Jupiter Shark Diving (Jan 2023)
Be sure to scroll below to view our photos and videos after our story for this trip.
Lemon and Bull Shark Galore
Even though we had a some days with rough weather, Jupiter was as beautiful as ever.
If there’s one thing I can say about 2023 it’s that sharks have ruled our airwaves so far. After spending two weeks in Playa del Carmen diving with the bull sharks, we headed over to Jupiter, Florida to spend a few days with the lemon sharks. The lemons start to migrate around this time of year for what Floridians call the lemon shark aggregation, so we were hoping to catch a few. They did not disappoint.
On the first day of diving we were treated to a fair amount of lemon sharks. They weren’t very active but they made their presence felt nonetheless by invading everyone’s space as they’re known to do. There were a couple of bull sharks who hung around, but they tend to leave when they’re outnumbered by the lemons. Yes, even bull sharks get annoyed by their antics. Those lemons have absolutely no respect for personal space, human or shark.
The second day of diving we did something a little special. We were essentially part of an unannounced private group. Two divers engaged in responsible spearfishing which left only me and another photographer to the sharks—along with the shark handler, of course. Due to the high experience level of the divers, the shop owner and the captain decided to treat us to the “other side” of the site known as Bud’s Crack. While the lemons dominate the side we visited on the first day, the bull sharks are definitely the dominant force on the other. As we descended 90ft to the top the site’s ledge we instantly saw 3-4 very active bull sharks circling us. Little did I know that the witnessed activity would be a mere prelude to the exhilarating experience we were about to endure for 70+ minutes that day.
Before I knew it, we were suddenly surrounded by a dozen amped bull sharks. And I mean amped. The art of shark handling in Jupiter is to collect the sharks at the bottom and then slowly ascend the bait box, thus bringing up as many sharks with you as possible. Performing the majority of the feeding at a shallower depth increases your bottom time and puts you closer to the surface in case something goes awry—we are feeding shark in open water after all. This process usually takes several minutes if not longer. But today the sharks were in no mood to wait and quickly descended upon the bait box. Up we go.
It's fun to watch sharks organize themselves. People assume that sharks are a dumb fish, but nothing could be further from the truth. There’s a pecking order and hierarchy that’s on display as they approach the shark handler. The lower ranked sharks assemble themselves in what appears at first glance to be inconsequential circles, but the routine merely serves as way to lull the alpha sharks so they can sneak in and grab a snack from the handler. The alpha sharks perform smaller circles, but they do so in a serial manner so that the other alphas get a sequenced crack at the food. If one or more sharks fall out of line, there’s crashing of bodies to put them back in their place. Absolutely fascinating.
I digressed, so back to the story.
As we ascended, we weren’t shocked to see that every single one of the bull sharks followed given how much energy they were displaying. With only three of us on the dive, the sharks had few people to focus on therefore provided us with their undivided attention at several intervals. One particular bull shark was constantly in my space, biting at my rig out of curiosity and forcing me to push her away time and time again when she got too close. At one point she came from a blind angle and turned me backside down. She then kept constant force on top of me, pushing me down and snapping bite after bite in my direction until I managed to slip around her side. The ordeal took 4-5 seconds but felt like 10 minutes—scary and exhilarating at the same time.
Side note: I went back and forth about whether I should go into detail about this particular encounter because it might only serve to stoke the horrible and underserving reputation sharks have garnered. I chose to throw some caution to the wind by writing about it, but also decided not to post photos and videos of the incident, or similar experiences from the other two divers—yes, my camera was running at the time. People should recognize that we’re coming into sharks’ territory to feed them in open water. Humans don’t own the Earth. The ocean is the shark’s domain and we have to respect their behaviors and habitat. These dives not only serve as an exhilarating experience, but also as learning opportunities for those studying marine life.
We did a total of two dives with the bull sharks that day—we had done one earlier dive with the lemons. Somehow the bull sharks were further energized for the last dive, which added to the experience. Hearts pounding through our chest, we called it a day. Such an amazing experience that I will never forget.
Weather canceled our last day of diving, but we made the most of it by visiting the manatees down by Riviera Beach.
The last day of diving once again consisted of separate dives with the lemons and the bull sharks. We had a couple of other divers with us, so we kept the risk taking to a minimum. The bull sharks cooperated since they were not as amped like they were the previous day. As for the lemons, the world-famous Miss Snooty and her photogenic smile made her appearance at all the lemon shark dives, so plenty of photo ops with her. All in all, a great trip despite losing the last day of diving to weather—typical for this time of year in Florida. We hope you enjoy the photos and videos below.
Pre-COVID, my wife and I—and the occasional friends—would travel to Jupiter twice a year. We intend to get back to that routine this year and will aim for the goliath grouper aggregation in the late summer/early fall.
We’re off to Belize next week to work with a conservation group conducting coral and fish surveys. We’ve been to Belize a few times and it never disappoints with its pristine coral reefs and plentiful marine life. Stay tuned for a future blog post. CaaS
Check out these photos from our trip:
Check out these videos from our trip on our YouTube channel:
