CC Shark Picture

[HooKooDooKu]

I had a request to see the picture of the shark that I've frequently claimed to have seen while snorkeling off the adult beach.

It's a pretty large image (it's a 600 dpi scan of a 4x6 photograph) and it's difficult to see, but if you look on the left side of the image a little below 9:00 o'clock, you should be able to make out the unmistakable shape of the doral and pectoral fins.

And looking at the picture now, he sure seems to be a lot closer that I remembered.

Large (350K) Image of Shark seen snorkeling off Adult Beach at CC

 

[Verandah Man]

That sure would have been a little to close for me!!!

 

[Hygiene99]

WAS it Friendly ??

 

[Viking]

Peter,
I'll have a knife with me - To slash my diving buddy and so distract the shark from me

 

[jmcross]

I would consider yourself lucky.
YOU seem to be the only food that was in the area to feed that shark!!

I think I would have had a heart attack on the spot!!

Joanne

 

[disneyfreakk]

AND THAT LADIES AND GENTELMEN IS WHY I WILL NEVER GET IN THE OCEAN!!

 

[missinshadow]

How deep was that water you were in with your new buddy?

 

[tevagirl]

Was his name Bruce?

 

[ADisneygirl]

Wow! That is some picture. It took me a few minutes but I did finally make it out. How did it get into the snorkeling area? I would have freaked out.

Funny thing about reading this post this morning: last night we watched an old rerun of the original Jaws movie.


Viking ~ you are funny!

 

[TinkHappy]

WOW You must be very brave, because I don't think taking a picture would have been my first reaction.

 

[Mboothby]

Oh my GOSH! It took me some time to find him, but once I did, I backed up from my computer! He's a BIG guy! I SO would've have freaked!!! I don't usually go in the ocean either. Out here in CA, you can't see what's in the water. However, I've always felt safe on CC and I've been snorkeling three times. After the last time, decided I'll never go again, as I'm always so nervous, I take in so much water and feel sick. Well THIS CINCHED IT! Sharks belong there, I DON'T! Kudos to you for being the brave photographer!

 

[mrsltg]

Well that's just fabulous! I am now terrified completely! I would not have had the presence of mind to keep from panicking much less take a picture!

Erin

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Seeing this makes me glad I just booked the Glass Bottom Boat tour at CC !!

 

[JonJehrio]

Wow, that is awesome. I love sharks and will now spend the entire day swimmnig out there looking for it. I am sure it is not very large. How big would you estimate it is? Where would be the best place to go to see it? For all of you afraid of sharks remember that more people die from bee stings every year than from Shark attacks. Sharks live in the ocean and when you swim in the ocean, you swim with sharks. I worry about jellyfish. All those worried about getting attacked by a shark should be buying lottery tickets. Your odd's of winning are much better than getting attacked. Remember, Jaws was a fictitious story. When have you ever heard of a killer shark attacking boat's, helicopters, and scores of tourists. It's just a movie. Sharks do not like humans, we have too many bones.

 

[disneyfreakk]

JonJehrio,

with my luck i would go buy a lottery ticket, go swimming in the ocean and get eaten by a shark. then i am sure the loto drawing would be the very next day and the shark would win because possession is 9/10 of the law.

ps, if you find your buddy would you post pictures of him??

 

[prymsu]

awesome! I have snorkeled with sharks three times and it is pretty breath taking!

 

[kshabare]

Not qusetioning the validaty of the shark, but how does a shark that big get into that area?. Doesn't Disney put up a protective netting around the area to prevent this from happening? And I'm one to snorkel with my family, now I'm not so sure..

Norm

 

[HooKooDooKu]

To answer some of the questions about the shark...

#1. This picture was taken in Serinity Bay which is wide open to the ocean. It is the family beach and snorkel lagon that are somewhat protected by nets.

#2. I'm guessing at the following figures, but I've generally stated that I was about 100 yards from shore in about 6 feet of water when I saw the shark about 50 feet away. After reviewing the picture, I'm not so sure he was that far away from me.

#3. I only saw the shark for about 10 seconds. As you can see, he's pretty well hidden. We was swimming parallel to the beach, paid no attention to me, and was quickly lost in the backgournd as he continuted to swim along.

#4. I didn't panic because I knew he wasn't really going to be seeing me as food. If I'm right about him being 6 feet long, that means that he and I are about the same size. He's obviously looking for something a little smaller to eat.

However, I must admit that I paid a lot more attention in the direction of open water and paid alot more attention to my surroundings after this encounter.

I also didn't panic because I know when I go into the open water like that, there's the possibility of encountering "dangerous" wild life. But I also know they pretty much stay away from humans. If all sharks were like the one depicted in "Jaws" and were actively seeking humans, there would be A LOT MORE news stories about shark attacks. While I'm sure there have been others, the only ones I can recall in recent years was there was a story about a man swimming at a resort in the Bahamas about three years ago that was attacted by a shark, and a second news story about a child attacked off the Alabama coast. Basically, that means there's not even one news story per year about a shark attack in the Bahama's/Gulf of Mexico area, yet millions of people enter these waters each year.

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

HooKooDooKu
from looking at the pic you posted and i got to play with the color and shading for a bit and from looking at other pics of sharks in the area. it looks to be a Caribbean Reef (Charcharinus perezi)

Most common you will see
Range in length from 4 feet to 8 feet, maximum 10 feet
Silver-gray with white underside at a distance
Bronze with cream underside up close
Dark black fringes on the underside of fins except dorsal
Blunt rounded nose

i hope this helps others. this is a common shark in the area. this kind of shark isnt known for attacking people. tiger sharks are more known for that. the nurse shark that barb saw is a mellow shark and i wish she would have got a picture of it for all to see.
thanks

 

[GoofyDisney]

Great picture! Thanks for posting this and starting this thread! Our family got a big kick out of it!

Mental Note: Choose someone *other than* Viking as dive buddy!