflection in my dome.
Mak and Kim make a new friend. Jim teaches his guests to develop a personal connection with these Lemons hoping that they will experience a life changing moment, and become shark advocates themselves. Did you ever think a shark could be capable of accepting affection?
Emma, one of the largest Tigers at 15′ and a ‘supermodel” at Tiger Beach. She continuously circled around to go back to Jim at the bait crate for a nose rub. He has known her for the better part of two decades, and she has a strong trust, and a bond as it would appear, for him.
We saw three different Tigers on the Second day-Emma, Sophie, and possibly Hook (above)? The hook is evidence of fishing pressure, and one of the reasons I stopped eating fish a long time ago. Sadly this Tiger has been caught by a fisherman and had her jaw broken. But she’s one of the lucky ones that got away. Every 3 seconds a shark dies at the hands of a human being somewhere in the world, totalling about 100 million per year. This is not sustainable, and threatens the health of the Oceans, and ultimately ours too.
Cautious and calculating. There’s an obvious intelligence behind the gaze of a Tiger shark. I asked Jim “how smart are they, like a dog?” He answered “Smarter. They have a larger brain to body mass ratio”. When I asked for a personal example he related an incidence of where he lashed many bait crates together so that the Tigers couldn’t get their mouths around it. A Tiger inspected the system, and seeing it was tethered to the boat, chewed through the cord, then carried the crates away. He later found them, with several crates opened.
Forever burned in my memory, a Tiger makes a close pass. Tiger sharks can appear at any time, anywhere, and disappear just as quickly-it’s in their nature. I went to a nearby reef to confirm where the boat was in the decreasing visibility (black shadow, in upper left of photo). Just as I reached the edge of the reef, an unidentified Tiger appeared coming over top, and headed toward me. I had thought they all left for the day. So I went vertical in the water column to allow the shark to easily identify me, and snapped some “blind” pics, maintaining eye contact with the Tiger at all times. She passed close enough that her nictitating membrane flickered over her eye, probably worried that I might try and jam my camera into her! As she passed me I recognized her as Emma (she’s missing her lower tail fin)! She then left me, and headed toward the group, most likely looking for Jim.
Tips:
Jim’s operation is very professionally run. He takes all safety precautions possible for a trip like this, not only for the divers sake, but for the sharks that he loves so much. For this reason he does not feed the sharks with divers present in the water, or allow free diving. Experienced divers would get the most from this trip. An added bonus is that Jim will give you his video footage from the trip for personal use.
This trip started out as a seven day Tiger Beach & Dolphin excursion, which got shortened to a four day Tiger Beach trip (2 full days of weekend diving) to accommodate people’s working schedule. Don’t be too concerned about this happening as there is plenty of great diving to do in Palm Beach- like shark diving- at a neighbouring Marina. For this trip you will arrive in Palm Beach airport, saving you money and time by not flying to the Bahamas.
If you still haven’t had your fill of shark diving, then Palm Beach should be your next stop. This pic was taken during a baited, blue-water drift dive in the Gulf Stream with Odyssey Charters. Expect lots of Silkies (pictured here) and Bull sharks, with some Lemons and possibly Duskies. There was over a dozen sharks here. If you have the time, do it!
The Shearwater’s cabins are very small and tight. But the reality is with unlimited diving, and night dives as an option, you’ll only be sleeping in the cabin. And the bonus over larger boats that go to this area is that the much smaller 10 person group personalizes this trip, and makes photographic opportunities easier with less divers in the water. Jim is also available to consult for photography.
