Are humans to blame for shark attacks?
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30 Comments
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8
Tamarama
I've been a surfer for 25 years, and I live in a part of the world that I share with Great White sharks, who take a surfer or two in these parts every year. The surfing community is close knit, and I have heard some spine tingling close call stories as well as having been closer that I care for a couple of times. But people who spend a lot of time in the water are under no illusions about whose territory the ocean really is. It's the domain of the shark, and rightly so. Everyone I know is respectful of that, and perfectly aware of the very remote possibility that one day their ticket may get called. Sharks, when they attack humans, are just doing what they are designed to do. I don't believe they destinguish between humans and anything other kind of prey, and I believe the idea of a 'rogue' shark, or a 'man killer' is rediculous. Humanity has long thought itself somewhat beyond the laws of nature, or above the natural order of things, and I believe one of the reasons sharks are so widely reviled is that they serve to remind us that we are wrong about that. There is no blame here, there is just nature, in all her sometimes cruel and brutal magnificence, at work.
1
Tamarama
By the way, I'm furiously knocking on wood right now!!!!!
0
Serrano
Tamarama - All you have to do is get yourself a tri-corder and it will let you know if there are any large sharks approaching.
0
papasmurfinjapan
"79 unprovoked shark assaults"
Aren't you provoking a shark by swimming in it's backyard?
-1
gaijinfo
79 shark attacks in the whole world in one year? Only six fatalities? out of how many millions of people go swimming every year? I'd say your odds of not getting eaten are pretty good.
-1
Himajin
Ya, but like a plane crash, if it happens you're toast...
0
gaijinfo
If a plane crashed with 79 passengers aboard the death toll would be a lot higher than six. But then again, I'd much rather die in a plane crash. It would be over quickly, while a shark slowly chewing away at your arms and legs...
Moderator
Readers, please stay on topic. Plane crashes are not relevant to this discussion.
-1
charlie honk kong
one simple solution. Learn the fly. Swimming like a dolphin will keep sharks away from you, since they are scared of dolphins.
1
Dennis Bauer
There are still sharks in the sea?
-1
Serrano
"There are still sharks in the sea?"
Incredible, isn't it?
0
tokyokawasaki
I know. With china slaughtering 100,000's of them every year just for their fins. For that disgusting shark-fin soup. I like stories about sharks attacking humans. Poetic justice at work.
-1
Himajin
Sorry, what I was meaning to say was that there are some things, that while they are rare and unlikely, when they do happen they tend to be catastrophic and you find yourself SOL. Wasn't trying to derail the thread.
0
shinhiyata
When you swim in the ocean, you become part of the food chain.
-1
steve@CPFC
Most shark attacks are in shallow water as a person swimming is splashing about and looks like it is wounded to the shark who thinks it is easy prey.
Maybe humans piss them off quite a bit when going into the sea in cages to sometimes taunt the sharks.
0
Fadamor
What a joke. Humans aren't to blame for shark attacks, the shark's hunger is to blame. To a large shark, a human is just a slow-swimming seal with extra-long flippers. In other words, easy pickings.
This made me LOL. So now we have to deal with "unprovoked shark assaults". There's no such thing. Splashing around in the water tells the shark that an injured piece of dinner needs to be taken care of. That's provoking.
-1
tmarie
Ya, but like a plane crash, if it happens you're toast... Sorry, what I was meaning to say was that there are some things, that while they are rare and unlikely, when they do happen they tend to be catastrophic and you find yourself SOL. Wasn't trying to derail the thread.
Wrong even when trying to explain yourself. Your chances of being killed even when attacked are very slim. 6 out of 79!
Tamarama is the wise one on the thread. You enter THEIR backyard, take care.
Fadamor, humans aren't to blame?? Are you serious? Attacks in SA are thought to be caused by diving shops/companies chumming waters so people can see great whites. This draws them closer to the shore and surfers. The Egypt issue was explain due to human chucking dead animal overboard - again chumming - though they didn't mean to draw sharks in. How can you not blame humans for it? We aren't made to swim. Mistaken identity is our fault, not the sharks.
I have been diving with a few and they are amazing creatures. Respect their waters and hope they don't make a mistake.
Oh and I wish the UN or someone would ban shark fishing. One of the most inhumane practices I am aware of.
-2
Fadamor
@tmarie,
It's you who are mistaken. The sharks have made no mistake in identifying you. You are their food. You are a tasty variation on their normally aquatic diet. If they are hungry when you go swimming by, they will eat you. No mistake.
0
tmarie
Exactly my point - we are in THEIR territory and they are pretty much kings of the ocean. We are to blame. Thing is, we aren't fatty enough and no, they don't "eat" us. They spit us out because we taste bad. Very rare to find any human body parts in a shark that is known to have attacked a human. Learn your facts.
1
bicultural
tmarie, exactly. The reason why so many surfers survive shark attacks is because the shark takes a bite and realizes it's not what they expected.
0
Elbuda Mexicano
The finger of blame was pointed at a passing livestock transport ship that had dumped sheep carcasses overboard and at operators who illegally fed sharks to thrill the tourists. These guys out in Egypt sound real smart! Dumping dead sheep overboard into the sea, to get the sharks into a frenzy, then get some idiot tourist to go in the water with their new video camera?? This is just asking to get attacked by sharks! The stupidity of some people never amazes me.
-1
Serrano
"When you swim in the ocean you become part of the food chain"
Good grief! Unless, of course, you have a waterproof tricorder to warn you of large predators approaching.
-2
Farmboy
The number of fatal shark attacks is small, and I've seen info that indicates that there have been multiple attacks by the same shark, so even the low number of attacks we see may not be representative of the number of all attacks by sharks, which but for these weird individuals might be even lower.
That said, Elbuda Mexicano's story about someone dumping dead sheep overboard to get the sharks in a frenzy was interesting, and one would have to say that was the fault of some idiot humans.
-1
tmarie
El, these guys didn't mean to. If you want to be upset at people for such things, take a look at the great white shark diving in South Africa. Purposely chum waters so tourists can get their kicks.
-1
ka_chan
We are always a part of the food chain. When we have a gun we may be on top but if you a jogging and run into a mountain lion or bear..... Of course, even if you have a gun if the bear is a grizzly, you're toast if the bear decides he doesn't like you. As for sharks, humans on surf boards look like seals from under the water. A sharks main job is clean the weak and wounded.
-1
wanderlust
bicultural has it right - the sharks mistake a human swimming on or close to the surface for a seal or similar creature, and their first bite tells them that they're wrong. The trouble is that first bite can be intensely traumatic for a human, especially if in the abdominal region. Loss of limbs is generally survivable, if treated promptly; there are statistical tables of how much trauma you can survive. Tourniquets, IV fluids and/ or blood, along with medications for shock are required, to stabilize the patient until surgery is possible.
Scuba divers are at less risk, as they are beneath the surface, and their profile, with fins and tank makes them appear larger, and good advice when entering and exiting the water is to minimize the time at the surface.
-1
JapanGal
Sarks never finish eating you. We taste like crap due to our diets. Not just shark fin soup but shark steak is good, but if it tastes ammoniated beware. Last revenge. I have surfed with sharks around, but at least on a long board they are. Intimidated.
-1
tmarie
Japan gal, someone who surfs, the fact that you eat shark fin soup and shark stakes is pathetic. Have a little respect. Do you know how sharks are killed for their fins? You might want to educate yourself on it before suggesting people try it. Last revenge would be these sharks all deciding to take out surfers like yourself.
Never heard of an attack on a scuba diver - which is good as I dive! ;)
0
Himajin
Lovely comment...
0
Jared Norman
I have been diving with sharks in the past, you just have to respect them and not get to close.
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