Children and Sharks

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by fishwife

I just snorted coffee down my nose when I came to the KFC bit

P.

With a big "science" thread going on I figured that posting graphical data would really solidify my position on the matter.


I love the Y axis scale of chickeny..ness.

[Mimsy]

I see all these blogs with photos of children swimming with dolphins and I always wonder at what point did the paretns recognize the dorsal fins as dolphins, not sharks.

[hummingway]

If only the sharks would jump in the bow wave and quite smiling quite so big ...

[captain wishful]

i am just thinkink of hitting the seas and although i scuba dive. and swam with sharks. i was bit on edge thinking what if one went for my boat. i googled it. and found that waist food. and fishing from your boat is what attracts them. people may no more about it on here. but the last recording of attacking boat or people swimming near was 1987. sharks are not as nasty as people are lead to belive more inquisertive. chust keep close by as said if 1 or 2 show up time to leave the water they seem to get a bit braver to take a peek. when i say take a peek we have scratch and sniff. sharks in packs have nibble and see. but not intentionaly. try not to have fear this could give off you are a fish in distress. slowly back to the bout or shaw. sorrie to waffle hope that helped a little

[barnakiel]

I have never seen any data suggesting that children are more at risk. And, in any case, the risk of being attacked is so low that probably by not swimming when you see a shark you probably limit it to a 0.0000000001 of a percent or something like this.

The jellyfish can be serious threat though. There are zillions of them in some areas and times of the year.

b.

[Portobello]

I have known many kids and have seen a number of sharks - I think the sharks should be afraid! ;-)

[aquarian]

Originally Posted by Ram

I ran a dive boat/operation out of Palm Beach and did many charters in the Bahamas, I’ve been in the water with some very big bad sharks, 15+ ft tigers, hammer heads and bulls, along with reef sharks, never had any problum except for a brown spot in my britches _ I personally would be very careful with a 5 year old, I would stay very close if I was snorkeling the reefs with them, there have been people just go missing wile diving /swimming in relative shallow water, over the years with out a trace, I know this as fact-not rumor so anything is possible- you don’t hear much about it because its rare and they want to keep it quiet-
Im going to be in the Bahamas next year with my grand kids age 8-10 and were going snorkeling, but I will be careful with them and keep them close

I am with Ram. I grew up in Florida and watched the small sharks, and some not so small, come in and feed after the tourists left. I have also watched them take dogs swimming along side their masters. The reality is, if it is small enough to eat, it can be considered food. Yes, there are other factors involved, behavior, time of day . . . , but kids aren't always predictable. I would definitely take them in - I took mine, but I would also keep them close. Teaching them what to watch for and how to react is also a great idea.

[ozskipper]

Yes yes.. The kids could be handy. I can outswim most kids, but cant outswim a shark! I recommend everyone keeps a few kids handy for such occasions.

Cheers
DP

[aquarian]

OMG!! Is that what kids are for?

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by aquarian

OMG!! Is that what kids are for?

Yes, they are also handy in Wolf and Bear country too.

Cheers
Oz

[aquarian]

I had 2 and wasted both. If I had only known. . . . .

[Free Agent]

It is so rare.
4 attacks a year worldwide, not usually fatal, and they are usually Bull Sharks.
We've had more dog bites in this town than that.

I read someplace only 1 in 12 sharks is carnivorous. Damfino how accurate that is.

In our Pacific waters seals are their main meal. Seals really stink and that attracts the sharks.

I'm convinced around the Caribbean resorts they keep the attacks quiet. 60% of the economy is generated by visitors so it's a serious touchy subject.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Free Agent

I read someplace only 1 in 12 sharks is carnivorous. Damfino how accurate that is.

Most sharks are carnivorous. Only 4 out of 360 shark species are known for notorious attacks on humans.

In our Pacific waters seals are their main meal. Seals really stink and that attracts the sharks.

I never noticed any stench. But you would be correct to say that sharks have very developed sense of smell and use it in feeding.

I'm convinced around the Caribbean resorts they keep the attacks quiet. 60% of the economy is generated by visitors so it's a serious touchy subject.

You are wrong. Nobody could keep it low profile - as soon as the press got a hint they would blow the news beyond any measure. This is how the press works.

To cap it up:

"...The Florida Museum of Natural History compares these statistics with the much higher rate of deaths from other, less feared causes. For example, an average of more than 38 people die annually from lightning strikes in coastal states, while less than 1 person per year is killed by a shark.[8][9] In comparison, 100 million sharks are killed every year by humans[10][11][12]...."

Source: Wikipedia.

Cheers,
barnie

[Free Agent]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Most sharks are carnivorous. Only 4 out of 360 shark species are known for notorious attacks on humans.

I never noticed any stench. But you would be correct to say that sharks have very developed sense of smell and use it in feeding.

You are wrong. Nobody could keep it low profile - as soon as the press got a hint they would blow the news beyond any measure. This is how the press works.

To cap it up:

"...The Florida Museum of Natural History compares these statistics with the much higher rate of deaths from other, less feared causes. For example, an average of more than 38 people die annually from lightning strikes in coastal states, while less than 1 person per year is killed by a shark.[8][9] In comparison, 100 million sharks are killed every year by humans[10][11][12]...."

Source: Wikipedia.

Cheers,
barnie

Nahh, you're all wet.
They keep the attacks quiet is the take from the locals.
I'll roll with that.

[hummingway]

I watched an interesting documentary a while back on a series of atacks that occurd in the Red Sea at Sharm El Sheihk; five very viscous attacks in a period of a couple of days. It's an important Saudi vacation spot and the attacks were quite unusual so it was very thoroughly investigated. They realized the problem was being caused by human behavior.

Divers feeding sharks, although illegal in the Red Sea, had produced an expectation that huans will feed them and a pattern of attack that reflected it. Divers would hold the fish out at arms length. When a shark comes at a human, the instinct of the human is to ward it off by extending theit arms. In each of these attacks one or more appendages were torn off. An even more unusual part of the attack was that most of the victims suffered a bite to the butt. They thought that this was because these sharks had been habituated by divers to expect a sack of fish hanging there.

In deep water where these sharks would normally be and where the divers had fed them shark attacks don't usually happen but these sharks had come into very shallow water. Despite signs asking people not to feed the fish around the piers and swimming platforms it was a popular thing to do as the fish are spectacular there. Apparently sharks can detect the feeding activity of small fish from quite a distance and this would pull hungry sharks into the area.

The fines for being caught feeding sharks or feeding the shore fish have been increased to very significant levels in the hopes that it won't happen again.