A woman who hugs sharks

March 29, 2019 • 3:00 pm

Reader Michael found this short video of a woman who likes to pet and hug Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi). As the YouTube video notes say, “Cristina Zenato is the woman who isn’t afraid to hug sharks.”

If you’re wondering how dangerous this shark is, the answer is “not much.” Wikipedia says this:

Normally shy or indifferent to the presence of divers, the Caribbean reef shark has been known to become aggressive in the presence of food and grows sufficiently large to be considered potentially dangerous. As of 2008, the International Shark Attack File lists 27 attacks attributable to this species, 4 of them unprovoked, and none fatal.

26 thoughts on “A woman who hugs sharks”

  3. Last I checked in my Fish & Wildlife handbook, it said no molesting the aquatic life.

    1. On “shark encounter” dives, the animals are fed to draw them in – so the scuba tourists get a close-up view. Certainly, this isn’t a natural interaction; but it’s debatable whether it’s molestation. Typically, the dive master (in chainmail) is the only one who feeds the sharks. And the customers are instructed to keep their arms folded: no touching allowed.

  4. I see she wisely wears a coat of mail. These are a very effective protection against shark bites.

    1. Much more sensible than the croc-kissing loony in the video from a couple of weeks ago at this site.

    2. When we went on one of these dives, the guides did not wear any protection. The sharks were docile as we see in this video. The sharks were being fed fish by the guides and they showed no interest in any of us humans.

  5. I found out that the Caribbean reef shark uses six keen senses to locate its prey: olfactory, visual, tactile (including water vibration sensitivity through a lateralis canal system), auditory, gustatory, and electric reception.

    I speculate that the diver’s metal chain mail suit & gloves are especially interesting to these sharks when the chain mail interacts with their ‘electrosensors’ [I don’t know the correct word!]. Perhaps the chain mail glove is close enough to give ’em a high? 🙂

    Anyway.. the Wiki in the OP says this:

    Caribbean reef sharks are sometimes seen resting motionless on the sea floor or inside caves; it is the first active shark species in which such a behaviour was reported. In 1975, Eugenie Clark investigated the famed “sleeping sharks” inside the caves at Isla Mujeres off the Yucatan Peninsula, and determined that the sharks were not actually asleep as their eyes would follow divers. Clark speculated that freshwater upwellings inside the caves might loosen parasites on the sharks and produce an enjoyable “narcotic” effect

    So it is natural for these sharks to lie on the seabed & perhaps they see the glove stroking as parasite removal – the known parasite on this shark hangs out near where that woman is stroking. I bet the woman knows all this too.

    1. I am wondering with regard to their electric field sense, if the chain mail suit acts like a Faraday cage. This normally shields the occupant from outside sources of electric current, but I suppose the reverse is also true so it cloaks her electrical field from the sharks.
      Also, although the video is a fair bit slowed down the sharks are clearly not in an agitated state for feeding. They are calm, and she moves at their pace. This is probably for the best.

      2. As I stated above, on dives I went on, the guides did not use any protection, yet the sharks behaved just as shown. Much like shy dogs. If the mail had any effect on the sharks perceptions, it would seem inessential to basic safety. If the sharks become agitated or unduly excited due to the presence of food, it is possible a shark could lunge an accidentally injure a feeder. They are not, it would seem, antagonistic to humans and do not consider humans appropriate for ingestion.

          3. Definitely not. As I related in a comment a week or two ago, I had a run in with a swan when I was a child. No harm done but it convinced me to keep my distance from them.

  7. 27 attacks, four were unprovoked..hmmm…(tapping finger(tips)nails on table…hmmm.

  10. In Penrhyn, in the northern Cook Islands, the lagoon is full of sharks. The lagoon is ten miles across and up to 120 feet deep, so, huge. And you can see 6-footers patrolling along the edge of the lagoon by the village. I saw one three-foot baby shark in a pool and was told it was a pet.

    All the kids swim in the lagoon all the time, with the sharks. I guess, in very clear water, the sharks just prefer their normal diet of fish.

    I asked the doctor, who had been there four years, how many cases of sharkbite there had been and he said just two – both fishermen.

    cr

  11. There are sharks, and then there are SHARKS!!

    I’ve seen a 12 foot Tiger Shark at fairly close range and my reaction was primal, probably somewhat like that of a mouse who sees a cat. I did not freeze, but I definitely felt the urge, every motion was slow and deliberate – and I was standing on a pier 15 feet above it.

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