Maybe We Should Not Be that Afraid of Sharks

[Phisher]

Living in Florida my whole life and spending countless hours in the water, either surfing,fishing or diving, I have had my share of shark encounters. I have never once felt threatened or scared. Bumped more than one occasion while surfing did usually create a warm mushy feeling in me shorts!

[zeta]

Originally Posted by Phisher

Living in Florida my whole life and spending countless hours in the water, either surfing,fishing or diving, I have had my share of shark encounters. I have never once felt threatened or scared. Bumped more than one occasion while surfing did usually create a warm mushy feeling in me shorts!

The Land Sharks in Florida are the ones to be afraid of

[UWOA]

I wouldn't be that worried about sharks. I used to SCUBA dive for lobster at the mouth of the Rio Chagres river (the second most shark infested place in the world after Oz ... where Morgan lost five ships on the reef storming Fort San Lorenzo and the crew of three of the ships never made it to shore ... and where the average size of the hammerheads I saw was about 12 feet) and all I had to protect myself (back in the 70's) was a bang stick. Just give them the respect they're due and "own the water." Of course I'm Airborne, Ranger, Special Forces ... so that went without saying .... LOL!

[dinosaur]

Originally Posted by UWOA

Just give them the respect they're due and "own the water." Of course I'm Airborne, Ranger, Special Forces ... so that went without saying .... LOL!

so being "airborne" didn't leave you a little out of your element submerged in water?

on a separate note... just started this thread, inspired by reading this thread. there is some relevancy... i think.

[UWOA]

Originally Posted by dinosaur

so being "airborne" didn't leave you a little out of your element submerged in water?

It's just a qualification, not a lifestyle. I'm SCUBA, paraSCUBA and Water Rescue qualified also ... but I'm not jumpin' in anymore to save you ....

[sww914]

I was reading through some injury & death statistics a few months ago and as a surfer I was particularly interested in things pertaining to that. One thing of note was that although surfing looks pretty dangerous the severity of injuries and chances of death are much like golf. Another surprise was that you are about twice as likely to be killed by a vending machine as you are to be attacked by a shark. Not killed, just attacked.
Fear the Coke machine!


BTW, I don't think that statistic measured the health risks of eating the stuff in vending machines, just the likelihood of being mauled by one.

[s/v Beth]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

All wild animals are unpredictable. I saw a documentary last week with a guy who swims with great whites regularly after chumming the water with blood. They are basically curiuos animals and come close to see what you are. Having said, and seen, that ..... I dont trust the next situation to be predictable..... With any animal, many have one mode..... Eat, crap, sleep... Youre just part of the environment, they never got the memo about you being "top dog"

That reminds me of the Grizzly man up in Alaska. Lived with the bears until a new bear came along and didn't release he wasn't food.
You can trust animals- to be animals. The day that guy goes in the water, and the sharks find out he is food- well...

[Cheechako]

It amazes me how many people are injured, mauled etc in the news. The wierd thing is it's happening in or close to established neighborhoods. Bear and Cougar too. Last year a Bellevue city councilman was mauled by a bear not that far from Seattle, if you've seen the remains or the living remains of a bear mauling.... well .... I'll opt for the shark! I dont know the stats but would guess that Bear maulings happen far, far more often than sharks. This year both a Bear and a Cougar have been tracked and euthanized in Seattle neighborhoods.,.,. boy did they get off course!

[chala]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

And I will add my vote for crocks being far scarier than sharks in Oz,
Cheers,
Jim

Now it make me wonder.

[Wand]

Sharks in the water I can live with; not so keen though on the ones that jump in yr boat...Great white shark jumps into marine science research boat in South Africa | Perth Now

[capn_billl]

It was the Law of the Sea, they said. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top.
Hunter S. Thompson

[Wishinforwind]

Statistics can be misleading. For example, once you enter the water you can pretty much stop worrying about deer.

WRONG! Points to his boat Yea surprised the hell outta me when I hit it about 3/4 mile in the sound. Sailed back around and literally roped it used MOB to get it in the boat. and had deer steaks for dinner that night sad to say most the deer went back over the side to feed the sharks cause I aint got enough cooler to keep that much meat cold. OK ok in YEARS of sailing I only seen 2 deer in the water and yea none ever bit me.But I think it was a commando deer scouting for a larger force come to take over.

[Wishinforwind]

Lets face it boys and girls. Honestly in the food chain of life where does man stand?
In the snack isle. No hooves, no fangs, no claws , we are just soft pink meat in brightly colored packages.

[DennisM]

This is one of the few subjects that will prompt me to get up on my soapbox. I have been a scuba diver for over 40 years and have developed a great fondness and admiration for sharks. They are beautiful animals, graceful and powerful, and not the mindless killing machines that Hollywood would have us believe.

I have traveled to South Africa on three separate occasions, specifically to dive with various species of sharks without using a cage. I have been up close and personal with Blues, Makos, Tigers, Hammerheads and Great Whites (not to mention a wide variety of reef sharks), and have never once felt threatened by any of them.

The finning of sharks is killing tens of millions of them each year, and it is an abomination that should be halted immediately. If I could join Greenpeace just to go and stop shark finning, I would. If you ever enter a restaurant that serves shark fin soup, I ask you to please turn around and walk out.

[capn_billl]

Originally Posted by sailpower

Statistics can be misleading. For example, once you enter the water you can pretty much stop worrying about deer.

Actually I was fishing in the mid channel lower Columbia river one evening, when we heard a disturbance in the water making a beeline straight for the boat. Several minutes later we watched as it popped it head over the gunnel, it gave us a start, as it was too dark to see clearly what it was until then.

A rather large buck! With it's horns still developing. It appeared to be struggling to climb on the side of the jon boat causing it to tip. Not wanting to capsize in the middle of the Columbia river, we grabbed its head, and put our arms around it's body. Once we had a grip on it, it calmed down and stopped struggling, it was badly out of breath. It rested for a long while, then started shaking its head so we released it. It then continued across the river for the far shore, and eventually made it ,and climbed up the far bank.

It didn't eat us, but it could have if it had a mind to.