Shark Attack - Swimming Offshore

[Ike]

On US Coast Guard and US Navy ships it is common practice to hold swim calls in mid ocean. However, there are always shark guards as lookouts, armed with rifles, while anyone is in the water. I always volunteered to be a shark guard. I did one mid ocean swim and that was enough for me. When the Coast Guard cutter I was assigned to was on Ocean Station Echo (they don't do those anymore) north of Bermuda, we would frequently see sharks around the ship. Stay in one place for a while and they will show up.

[Skipper-Ingo]

Every single life is precious, and it’s always a tragedy if someone dies through a shark attack. But we should not fear those sharks at all. We should always go for a swim without fear when ever we like. Why?

The 2023 worldwide total of 69 confirmed unprovoked cases is in line with the most recent five-year (2018-2022) average of 63 incidents annually. There were 14 confirmed shark-related fatalities this year, ten of which are assigned as unprovoked. This number is higher than the five-year annual global average of six unprovoked fatalities per year. Three of the unprovoked fatalities were due to bites from white sharks on surfers in Australia.

14 people dead within one year, WORLDWIDE !
That’s close to nothing.
More people each year are killed by elephants, crocodiles, bees, snakes,and wars and many other dangers that confront us, than by sharks. Compare the number of deaths by shark attack with death as the result of a motor vehicle accident. Remember there are an average of 10 deaths attributable to shark attacks WORLDWIDE.

Here are some other things that are more likely to kill you than a shark encounter.
* Accidental poisoning: An average of 240 humans die every day in the U.S. by unintentional poisoning from substances such as legal and illegal drugs, alcohol, and pesticides or other chemicals.
* Air travel:*2023 saw a total of 72 air traffic fatalities.
* Boating: More than 4,000 recreational boating accidents occur each year in the U.S., resulting in more than 500 deaths.
* Cars: More than 46,000 people die in car crashes each year in the U.S.
* A champagne cork: One study estimated that around 24 humans die each year in France from incidents involving champagne corks.
* Constipation: About 900 Americans die annually from diseases associated with or related to constipation. (A friendly reminder: Vegan foods such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes are rich in fiber and promote good digestion.)
* Contracting an infection in a hospital: In the U.S., healthcare-acquired infections account for an estimated 99,000 deaths each year.
* Cycling: Nearly 1,000 bicyclists die in the U.S. every year.
* Excessive cold: About 1,330 humans die of exposure to the cold in the U.S. each year.
* Falling: According to the National Safety Council, humans have a one in 98 chance of dying from a fall. The odds of being killed by a shark attack are roughly one in 3.7 million.
* Fireworks: An average of eight humans die from fireworks-related injuries each year in the U.S.
* Food poisoning: Every year, an average of 3,000 humans die in the U.S. from foodborne illnesses—many of which come from eating animal flesh.
* Hunting: An average of 100 human fatalities occur every year in the U.S. as a result of hunting accidents.
* A jet ski: On average, 40 to 50 jet ski riders die in the U.S. annually.
* A lawn mower: Statistics show that lawn mower accidents cause an average of 70 fatalities a year in the U.S.
* A ladder: About 300 humans die from ladder-related injuries in the U.S. each year.
* Lightning strikes: They kill about 20 humans each year in the U.S.
* A rip current: When it comes to ocean-related deaths, sharks are far less threatening than the ocean itself—an average of 71 humans die in rip current drownings each year.
* Rock climbing: The fatality rate due to rock climbing is around 30 deaths per year globally.
* The sun: An estimated 60,000 deaths each year worldwide are caused by too much exposure to ultraviolet radiation.
* Skydiving: An average of 22 humans die while skydiving in the U.S. annually.
* A tornado: In an average year, tornadoes cause around 80 deaths in the U.S.
* A train: Each year, nearly 1,000 humans die in train-related accidents in the U.S.
* Tanning beds: Deaths related to tanning beds aren’t like what’s shown in Final Destination 3, but researchers estimate that around 1,200 deaths from skin cancer in the U.S. could be attributed to indoor tanning.
* Water: There are up to 4,000 deaths from drowning in the U.S. each year.

So - forget about the fear of sharks.
Skipper Ingo, singlehand Circumnavigator 2017 - 2020 who (scuba and free) dived with sharks in French Polynesia, Australia, New Zealand.

[El Pinguino]

Nothing like a good dose of statistics to start the day with.
OK - 3 surfers killed by great whites in Australia.
They were in the three southern states , SA, Vic and WA. Total population about 12 million of which how many are surfers? I'd guess 10,000 absolute max.
You can't really compare that with air traffic fatalities.
You go into the ocean in southern Australia and the odds of getting eaten are not quite as good as winning a chook raffle but they aren't bad either.
As I said to someone else - off you go - I'll hold your towel.

[boatman61]

Why do sharks invariably go for legs or arms, simple.. the knees and elbows give off electric signatures similar to a fish in distress, an easy meal..
If I need to cool off on a hot day a bucket on a rope dropped over the side, hauled back in and poured over my head works just fine, check for Portuguese Man of War before pouring..
Saw a 10ft shark leap clear outa the water 1000nm from land years back and that was enough to put me off deep water dips.. pretty wary of shallow water dips come to that.

[barnakiel]

Yes. The attacks are rare.


Then again if you are a gourmet like me and there is a delicious cheesecake on the table , well ...


One has to watch water. Not swim like a madman, anywhere, just because 'the attacks are rare'.


b.

[proudsailor]

I saw Jaws when I was a kid. Was scared to use the toilet b/c I knew one was gonna swim up the sewer and get me.

Was on a Hans Christian off the coast of Florida in no winds. Group of us. Dropped sails and held swim call. Within minutes, fins slicing the water. Crew jumped back onto the boat as quickly as they jumped out . I saw Jaws and knew the risk. Safe in the cockpit......

[piloto]

Originally Posted by PippaB

I confess that I have done so hundreds of times (no exaggeration). When the boat is ghosting along in the tropics from 0-2 knots it is pretty much a regular occurrence for us. Sometimes multiple swim sessions in a day. Something about being 1000 miles from land with only your head above the water....

Have never seen a shark, but this report, although it is only one such, certainly makes me consider the wisdom (or lack thereof).

I, too, have had occasion to swim along my boat, single handing, when the wind was light and variable- that can change in an instant, which I found out when she gained speed and I was compelled to keep up or become chum. Luckily my previous olympic class swimming background salvaged what was left of my options (i was younger then and considerably more foolish). She had high enough freeboard that i was glad to have left a line trailing…,.

[Lindsaymcm]

Originally Posted by proudsailor

I saw Jaws when I was a kid. Was scared to use the toilet b/c I knew one was gonna swim up the sewer and get me.

Was on a Hans Christian off the coast of Florida in no winds. Group of us. Dropped sails and held swim call. Within minutes, fins slicing the water. Crew jumped back onto the boat as quickly as they jumped out . I saw Jaws and knew the risk. Safe in the cockpit......

A friend of mine saw Jaws and vowed never to swim in the sea again. Instead he rides motorbikes for fun …

[Rothblum]

Originally Posted by Johan Leopard51

Gord: there are plenty studies that show for example shark attack surfers admitting that they peed in their suits before.

Maybe all surfers pee in their suits, rendering the statistics pointless..

Logically : if a shark can follow minuscule trace blood in water, then mammal urine is a likely snail trail to follow.

The US Navy found that human blood is not an attractant for sharks. Likewise, and according to ChatGPT, in part, that "urine might slightly alter the water's chemical composition, it does not act as a shark attractant in the way commonly feared. The primary attractants for sharks are the smells associated with their natural food sources rather than human waste products."

[Rothblum]

In the '60s, I spent a fair amount of time at Tongue of the Ocean off Eleuthera, in the Bahamas, where the US Navy has a mooring buoy in around 5000 ft of water. When we arrived on site, divers had to swim our mooring line to the mooring buoy. There were always a few sharks swimming around the buoy, going after the fish who were also attracted to the buoy. The divers were completely unconcerned about the sharks. It seems to be a thing that sharks seldom attack divers underwater, as opposed to swimmers on the surface. That excludes spear fishermen who have bags of fish, of course. Over the course of our stay, the captain would frequently allow a swim call. Lots of us would go over the side to swim, and the boat would post a rifleman to look out for sharks. I felt, as did others, that we were in way more danger of being shot than bitten. Maybe I was a little too complacent. Besides the swimmers, there were always a few sailors fishing, and they would catch a shark from time-to-time. The waters around the boat were generally contaminated from the guys fishing and cleaning their catch, and of course, in those days all the waste from the boat went overboard except that the heads were secured during the swim periods.

[Johan Leopard51]

The thread is about offshore so I’ll stick to that.

We often swim offshore and much more often snorkel / scuba at offshore pinnacles and almost-island-reefs, because that’s where the pretty fish and big fish are. Same reason we often see sharks - they like fish too. MOST are small say 4 foot and entirely unthreatening and we won’t stop doing that. I don’t recall seeing a threatening size shark either in shallow water reefs or at offshore pinnacles ever. Maybe that’s not where they feed.

We encounter BIG sharks (Australian big and South African big) offshore at bait balls where they are after the bait balls and the other predator fish. I don’t jump in the water around bait balls, it is a Darwinian principle.

Despite what ChatGPT may think, I don’t pee in the water when I snorkel or scuba. Who knows : maybe sharks like recycled Gin!

Somebody in our group November got bitten by a sea turtle that is ordinarily a sweet thing that comes to divers for interplay.

We also trawl a lot and have never had a shark take out a fish on the hook (shallow or deep) in Seychelles. We sometimes (maybe 5 times in 5 years) hook a shark on lure going through a bait ball offshore, but that debate is normally over in ½ a second it takes for the line to snap on a one tonne obstacle. We don’t catch with baited hooks or live bait, which would likely change the issue of hooking a shark.

Conclusion: provided you use common-sense, swimming offshore is not a high risk activity.

[Johan Leopard51]

Originally Posted by Rothblum

In the '60s, I spent a fair amount of time at Tongue of the Ocean off Eleuthera, in the Bahamas, where the US Navy has a mooring buoy in around 5000 ft of water. When we arrived on site, divers had to swim our mooring line to the mooring buoy. There were always a few sharks swimming around the buoy, going after the fish who were also attracted to the buoy. The divers were completely unconcerned about the sharks. It seems to be a thing that sharks seldom attack divers underwater, as opposed to swimmers on the surface. That excludes spear fishermen who have bags of fish, of course. Over the course of our stay, the captain would frequently allow a swim call. Lots of us would go over the side to swim, and the boat would post a rifleman to look out for sharks. I felt, as did others, that we were in way more danger of being shot than bitten. Maybe I was a little too complacent. Besides the swimmers, there were always a few sailors fishing, and they would catch a shark from time-to-time. The waters around the boat were generally contaminated from the guys fishing and cleaning their catch, and of course, in those days all the waste from the boat went overboard except that the heads were secured during the swim periods.

The guys with guns should first have shot the guys gutting fish while you swam

Where we boat, that is huge no for swimming. It drives me nuts when I see a yacht at anchor in crowded bay gutting fish among other yachts. Almost but not quite same level as the dockheads that anchor in choral. I would not get in the water near gutting even among barracuda, and they are almost always lurking somewhere. The pilot fish that adopt the yacht are “cute” enough for me.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Johan Leopard51

... We also trawl a lot and have never had a shark take out a fish on the hook (shallow or deep) in Seychelles ...
... Conclusion: provided you use common-sense, swimming offshore is not a high risk activity.

I've often had a shark [or barracuda] take* a caught fish, when trolling in Exuma Sound, Bahamas.


* Usually, the head is all that remains, to be taken aboard.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by GordMay

I've often had a shark [or barracuda] take* a caught fish, when trolling in Exuma Sound, Bahamas.


* Usually, the head is all that remains, to be taken aboard.

Quite common when I was a pup fishing from a 10 foot dinghy in Port Phillip . Remember the commotion one night - when fishing for snapper - on a nearby boat when a shark took the snapper after it was out of the water and about to be boated . I think someone discovered religion at that moment.
But those were little sharks.

Meanwhile back to Great Whites. I think a majority of the fatalities - and about 50% of great white attacks in Australia are fatal - in South Australia involve abalone and other divers and not surfers . Maybe because SA isn't a big surfing state.

[Beester]

Probably a Longimanus (oceanic whitetip). They are pelagic sharks, they look quite benign when you would compare them with a great white/tiger/bull, but they have a big mouth and average 3m in length.

What makes them dangerous is that they are very curious, they will investigate anything on the surface and they follow boats.

I've only recently restarted sailing, but I've spend a lot of time offshore as a technical diver, and trust me in any subtropical or tropical water they are there.I had a couple of close encounters with them. 30 years ago they were plenty, now you see them less and less, probably also victim of overfishing like all shark species.

Anyway probably a stupid first post, should have asked/or contributed to something sail related, but hey here we are.

Cheers