Sharks now associate divers with food, prompting alertness in the Caribbean. Could it spread?

A series of disturbing shark encounters in the Caribbean Sea has revealed divers in the park are apparently feeding dangerous sharks like ducks.

It happens in the Cayman Islands, about 360 miles south of Key West, but the behavior can spread easily due to the migratory nature of some sharks.

The island issued a warning on November 28, noting that hungry sharks are approaching divers with their mouths open.

“Recently, the Ministry of the Environment received a report of a shark that came close to a diver and was carrying a lionfish spear and an empty bucket,” the ministry wrote in a press release.

“When the diver raised the spear in self-defense, the shark opened its mouth. The diver used the spear to stab the shark in the mouth and the shark calmly turned away. The diver poked the shark again in the side of the body and the shark left the area.”

The encounter shows “learned behavior” and indicates that sharks have paired divers with free food and spears with utensils, officials said.

Details about the specific species involved have not been released. There are 17 shark species in Cayman waters and the most common are the Caribbean reef shark, nurse shark and hammerhead shark, experts say.

It is illegal to feed sharks in the waters of the Cayman Islands. Some tourism entrepreneurs, however, see such encounters as great for business, including bigger tips, island officials said.

Videos of Caribbean shark feeding have become popular on Instagram, including a series of hand-feeding events filmed at Tiger Beach in the Bahamas.

“Sharks (and other predatory fish) that are conditioned to expect food from humans through diet may become more assertive, putting both unsuspecting divers and sharks at risk of accidental injury,” said Dr. Johanna Kohler, shark research coordinator at the Cayman Islands in the press release.

“An aggressive encounter may also trigger action to remove the animal, but it is not the shark’s fault. This is a man-made problem.”

Kohler believes sharks will easily give up this behavior if divers stop offering food.

“Sharks are smart. If we stop offering food, they will learn that this is no longer an option,” she said.

Unprovoked attacks on humans are rare on the island, with only two confirmed by the International Shark Attack File.