Irish waters are very safe and encounters don’t occur with the type of sharks we see in movies!

If you are very luck you may see a Basking Shark at the surface, these toothless sharks are only interested in plankton, microscopic plants and animals.

Diving from Scubadive West we regularly see Dogfish, which are shark family, but smaller and docile, in fact they sleep in the day and hunt for small fish and crabs at night. Their docile nature means that divers can get close to them and get photos and video quite easily. It is a great treat to see their shark like features and swimming style.

Also we see a variety of Ray, namely the Thornback Ray and the Leopard Ray.

In deep water far out in the Atlantic there are Blue Sharks, they are shy of boats. Sport fishermen need to attract them with ‘rubby dubby’ and a lot of patience!

 

Tropical Waters.There are sharks in tropical waters but incidents with sharks are very, very rare.  Most commonly shark encounters involve spear fishing or feeding sharks, both of which trigger erratic feeding behaviour. Sharks main food source is fish and if they can get a free feed they will.

Most of the time, if you see a shark it’s passing through and a relatively rare sight to enjoy.

Some myths, about sharks, that you have heard may be dispelled by checking out Australian Geographic.