If you are participating in an organized “shark diving experience”, you may feel that the operator’s knowledge is sufficient and that you can sit back and watch the show.
 
It’s important to remember that every shark interaction is different. Just because countless people have watched the parade of sharks at a particular site passively swim by does not mean that you will have the same experience.
 
Following are some guidelines for minimising the dangers associated with interacting in the wild with sharks and rays. Whilst the advice hopefully is useful, it should be regarded as a vague guideline only.
 
Your experiences will differ greatly from mine, and the sharks and rays you encounter may react in a completely different way. As such, I take no responsibility for the outcome of any encounters that you may have or for the validity of any information stated below.

Get educated!
Ask local divers and fishers what species of sharks you are likely to see. Knowing if an area is frequented by nurse sharks or tigers may make a big difference to how alert you feel you need to be on the dive. Learn the stats on different sharks. The shark attack file is a good place to start to find out which sharks have been responsible for attacks in the past.
 
Find out how the sharks in the area normally respond to divers. Most free swimming sharks will disappear the minute they see a noisy, bubble blowing diver heading their way, but some sharks are more curious. Occasionally sharks like to wander up to divers and give them a closer look. Being buzzed or even brushed by a shark does not necessarily mean that you are about to become lunch.
 
Are the sharks in the area regularly fed by divers? It can be disconcerting to drop down onto an area of reef where shark feeding normally take place and immediately find yourself surrounded by expectant sharks.
 
Ask if bait will be used or if any member of the dive group is planning to spear fish. Aggressive behaviour is significantly increased in the presence of struggling fish or when blood and other juices are in the water.
 
Find out if the sharks in the area are territorial. Sharks may respond to divers as threats to territory and defensively attack.

Dress appropriately
There are differing points of view on the subject of what colors are most likely to attract a shark’s attention. Every conceivable color combination has been tried at one time or another in an effort to deter sharks from attacking. Even broad black and white stripes have been tried in an effort to replicate the appearance of a banded sea snake, which is an animal avoided by the majority of shark species.
 
As a rule of thumb, tropical sharks are mainly fish eaters and as such are attracted to bright and shiny objects. Therefore, it would seem logical that a neon yellow wetsuit would attract the attention of sharks looking for a meal. In shark diving circles, neon yellow has actually been given the nickname of “yum yum yellow”. Other bright colours may also have the same effect, so if you’re planning on regularly putting yourself in the presence of tropical fish eating sharks, it may be a good idea to tone down your fashion statement and choose a more muted color or black. Bear in mind that thousands of divers swim with tropical sharks every day wearing all manner of clothing from bikinis to camouflaged full body dive skins, and the incidence of attack is extremely low.
 
If you have bright metal objects such as reels or dive knifes attached to the outside of your BC, try to stash them out of sight in a pocket or replace them with darker coloured alternatives. Even a shark diver’s first stage can look good to a hungry reef shark, as I found out in the Bahamas.
 
Wear dark gloves. From a shark’s point of view, there’s nothing more tempting than seeing two small lily white “fish” flapping around in front of them. If you don’t have any gloves, try to keep your arms folded across your chest. Using your hands to swim with is asking for trouble.

Full suits are better than shorty wetsuits. This is the same principle as exposing your hands. Try not to expose distinct areas of skin that a shark can focus on or mistake for a fish. Even if you have dark skin, it’s a good idea to cover up. A lot of injury can occur from the brush of a shark’s sandpaper-like skin.
 
Some sharks in temperate seas feed on seals and sea lions. The chances are that you will never see a white shark underwater. I have a friend that lives on Catalina Island who has seen a couple, but he considers himself very lucky indeed to have done so. Many divers prefer the tough guy black commando look, and this is reflected by the choices of suits that manufacturers offer. Personally, I think that mimicking a seal doesn’t seem like such a good idea.
 
Keep in mind again that there are plenty of fish eaters in temperate seas as well, including smaller white sharks, so flashing bright colours and shiny objects may also be unwise. I own a nice neutral blue dry suit that hopefully differentiates me from both pinnipeds and schools of fish.
 
Lastly, fins tend to be prime targets for bites. This is more likely to do with their movements and exposed position rather than colour but white, silver, or bright fins should probably be avoided.

Avoid erratic movements
Sharks are able to pick up on disturbances in their environment. They are looking for the tell-tale signature of a wounded fish or other animal. Once they find one, they carry out their civic duty and remove the wounded creature from the gene pool.
 
Thrashing around in the water may mimic the vibrations sent out by a wounded fish and/or may replicate the movements of a feeding shark. Either way, slow, rhythmic fin strokes are more likely to be ignored. Good buoyancy is also important. Crashing into the reef or struggling to stay down could generate interest or may work in reverse and drive away sharks, which you were hoping would stay around.

Look but don’t touch
The best way to get bitten by a shark is to grab it by the tail or any other part of its anatomy. You wouldn’t think this needs putting into print, but a surprising amount of shark bites are the direct result of divers trying to manhandle otherwise docile creatures.
 
Joe shark diver sees a nurse shark’s tail protruding from under the reef and thinks that if he gives it a little poke or tug, the nurse shark will shift into a position where Joe can get a better look at its head. He grabs the shark’s tail, and before he has ...