Here is a response I wrote to an inquery for doing an Intro Dive. Someones 11 year son wants to go scuba diving but was worried about sharks.

Well as for Sharks…. I have been in the water diving over 10,000 times which of most is teaching and taking people on Intro dives. The only time we see sharks is when I take people to sites that have White Tip Reef Sharks, “Chickens of the sea” They are basically harmless unless harassed (GRABBED). About 5-6 foot max in size. They are one of the few sharks that can lay on the sand motionless and still breathe. They do this by passing water over their gills by opening and closing their mouth. They will only let us get about 5 feet close to them before they swim away. I have seen other types of sharks but… I have seen them at locations not close to shore or where we dive. Sharks do not attack divers.

Why?

1. We make lots of bubbles and noise

2. We wear metal tanks (Sharks have an acute sensory system)

3. Sharks are ambush predators looking for silhouettes at the surface that look like seals or turtles in murky water

4. We dive in CLEAR water

5. We are UNDER the water

6.When was the last time you heard of a Scuba Diver getting attacked? It is Usually surfers or swimmers in murky turbulent water

Also; if you look at some of the more popular snorkeling locations and see the amount of snorkelers in the hundreds per day and no one being attacked I’m sure you’ve heard world wide attack statistics are very few.Hope this is of some help This conclusion is from my observations and research over the years