Sharks and other scary stuff

[tuffr2]

I just crossed being pulled behind the boat off my list of stupid things to do.

The picture of the marlin close to the little boat being attacked by the Mako was a great picture. Moments after that picture I would be full of heebee jeebees and a need to change my swim trunks.

Water World - I forgot about that scene. Yep, how real men fish.

Swim mid day and not at night also another good idea.

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[Haylands]

From National Geographic Channel.... Sort of puts it into perspective.....

SHARK ATTACK FACTS
93% of shark attacks from 1580 to 2010 worldwide were on males.

In 2010, North American Waters had 42% of all confirmed unprovoked attacks worldwide (32 attacks).

Surfers accounted for 50.8% of all attacks in 2010.

Swimmers and Waders accounted for 38% of all attacks in 2010.

Snorkelers and divers accounted for 8% of all attacks in 2010.

Inflatable rafts/inner tubes accounted for 3% of attacks in 2010.

2010 was the most dangerous year for unprovoked shark attacks in a decade with 79.

Over the last half-century, there have been more unprovoked shark attacks in Florida (27 out of a total 139) between 2-3 pm than any other time of the day.

New Smyrna Beach in Florida is the shark attack capital of the world according to ISAF. It is estimated that anyone who has swam there has been within 10ft of a shark.

September is the month with the most Shark attacks in Florida (93) 1920-2010.

Since 1907 201 out 220 Great White Attacks have occurred when the human was less than 6ft from the surface.

You have a 1 in 63 chance of dying from the flu and a 1 in 3,700,000 chance of being killed by a shark during your lifetime.

Over 17,000 people die from falls each year. That’s a 1 in 218 chance over your lifetime, compared to a 1 in 3,700,000 chance of being killed by a shark.

In 1996, toilets injured 43,000 Americans a year. Sharks injured 13.

1n 1996, buckets and pails injured almost 11,000 Americans. Sharks injured 13.

In 1996, 2600 Americans were injured by room fresheners. Sharks injured 13.

The US averages just 19 shark attacks each year and one shark-attack fatality every two years. Meanwhile, in the coastal U.S. states alone, lightning strikes and kills more than 37 people each year.

Since 1959, Florida has had more shark attacks (603) than lightning fatalities (459).

Since 1959, California has had more shark attacks than lightning fatalities (89/30).

Since 1959, Hawaii has had 97 Shark attacks but no lightning fatalities.

Only 5 people die from shark attacks yearly, while millions of people die from starvation.

For SAEL: Since 1905, Natal (where Durban is) has had 89 shark attacks and 27 fatalities.

For every human killed by a shark, humans kill approximately two million sharks.

Most shark attacks occur less than 100 feet from the shore mainly around popular beaches in North America (especially Florida and Hawaii), Australia, and South Africa.

In 2008 a Polar bear Jaw was found in a Greenland Shark’s stomach.

A whale shark can filter 1.5 million litres (400,000 gallons) of water an hour when feeding. That’s enough to supply 1,000 US homes for a day

[Tetepare]

You have a 1 in 63 chance of dying from the flu and a 1 in 3,700,000 chance of being killed by a shark during your lifetime.


I'll bet the chance of being killed by a shark goes up significantly once you leave Nebraska. And I'll bet it's much higher off Australia.

I've dove with sharks- nurse, blues, blacktips, whitetips, hammerheads, tigers, and Galapagos. I've shot them, I've eaten them, I've grabbed their fins, I've tried to lift them out of the water. I even spearfished in Tonga at night with a stringer full of fish (I was assured it would be OK...don't believe it, but I did live.)

I have had sharks give me the evil eye, and make it clear they were giving me some consideration. Usually a bump sends them on their way. I believe in all these cases though I was perceived as an interloper or competition- not food.

That all said, for all "dangerous" things there are three elements: respect, fear, and Darwinism. I'm not afraid of sharks, or snakes, driving 200kph, or machineguns.

If one understands a scary thing, one cannot fear it. Fear is borne of ignorance. There is a difference between fear and respect. I won't jump into Great White breeding grounds out of respect, not fear.

Most shark attacks are a result of "I don't care." People- particularly surfers, are respectful of sharks, but are simply willing to take the risk.

Then there are the Darwin contestants who are just downright stupid and get what they get, but only sometimes...as evidenced by my nighttime spearfishing in Tonga.

[mholtzberg]

When I have watched them do the drag behind look La Vagabonde or others where they are not chuming the waters and it is crystal clear water so I would assume they have already studied the area to make sure they are not possibly getting attacked. also they are sailing not motoring so prop strikes are out of the question. they would free dive with their apparatus down to just above a reef and it looked awesome. I think they also did it with fins on.

[Thenaz007]

One of my best friends is a shark diver and travels all over the world to the best locations (Galapagos, etc.). He convinced me to accompany him off the coast of Fiji with the argument "How many days for the rest of your life will you be sorry you went to Fiji?" Spending a week with shark maniacs was very educational. They stand on top of the shark cages within a few feet of massive Great Whites cruising by, clad in black neoprene as the sharks hunt seals... In Fiji the divers swam aggressively to the bottom, where they sat with large cameras as huge Bulls and an even bigger Tiger would nose right up to them. Why such a large camera? Its often the only thing between you and the shark. They are fiercely protective of the species, and will shun enterprises profiting from shark paraphanalia (natives catch them just to sell the bits). My understanding is that in all the years of groups doing this only twice have sharks taken an investigatory nibble, typically at the shiny chrome tank regulators.
I feel educated, but still won't swim at dusk or dawn.

[TrinitySeas]

Like ecological consortia on land (they are not eco-"systems", see drkurtgrimm.com) with "top-predator" lions, tigers, or wolves, etc., an AGE-diverse and SPECIES-diverse shark population that includes LARGE/top-predator "scary" sharks is an indicator of a healthy fish population, and a healthy fishery. A scarcer occurrence these days: see here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_down_the_food_web). Good news: ecological consortia, like every Living organization, can heal and autoregenerate. Technomechanical constructs and concepts cannot, they fail like machines —breakdowns +/- failure cascades — and must be repaired. Think global technoeconomy. Some machines can be fixed, some cannot. We can scavenge parts, but they do not regernerate themselves. Good news for fish, fisheries and fisher-people!

[sailstax]

Actually hammerheads are quite aggressive and known man-eaters

[Dave22q]

Sounds like your crab shucking discards a lot of good stiff in the legs (chew and suck) and the roe. Eating crab is supposed to be messy.

[sepeteus]

I also do wonder if it's a good idea being towed behind a boat. Over here in South Australia, at Wast Beach teenage boy was taken by two great whites only 100m off the beach. He was on boogie board towed by his mate on tinny. West Beach is in a gulf of St Vincent and like comparing to 150km away at Kangaroo Island where the seal colonies are, that attack was freaky. Proves that it can happen anywhere. Personally myself, have done scuba diving catching crayfish years and years in places very likely where White pointers are.....I have never seen one but I bet the pointer seen me!

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by sailstax

Actually hammerheads are quite aggressive and known man-eaters

I'd have to agree, but remember reading that they weren't, supposed due to some extent to their relatively small mouths, and placement of the mouth, but this guy had his mouth wide open, but I don't think he could see me when he got close to me, cause I could duck him and poke him with the gun.


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[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Dave22q

Sounds like your crab shucking discards a lot of good stiff in the legs (chew and suck) and the roe. Eating crab is supposed to be messy.

Well you can keep the legs if you like and of course keep the claws.
As for Roe, this was forty or so years ago, but at least then it wasn't legal to keep females with eggs, so I always turned them loose, I don't know now, I sort of grew up on Alligator point FL. and crab traps were as much something to do as anything else, used chicken for bait.


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[tuffr2]

You guys see the video (go pro camera) of the guy on a kayak and a Hammerhead was making runs at him? He used is paddle to push it away several times. Just posted a few days ago. Kinda scary as he could have been knocked off his kayak.

Then the two ladies out in kayaks. Shark bites on the kayak as she did get knocked into the water but was not bitten.

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[Strait Shooter]

I won't bore with the details, but I had a very close encounter with a great white just off Anna Maria Island in Florida. The very next year I came face to face with a brown bear not twenty feet from me. I was once stalked by a mountain lion in the Bitterroot Mountains in Montana.

I was young and stupid, now I don't go anywhere that I'm not the top of the food chain unless I'm prepared. If I can't prepare, I don't go.

[brownoarsman]

The book unbroken, about Louie zamperini mentions several instances of attacks on downed airmen in the pacific. That is why the armed services invested so much in Julia child's attempts to cook up a shark deterrent!


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[coolboat30]

I have 40 plus years diving and swimming in water where there are and are not dangerous sharks. Local knowledge is key. Ask a lot of questions like: "Are there any sharks in the water here? What kind? How big? Has anyone ever been attacked?"

The reason you do this is because sharks, like us, are creatures of habit. If they figure out a place to be that allows them to eat, avoid danger, and reproduce, they will not leave the area or change their pattern. If their pattern gets disrupted then they might wander looking for something familiar. Maybe some sharks are habituated to hitting something that looks like a human dragging on a line?

One of the reasons I learned to dive was because fear of sharks spoiled my fun in the ocean. I knew I was cured when on a dive in Tonga I came to the surface hearing the dive master on the boat shouting "Shark, Shark!' and pointing. When I quickly turned to swim toward where he was pointing, I realized I was cured.