Timid shark swims away from underwater photographer 



stimuli and response. And they can 

 remember that response a year later. 



"I do one or two dives a month 

 where I feed them, and when I go 

 down, the sharks are there with their 

 mouths open," he says. "I know they 

 know my boat and my anchor." 



Gruber is among a legion of 

 biologists and conservationists who 

 wants the public to appreciate and 

 respect sharks and to dispel irrational 

 fears. But this reinvention of the 

 shark's reputation may have an 

 unwanted byproduct. Gruber calls 

 it "the Bambi complex." It's a trend 

 worth discouraging: divers and tourists 

 swimming with sharks, sometimes even 

 hand-feeding them or attempting to pet, 

 wrangle or ride them. 



"Why would anyone want to pet 

 an animal with 300 teeth that is totally 

 wild?" he says. 



Still, Gruber takes his students out 

 for a dive as a reward for completing 

 coursework. He even has a picture of 

 his daughter trailing the tail fin of a 

 tiger shark, a ferocious animal known 

 to attack humans. A magician or 

 stuntman's directive might be: "Don't 

 try this at home." Experienced divers, 

 biologists and photographers call it 

 "controlled" circumstances. 



The particular tiger shark Gruber 

 describes shares an unusual character- 

 istic with other tiger sharks that has 

 not been observed in other species. 

 Upon being captured and tired on a 

 fishing line, these animals often 

 become despondent. Applying 

 pressure or weight to such a shark 

 will cause it to lie still on the bottom. 



"This is an extra special case," 

 he says. "These tiger sharks, while 

 in their normal condition, are very 



dangerous animals. But when you 

 catch them, they get demoralized. 

 They give up all their spirit. These 

 are nonbiological terms of course, 

 but they pretty much will allow you 

 to do anything because they basically 

 just want to swim away." 



As with any individuals, however, 

 there are exceptions. Gruber saw a 

 similarly subdued 10-foot tiger shark 

 suddenly turn and bite an underwater 

 camera and proceed to lunge at 

 spectators. 



"Fortunately, they are slow," 

 he says. 



Morehead City fisherman Dick 

 Bruno has no desire to gauge the 

 temperament of tiger sharks. Off 

 Avon on a hot June day last year, 

 Bruno and his crewmates took a 

 break while fishing for sandbar sharks 

 to take a dip. 



8 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996 



