So, just wondering if DR is known to have sharks, and I DON`T mean the human kind. I already know there are plenty of those
Also, what kind of marine life is one to be aware of.
Also, what kind of marine life is one to be aware of.- Thread starter young seniors
- Start date
Are their any sharks??
There are nurse sharks in the main off the south coast and in common with most sharks they are harmless. Off Catalinita island (the smaller neighbour of Catalina) there are also reef sharks - black tip in the main. Again harmless.
The marine life you need to be aware of is stingrays, which are deadly if they sting you in the heart and bloody painful if sting anywhere else, stone fish and scorpion fish and lion fish, all have nasty stings. But if you just look and don't hassle them then no worries. Also watch out for sea urchins if walking in the sea without shoes and at certain times of the year there are jelly fish.
Matilda
The marine life you need to be aware of is stingrays, which are deadly if they sting you in the heart and bloody painful if sting anywhere else, stone fish and scorpion fish and lion fish, all have nasty stings. But if you just look and don't hassle them then no worries. Also watch out for sea urchins if walking in the sea without shoes and at certain times of the year there are jelly fish.
Matilda
Well if they eat people they will be dead already probably. In a past life I was/am a shark specialty diver and instructor and dived hundreds of times with loads of sharks - black tip, white tip, silver tip, hammerhead, nurse, tiger. They don't eat people as a rule. The shark attacks are usually Great Whites who eat seals and turtles and a person on a surf board looks just like a turtle. You will notice they rarely eat people as once they take a bite they spit them out as we don't taste very nice.
Matilda
Matilda
in 1996 a charter plane crashed off the shore of puerto plata (about 26km from the city), soon after take off. all 189 people on board died and according to some sources: rescue workers who pulled scores of mangled bodies from the water said some showed evidence of shark attack.
so there must be sharks. not much in terms of shark attacks in DR thou, in general.
Hallan mordido por Tibur?n restos de joven arrastrado al mar Caribe por una ola | Noticias SIN
DESDE LA REP?BLICA DOMINICANA: Ataque de tibur?n a pescador en Las Terrenas
so there must be sharks. not much in terms of shark attacks in DR thou, in general.
Hallan mordido por Tibur?n restos de joven arrastrado al mar Caribe por una ola | Noticias SIN
DESDE LA REP?BLICA DOMINICANA: Ataque de tibur?n a pescador en Las Terrenas
There is no passport control for sharks and so they can get everywhere, there was even a great white off the coast of Scotland a few years ago, 5 people were attacked in 4 days last year within a 5 mile radius in the Med, a few linmbs chomped off and one death. The are plenty sharks off the South Coast, but I haven't a clue what kind, and rare happenings like the boy eaten off Boca last year while spear fishing. As a rule I don't go in the sea, purely as I don't want to be a rare statistic and only panic when I'm in the water, so is no fun anyway. There is footage on the net of a capsized boat some years ago with sharks circling the victims and the pilots unable to do anything. I'm not sure exactly where it was but in the region so I remember.
I was talking with a guy in Sosua several years ago and he said how the place used to be rich in sharks when there was an an slaughterhouse on the cliff overlooking the bay, all the remains would get dumped off the edge. He went on to say that they have been heavily fished since and numbers are low these days.
I was talking with a guy in Sosua several years ago and he said how the place used to be rich in sharks when there was an an slaughterhouse on the cliff overlooking the bay, all the remains would get dumped off the edge. He went on to say that they have been heavily fished since and numbers are low these days.
No idea if this is historically accurate, but:
LAS NOTICIAS QUE LEO: JESUS DE GALINDEZ...UNA V?CTIMA DE TRUJILLO....
LAS NOTICIAS QUE LEO: JESUS DE GALINDEZ...UNA V?CTIMA DE TRUJILLO....
According to the International Shark Attack File, the last "unprovoked" attack in the DR was in 1963. The page was updated in January of this year, but there seems to be more recent cases of attacks that are documented but not included in the ISAF. (dv8's post and various others available in online Dominican newspapers).
Either way, and as other posters have mentioned, sharks are around, generally not aggressive, and the number of attacks occurring in Caribbean waters is low. Matilda's posts as an experienced shark diving instructor deserve credit on this subject, as experience is often a good source of information.
FLMNH Ichthyology Department: Bahamas' and the Antilles' Confirmed Unprovoked Shark Attacks
Either way, and as other posters have mentioned, sharks are around, generally not aggressive, and the number of attacks occurring in Caribbean waters is low. Matilda's posts as an experienced shark diving instructor deserve credit on this subject, as experience is often a good source of information.
FLMNH Ichthyology Department: Bahamas' and the Antilles' Confirmed Unprovoked Shark Attacks
That's nuts, as dv8 says, more like a bond movie or old gangster movie. Would be interesting to know for sure if this kind of thing actually did (if it did it almost certainly does) go on.