Surfer killed in shark attack.

McSack said:
I often wonder what effect all the "shark tourism" has had on the behaviour of sharks in our waters. Surely somewhere along the line there's going to be some kind of pavlovian response associating the presence of humans in the water (albiet in cages or on boats) with food.
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Or sharks leaving the area.

A recent documentary on Natgeo Wild:

The Whale That Ate The Great White' Nature Shock. The orcas have learnt to ram the sharks, then turn them over to take advantage of their weakness; tonic immobility. All the other great whites leave the area en masse, despite the prime feeding season.

As to why the sharks fled after the attack, New Jersey scientist Craig O’Connell believes it was because of the “smell of death” in the water. Tests with lemon sharks show that chemicals released when a shark is killed trigger a violent flight reaction in others of the same species. While this might explain the initial dispersal, however, it does not explain why the great whites would stay away from the Farallones for the rest of the feeding season – especially when later research proved that some of them travel up to 4,000km to be there every autumn.
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w1z4rd said:
There are no more lions in the wild really. All of them are in demarcated reserves, managed farms or cages. For your analogy to be fair the lions would have to be walking freely around the streets. I personally would love all sharks to be in shark nature reserves and shark farms rather than eating me. Just like a lion.


I respect sharks and any shark attack victim or normal human being will tell you they would love to give sharks wide berths. Problem is, in the ocean you dont have those options available yet.


But you just told us that they are killed for their fins :confused: Its not like a group of people can get a posse together to go after a shark because it bit someone. I think what you were trying to say is dont hate sharks because of fear. Because no one slaughters sharks (afaik) out of fear.

I agree, sharks are wonderful creatures, but your anti against commercial shark fishing and fears or surfers dont seem to gel in the same post. Surfers dont go kill sharks because theyre bitten by them. Most surfers are incredibly nature conscious.
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You share the same view as many people... I do feel however, that your view is skewed somewhat.

When you go to the Kruger park...
Do you walk out alone at night?
Do you go swim in water holes and splash around?
Do you see leave the land rover and go pet the animals?
Do you put on your Garmin watch and see if you can make your 7km jog to the next camp faster than at home?

No... because you're mindful of the way to behave around THOSE animals... you see lovely photos of lions and leopards all regal like in their magnificence and you go bananas whenever someone mentions "canned hunting"... or "habitat destruction" or "fences to be removed"... I'll hazard to say, you're probably against hunting as it is...

No-one thinks twice about walking into the sea at 05:30am and swimming in the waves...
No-one thinks that those shark nets kill HUNDREDS of sharks per kilometer every day.
No-one thinks that long line fishing boats (that provide the tuna for your sushi) kill MILLIONS of sharks by accident.
No-one is getting excited about finning sharks like they are with other animals.

It's coz no-one has taken the time to learn about sharks... instead of respecting that animal, you expect it to give you permission to wee in their homes when you're on holiday... and not get upset about it.


The problem is... 99% of the world thinks the way you do. It's not your fault... it's the popular media that would rather perpetuate the shark's bad reputation coz it makes better television.
 
OverKill69 said:
You share the same view as many people... I do feel however, that your view is skewed somewhat.

When you go to the Kruger park...
Do you walk out alone at night?
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Nope, neither would I swim in a shark tank alone at night.

Do you go swim in water holes and splash around?
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No, I dont make a habit of swimming in game park dams unless Ive being hiking.
Do you see leave the land rover and go pet the animals?
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You are speaking to someone who spent 2 years working a game farm and who had to feed the lions in the lion enclosure.

No... because you're mindful of the way to behave around THOSE animals... you see lovely photos of lions and leopards all regal like in their magnificence and you go bananas whenever someone mentions "canned hunting"... or "habitat destruction" or "fences to be removed"... I'll hazard to say, you're probably against hunting as it is...
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Im against canned hunting, but all for legal normal hunting. Brought up a farm and all that.

No-one thinks twice about walking into the sea at 05:30am and swimming in the waves...
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Of course they do. If you are going for a dawnie at the back of your mind is always the fear of being nailed by a shark.

No-one thinks that those shark nets kill HUNDREDS of sharks per kilometer every day.
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No one cares for the millions of sardines we kill every day either. 99.9999999% of all coast line does not have shark nets, I feel bad that innocent animals get caught in those nets, but so little of the worlds coastline is netted, I think its fair. Of course I would prefer a solution that does not involve them being killed.
No-one thinks that long line fishing boats (that provide the tuna for your sushi) kill MILLIONS of sharks by accident.
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Lots of people I know do.
No-one is getting excited about finning sharks like they are with other animals.
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Yeah, save the sardine! No one gets upset about them either... and we eat more of them :(

It's coz no-one has taken the time to learn about sharks... instead of respecting that animal, you expect it to give you permission to wee in their homes when you're on holiday... and not get upset about it.
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Bizarre comment

The problem is... 99% of the world thinks the way you do. It's not your fault... it's the popular media that would rather perpetuate the shark's bad reputation coz it makes better television.
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Well Im glad, as personally I like sharks and I love my ocean and am pretty informed on both. Which is why I commented that sharks are not being killed out of fear but for commercial reasons. You tried to tie the two in... in a pretty confused way :/ The way you made it out, came across as the "surfer had it coming to him because he is so scared of the sharks and in their territory and because 170 million sharks are killed every year".

Wanna know something interesting about apex predators? They can easily be replaced. Its the part of nature that suffers the least if they are removed.

If all the humans were removed (the ultimate apex predator), life would continue, if all lions were removed, life would continue and if all sharks were removed... life would continue.
 
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Overkill relax on the drama dude :D, we know sharks have got together and are actively seeking to kill humans and we will strike back. Today marks the new war against sharks!!!!!! How dare they think they can kill us with no reaction.

Ponder i reckon that was just a coincidence, most shark attacks are so random and unlucky. Is there a lot of cage diving or shark watching in the area where this guy was killed?
 
killadoob said:
Ponder i reckon that was just a coincidence, most shark attacks are so random and unlucky. Is there a lot of cage diving or shark watching in the area where this guy was killed?
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Theres one surfer I know... 3 times his being in the water with an attack happening. Twice it was him, and the one time it was him, two great whites nailed him at the same time (you might have seen that video). Lol, when my boet and I see him get into the water we tease him about attracting the sharks.
 
not getting aggro... I just think sharks have a bad wrap sheet is all.
Made worse by the "Shark Week" and that... Not saying that the surfer had it coming, but that surfer often KNOW the risks themselves but still go surfing.

I'm glad to see that in most related articles, there hasn't been the usual "MORE NETS, MORE NETS" crying after an encounter like this... coz those nets don't do anything but indiscriminately kill thousands of sharks each year for no good reason.

The parallel I'm trying to make is that people both revere, respect and care for lions, leopards and such. EVERYONE knows the rules, no-one breaks them...
Yet very few people take into account that the oceans belong to the sharks and not us... we are entering their habitat every time we go splashing about in the waves... but we don't show sharks anywhere near the amount of respect or reverence we show their counterparts in the wild.

I'm also saying... that sharks are still vilified because it makes good TV.

Which is part of the reason no-one cares if so many are slaughtered every year. If 170 000 000 apex predators of another species were killed every year, people would go MENTAL!
Think polar bears
Tigers
Dolphins
Whales
Lions
Leopards
etc etc.

It's not even commercial fishing that's killing them... it really is just wasteful slaughter. They kill millions of sharks just trying to catch commercial line fish. They just chuck the dead shark back in the water... damn.
Shark nets are hideous! And they don't even help with shark numbers because the thrashing of the trapped sharks attract even more sharks.
I think that if any other species was treated as rough... The bunny huggers would go bananas!
But not for sharks.


I must concede though... I haven't read a single "We need more anti-shark measures at Port St Johns" comment...


Maybe I'm getting a little passionate and speaking to the semi-converted here louder than I should... but this is the one subject that gets me REALLY riled up!
I apologise if I'm getting a little heated... and everyone is talking sense here... I just feel over protective for sharks since a vast majority of people I come across have a very wrong opinion of them.
 
Ekstasis said:
More ppl die from accidents with toasters/yr than ppl killed by sharks
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+1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_attack#Statistics
Statistics
In 2000, the year with the most recorded shark attacks, there were 79 shark attacks reported worldwide, 11 of them fatal.[1] In 2005 and 2006 this number decreased to 61 and 62 respectively, while the number of fatalities dropped to only four per year.[1] Of these attacks, the majority occurred in the United States (53 in 2000, 40 in 2005, and 39 in 2006).[2] The New York Times reported in July 2008 that there had been only one fatal attack in the previous year.[3] Despite these reports, however, the actual number of fatal shark attacks worldwide remains uncertain. For the majority of third world coastal nations there exists no method of reporting suspected shark attacks therefore losses and fatalities at near-shore or sea there often remain unsolved or unpublicized.[citation needed][4]

The United States has had more reported shark attacks than any other country, with a total of 1,049 attacks (49 fatal) during the past 339 years (1670–2009).[5] According to the International Shark Attack File, the states in the U.S. where the most attacks have occurred in are Florida, Hawaii, California, Texas, and the Carolinas, though attacks have occurred in almost every coastal state.[5] Outside the U.S., Australia and South Africa have had the most attacks.[6]

As of 2009, the ISAF recorded a total of 2,251 attacks worldwide since 1580, with 464 attacks being fatal.[6] The location with the most recorded shark attacks is New Smyrna Beach, Florida.[7] First world nations such as the United States, Australia, both high income countries, and to some extent South Africa, an upper middle income country, facilitate more thorough documentation of shark attacks on humans than poorer coastal countries.

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]

Even considering only people who go to beaches, a person's chance of getting attacked by a shark is 1 in 11.5 million, and a person's chance of getting killed by a shark is less than 1 in 264.1 million.[10][11] In the United States, the annual number of people who drown is 3,306, whereas the annual number of shark fatalities is 1.[12]
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I'll take my chances while exercising common sense.
 
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