Yes. You definitely can hand-feed Caribbean Reef Sharks, and Blacktipped Reef Sharks as well. A lot of people probably don't believe that, but I fed the Blacktips at the reef that surrounds the island of Moorea, next to Tahiti, in French Polynesia. It was 1996 and I was on a three-week vacation there. One day, one of the staff at the hotel I was staying at asked how many of us wanted to feed the sharks. I said "Definitely!". We hopped into a powerboat and headed out to the reef, which is about 1/2 mile from the beach. The depth of the lagoon increases from 2-3 ft near the beach to 10-15 feet at the reef. It was neat because the waves were crashing against the reef on the other side. We put on our masks and snorkels and went into the water. There were about 8 adult reef sharks slowly swimming under our legs a few feet off the bottom. I have to admit that my heart was beating pretty fast. I knew that they were pretty much harmless to swimmers and divers, but I was tense nevertheless. The staff guy gave me a big hunk of beef roast that was dripping with blood. I took a breath and slowly swam down toward the sharks. One of them broke away from the group and came toward me lazily. He was about 5-ft long and REALLY beautiful. Extremely graceful.. I was really nervous then, but I knew that tourists at our hotel did this all the time without incident. The shark got within about 6 ft of me and I held the roast out to him. He half-rolled to the left with his mouth open and his white belly showing and very gingerly plucked the piece of meat out of my hand. I was stunned at how gentle he was. We stayed with the sharks for about 45 min., swimming with them and feeding them. They were almost tame. We talked about it all night, at dinner and afterward. It was one of the most incredible and satisfying experiences of my life.
Nice! Do you know what she is doing that makes them like they are sort of "asleep" ? Dont know the right term for it. When she lifts them up its alike they are " hypnotised". Must be an amazing experience!
***** Evidently, there's a specific area to stroke them that causes that "hyptonized" conditionj. I'm not sure what the procedure is called. The ones I fed off the island of Moorea in French Polynesia were very active, but very gentle when they came to take the food out of your hand.
I’ve said this many times before and I’ll say it again. Sharks are awesome creatures and very interesting to learn about. Who gave them the right to be that awesome?
Anybody else noticing the black fish at 12:50 multiple times throughout the video just looking for some love and totally getting ignored? :( Amazing video though!
Wow, mesmerizing video. The footage and music combination is amazing. And it's 16 minutes long. Hand feeding wild sharks is certainly a fun way to spend some time on vacation :)
You need to get in touch with Cristina Zenato at UNEXSO-Grand Bahama for more details. She is THE woman with the connection to these animals to be able to teach others. Absolutely do it if you have the chance!
here we see the most dangerous species in the universe and is responsible for billions of deaths every year which can also be extremely aggresive and dangerous, feeding one of the most peaceful and misunderstood animals in the world
+Conor Daly Great question! Yes, some sharks (great white, whale shark, salmon shark, mako) need to keep swimming to force water over their gills to breathe. These sharks are called obligate ram ventilators. Many other sharks can be still and use the muscles in their cheeks and jaws to pull water into their mouth and push it over their gills. This is called buccal pumping. Caribbean reef sharks are buccal pumpers and you can see it well at 5:10.
Why do they act so submissive in that position? I swear I've seen that before and can't for the life of me understand why they suddenly become so docile! Please tell me!!
@@iroxz251 They have a conentration of pores at the tip of their "nose" called Ampullae of Lorenzini, if u rub them it overstimulates them and the shark goes into a trance like mode
It is a piece of fishing line still attached to a hook embedded in that shark's jaw. Commercial fishing for sharks is illegal in the Bahamas, but sport fishing still occurs.
Hi Megan, how do you become a shark handler? Also, is it hard to find a job being a shark handler? I'm looking to go to a tiger beach with Eli :) Great vid! *+* 👍
This video came from the mentorship of Cristina Zenato in her shark feeder course. I am not a professional shark handler full-time and I don't know of anyone who has that job exclusively. Cristina is an underwater educator, a Course Director for PADI, a cave diving instructor, professional explorer and UNEXSO employee. If you're passionate about sharks too, I recommend finding a job helping to educate others about the ocean. That's the most engaging thing you can do to help sharks.
I'm no animal behaviorist and I don't know Jack about fish, but I get the impression these sharks know Zenato, what with the way they're rubbing up against her like cats.
Csp499 They're testing her. Shark bodies are completely covered with sensors. The sharks were just trying to figure out some stuff their sense of smell couldn't.
+Karolina Mažonaitė Sharks do have skin cells called denticles, which are calcified (hardened) sort of like little mini teeth. Shark skin is rough to the touch, but not head to tail, the direction they swim past things. They don't scratch or test to see if things will bleed but rather are picking up sensory and electrical cues using their highlyg advanced nervous system.
hank you so much ActLikeYouUnderstand it's my greatest joy to be sharing cool ocean experiences with new people. Please subscribe to the channel for new videos or check out Megan Cook- Ocean Ambassador on Facebook for more adventures.
When I grow up I want to do the same thing
SharkDemon367 nice
Yeah I want to do that to
Cool
Same
Yep same
Yes. You definitely can hand-feed Caribbean Reef Sharks, and Blacktipped Reef Sharks as well. A lot of people probably don't believe that, but I fed the Blacktips at the reef that surrounds the island of Moorea, next to Tahiti, in French Polynesia. It was 1996 and I was on a three-week vacation there. One day, one of the staff at the hotel I was staying at asked how many of us wanted to feed the sharks. I said "Definitely!". We hopped into a powerboat and headed out to the reef, which is about 1/2 mile from the beach. The depth of the lagoon increases from 2-3 ft near the beach to 10-15 feet at the reef. It was neat because the waves were crashing against the reef on the other side.
We put on our masks and snorkels and went into the water. There were about 8 adult reef sharks slowly swimming under our legs a few feet off the bottom. I have to admit that my heart was beating pretty fast. I knew that they were pretty much harmless to swimmers and divers, but I was tense nevertheless.
The staff guy gave me a big hunk of beef roast that was dripping with blood. I took a breath and slowly swam down toward the sharks. One of them broke away from the group and came toward me lazily. He was about 5-ft long and REALLY beautiful. Extremely graceful.. I was really nervous then, but I knew that tourists at our hotel did this all the time without incident. The shark got within about 6 ft of me and I held the roast out to him. He half-rolled to the left with his mouth open and his white belly showing and very gingerly plucked the piece of meat out of my hand. I was stunned at how gentle he was.
We stayed with the sharks for about 45 min., swimming with them and feeding them. They were almost tame. We talked about it all night, at dinner and afterward. It was one of the most incredible and satisfying experiences of my life.
Jeff I don't think anyone will read all of this
Nice! Do you know what she is doing that makes them like they are sort of "asleep" ? Dont know the right term for it. When she lifts them up its alike they are " hypnotised". Must be an amazing experience!
Bucket Knight Well, then it's their loss.
***** Evidently, there's a specific area to stroke them that causes that "hyptonized" conditionj. I'm not sure what the procedure is called.
The ones I fed off the island of Moorea in French Polynesia were very active, but very gentle when they came to take the food out of your hand.
+Bucket Knight i did
I kept laughing at the yellow-finned fish that were gobbling up the shark food. Opportunistic hogs! Geez are they ever fast, too!
I’ve said this many times before and I’ll say it again. Sharks are awesome creatures and very interesting to learn about. Who gave them the right to be that awesome?
Pretty good day to be a shark.
Hang out with pretty girls, free food, swim around in the ocean, get petted and loved on.
but its a bad day to be a seal (get the reference?)
Tony Mata I get it XD
Anybody else noticing the black fish at 12:50 multiple times throughout the video just looking for some love and totally getting ignored? :(
Amazing video though!
I know poor fish :(
Sintija K Damn, that broke my heart :(
LMAO!
I guess you could say it's a groupie...
Oh noooooo :(
This is beautiful! It's like an entirely different world beneath the waves when we dive from our world... into the world of the sharks.
Wow, mesmerizing video. The footage and music combination is amazing. And it's 16 minutes long. Hand feeding wild sharks is certainly a fun way to spend some time on vacation :)
You girls are rad! Seems like the type to go diving with all day
Just imagine if this world didn't have animals :(
So... Mars, basically?
yes we would die, although we would probably die bc of our own stupidity, seriously some people don't deserve fishing licenses
Even tho you eat vege, it wont comes out becos not have earthworm
@@YutaOkkotsu666 wot
I love sharks so much
Awesome footage, and it looks like you had a lot of fun! Well Done!
I love their reactions whenever the yellow fish eat the food.
Loved it when they held the shark and put it asleep and kissed it awesome,:)
This is truly amazing!!!!
You need to get in touch with Cristina Zenato at UNEXSO-Grand Bahama for more details. She is THE woman with the connection to these animals to be able to teach others. Absolutely do it if you have the chance!
can someone explain, how does the shark suit protect? it's so thin, can't they bite a finger off along with a piece of the suit?
This is the coolest thing ever!!!!! How much did this cost?
Such beautiful creatures!
super kool video and so in tune with the sharks and such karma there
Lonely black fish : ''Helloooo...can I get some attention too pls?''
Wow it's an amazing video
How does one go about doing this? In addition to being scuba certified what do you have to do?
I have a question, so people always say Caribbean reef sharks are mean and I saw this video and it seemed like the nicest shark I've ever seen 😂
Sharks are truly beautiful intelligent animals that the media portrays as beats
here we see the most dangerous species in the universe and is responsible for billions of deaths every year which can also be extremely aggresive and dangerous, feeding one of the most peaceful and misunderstood animals in the world
NickDaGawd at least 2 people die from fatal shark attacks tf u mean sharks are responsible for billions of deaths per year 😂
they are talking about humans being responsible for billions of deaths.
I thought that sharks had to keep moving for oxygen to get into there gills, is this true for only some sharks?
+Conor Daly Great question! Yes, some sharks (great white, whale shark, salmon shark, mako) need to keep swimming to force water over their gills to breathe. These sharks are called obligate ram ventilators. Many other sharks can be still and use the muscles in their cheeks and jaws to pull water into their mouth and push it over their gills. This is called buccal pumping. Caribbean reef sharks are buccal pumpers and you can see it well at 5:10.
That's amazing I love sharks
are Carribean Reef Sharks passive to humans?
Not necessarily. They are nice creatures and don't really attack humans. We can be mistaken for prey though.
Boy, the vid title sure could go a totally different way than intended.
Why do they act so submissive in that position? I swear I've seen that before and can't for the life of me understand why they suddenly become so docile! Please tell me!!
Im pretty sure i heard about this somewhere aswell, its when you hold them in a specific place, like the tip of their noses or something like that
@@iroxz251 They have a conentration of pores at the tip of their "nose" called Ampullae of Lorenzini, if u rub them it overstimulates them and the shark goes into a trance like mode
How heavy is the swimsuit??
About 20 pounds!
My god thats heavy
Movie Post I mean it’s necessary though.
@@theworld9744 not really
so cool! looks very FUN
Sharks are pitbulls of the sea. They have such a bad reputation, yet they're so ADORABLE.
Dose your ears ever hurt because my dose a lot with swimmers ear and stuff
Underwater is like new world. Awesome.
So many sharks such cutness i love it
Hi, are a marine biologist because that's my future career and wondering if you could give any pointers - I want to study sharks
Do they allow you to have these as pets?
Serge Shirvanian yes you can but theyre expenisve
Those big fish are snatching like crazy! XD
I wonder what they'd do if all the sudden neptune showed up from RE Remake?
love the music
See sharks aint evil. They just need food like any other animal.
At 12:42.. what a beautiful moment 😃❤️
You got more chain mail than a knight
jajaja hand feedings jacks... awesome,i´m about to do it a shark diving soon,i cant wait
esteban lopez How was it
So satisfying ❤️
I want to do that, too! Thats so cool!!!
(around 15:14) what was in the shark's mouth?
It is a piece of fishing line still attached to a hook embedded in that shark's jaw. Commercial fishing for sharks is illegal in the Bahamas, but sport fishing still occurs.
Pretty girls and sharks are my favourite animals!
Hi Megan, how do you become a shark handler? Also, is it hard to find a job being a shark handler? I'm looking to go to a tiger beach with Eli :) Great vid! *+* 👍
This video came from the mentorship of Cristina Zenato in her shark feeder course. I am not a professional shark handler full-time and I don't know of anyone who has that job exclusively. Cristina is an underwater educator, a Course Director for PADI, a cave diving instructor, professional explorer and UNEXSO employee. If you're passionate about sharks too, I recommend finding a job helping to educate others about the ocean. That's the most engaging thing you can do to help sharks.
Megan Cook
Thanks, Megan! Appreciate your help.
It’s amazing
I love when pet the shark what a nice girl
QUALITY in 2012 wow
Those are two badass women. And those are beautiful creatures. The sharks, I mean ;)
Are those sharks not aggressive ?
Look at his mouth do he have teeht or not
They're no threat to humans since they're only interested in the food being provided :]
+CHANEL WEZZER XI 2// they do have teeth. Their teeth are just more "deeper" in their mouth if that makes any sense😂.
+CHANEL WEZZER XI 2 stfu you ignoramus
is this really reef sharks? by their size they more like bull sharks
Indeed these are reef sharks, bull sharks are much fatter and are twice as long.
they may be swarming, but they swarm gracefully... like i know i have to be on a query lol
small ones are piranhas?
No
They're not piranhas, but they're called jacks.
Ridiculously beautiful
the sharks are payed actors
3:11 Yoink!
I'm no animal behaviorist and I don't know Jack about fish, but I get the impression these sharks know Zenato, what with the way they're rubbing up against her like cats.
Csp499 They're testing her. Shark bodies are completely covered with sensors. The sharks were just trying to figure out some stuff their sense of smell couldn't.
+Karolina Mažonaitė Sharks do have skin cells called denticles, which are calcified (hardened) sort of like little mini teeth. Shark skin is rough to the touch, but not head to tail, the direction they swim past things. They don't scratch or test to see if things will bleed but rather are picking up sensory and electrical cues using their highlyg advanced nervous system.
I don't know why but for me.. these sharks are cute to be honest..
Eel's going GET OFF MY LAWN!
how heavy is sharks
I dont think that shark consented to be kissed.... just kidding, great video!
I would love to do this someday
Oh the sharks are soooooo cute ♡♡♡♡♡♡
spectacular
They look sooo cute
Brilliant!
Reef sharks can be friendly
Yeah, sharks are so misunderstood, but still, don't dive into the ocean and try to pet a bull shark or white shark, lol.
tancoteanu aurelian especially the bull shark, its very aggressive
0:17 color guys always doing the bored job
wow !!! RESPECT !!
this video is cool
12:25 the mats amazing they are so tame and docile. If u did that to me I'm going to bite you lol
hank you so much ActLikeYouUnderstand it's my greatest joy to be sharing cool ocean experiences with new people. Please subscribe to the channel for new videos or check out Megan Cook- Ocean Ambassador on Facebook for more adventures.
i luv sharks my favorite animal on the sea i know they can be very dangerous
who came here from watching hungry shark evolution videos?
Me!
10:30 shark having a nose-gasm
They are so cute
I know it's so cool that i even want to do that without them harming me
I looked inside the reef sharks mouth and I did not see any theeth
This is scooby1961 favorite music lol
You know, we might see a rise in shark attacks if we keep having more and more people hand feeding them or chumming a lot.
I'll just feed the reef sharks the power of glizzies!!! woahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh 12:45 wtf the shark is on her half-inch glizzy
aww cute sharks :3
Nice job girls
i once with the shark but i never touch it...i wish i can do this :)
Why are they not being eaten? Are these sharks vegan?!
There actually kinda cute
I can say not all sharks are Bad😁
Damn sharks are players they get kisses from women way more than I do lmao
A shark's perpose is to clear up the sea from dead fish or any kind of animal just cuz its blood thirsty doesn't mean it's not gentle and polite❤️💦
πολυ ωραιο
4:01 look at that remora fish
i really wanna do that but i also really wanna not die
15:00 it looks like the shark is biting her leg
i wanna do the same with great white sharks. lol