Water Hunting and Shark Risk Potential

[Joe D.]

   So, it's been awhile since I remember seeing any info on this subject; may have missed some🤔   But has anyone that water hunts (fresh, brackish, and salt) had any sightings, or scares, involving sharks? Lots of rumors out there that PI detectors attract sharks; haven't seen any info about VLF's, or Mult-Q! What are you thoughts or stories?? Bull sharks are known to frequent all salinities of water, accessible from the ocean!

   I do know that there are several electronic devices on the market, that are specifically designed and "proven"? to deter sharks in a limited radius of the wearer, used by surfers and divers! But weather or not a detector may interfere with their operation, probably hasn't been tested!

Thanks for any info!🍀👍👍

[Joe Beechnut OBN]

Water hunter only ..Brackish waters. I have had a few flyby's that were possible sharks, and I've been wearing a shark deterrent device since. Been wearing it since July 2021..... SHARKBANZ 2 Magnetic Shark Deterrent Band, when i purchased it I paid 78 dollars? Now almost double. Does it work, I have no clue. Does give one a little peace of mind.

2023 was my last encounter.. and I have video, right bottom corner at 5 seconds.. single fin, something big.. can't remember if I was using the AQ PI that day or.. it was  Xcal.

 

[GotAU?]

I’m not an expert about this, but it looks like some independent studies concluded that magnetic shark repellents have no effect on sharks, particularly great whites:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6120439/

But they did find positive results with electronic-based repellents, however those are in active mode to work and will probably also repel your detector!

[Joe D.]

1 hour ago, GotAU? said:

however those are in active mode to work and will probably also repel your detector!

   Very good point! That would be a no-go detecting situation for sure, if it was picked up by the detector, with other than minor interference! I'm guessing it's stronger than a cellphone signals output, else it probably wouldn't be effective! Joe Beechnut above is the only one so far that has used them together! Hopefully there are more out there that have tried this too with some success and luck! Not sure their's gonna be many here with Joe's experience and time in the water, but I'll use what I can gather from those with the experience!🍀👍👍

[GotAU?]

3 hours ago, Joe Beechnut OBN said:

Water hunter only ..Brackish waters. I have had a few flyby's that were possible sharks, and I've been wearing a shark deterrent device since. Been wearing it since July 2021..... SHARKBANZ 2 Magnetic Shark Deterrent Band, when i purchased it I paid 78 dollars? Now almost double. Does it work, I have no clue. Does give one a little peace of mind.

2023 was my last encounter.. and I have video, right bottom corner at 5 seconds.. single fin, something big.. can't remember if I was using the AQ PI that day or.. it was  Xcal.

 

Joe - if you were in brackish water in Northern Australia and saw something like that, I would’ve ran like hell out of there- looked like a saltwater croc was death rolling a victim right in front of you!  On the US east coast, could that have been a sturgeon mating or some large fish like that?

I love our deserts out here, but wow, it would be great to be on the water somewhere like that.

 

[Joe Beechnut OBN]

38 minutes ago, GotAU? said:

Joe - if you were in brackish water in Northern Australia and saw something like that, I would’ve ran like hell out of there- looked like a saltwater croc was death rolling a victim right in front of you!  On the US east coast, could that have been a sturgeon mating or some large fish like that?

I love our deserts out here, but wow, it would be great to be on the water somewhere like that.

 

You never know, but more than likely a larger Skate or possible Shark. I've seen them both at this spot before. A few summers ago .. at this same beach my buddy seen a dead 4 foot skate with a nice shark bite washed up on shore. And I've seen both skates and sharks at several other locations in the Bay.  Here is the same beach, someone posted this to the local news.. https://www.facebook.com/FOXBaltimore/videos/815974180624703/  I seen this same one a few days earlier, I was out far and seen him working the shore area. 

So who knows

[King-Of-Bling]

There are several white shark nurseries hear in So.Cal...None of which have been a problem to detectorist. Though I do have two scars from shark encounters to this day. One from when I worked on fishing boats and the other scar from a knife attack from an ex-gf. 🤣

[Ken Clad]

Oh sure! Mostly just small sand sharks. They must be the really dumb ones to be so close to shore. Look at an aerial view of the S. Carolina Grand Strand (from the N. Carolina state line, south to about Georgetown). See all those fishing piers? It's like an all-you-can-eat buffet for sharks. 

[TampaBayBrad]

Joe says "Gee....what the heck was that?" as he walks right into it to investigate. 🤣

Only thing I've been scared by is those dang 600 pound manatees sneaking up on you from behind...