Author Topic: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS  (Read 8380 times)

Zooport

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Yesterday some tourist lady got some fairly serious bites from a creature in the south part of my 'hood, Newport Beach. They were substantial bites but they bites seem too small to be a legit shark attack, I'm thinking it was something smaller. Barracuda?  Seal?   But that's all it took for the hysteria to begin.

This morning, I was SUP surfing about 12 miles north of there, at Newport Pier and a life guard ordered me' out of the water because of sharks.  There weren't any, nobody saw one, the city officials were just covering their butts.  I continued to surf for about a half hour until the life guard hassled me so much that I knew I was on the verge of getting a ticket, so I finally acquiesced and paddled in. 

As I exited the water, there were two tourists with Wavestorms freaking out on the beach saying, "Look!  Look!  I can see the shark!  There it is!"  I looked where he was pointing and it was, you guessed it, a dolphin.

Walked about 50 more yards and a news reporter from KNX, the major So Cal news radio, approached me for a short interview.  Here is an approximate transcript of what was said:

Him:  Sir, were you just surfing out there?
Me: Sure
Him:  Why would you surf where there are sharks out there?
Me:  Oh please; there is very little danger from sharks.  Sure I surfed.
Him:  But didn't the life guard order you out of the water because of sharks?  Did you know that there was a shark attack yesterday?
Me:  I know.  It didn't keep me out of the water.
Him:  Why would you go out there?
Me:  If you heard there was a dog bite in a park, would you stop going to the park?
Him:  How long have you been surfing?
Me: 44 years.
Him:  Have you ever seen sharks, or surfed around sharks?
Me:  Sure.
Him: Have you ever been bitten?
Me:  Never.  Of all the hundreds of thousands of people that go in the ocean, there are only one or two shark bites per year.  You are in much more danger driving on the freeway from a stupid driver than you are in the ocean from a shark.  We live in a society of cowards; the moment there is the slightest chance of danger, everybody freaks out.  Most people that understand the ocean and understand sharks, aren't too worried about it.  It could happen, but it is extremely unlikely.

The reporter was very nice and thanked me.  Said, "I'm putting you on the radio at 8:05.  It was 7:30 then.  Hooked my board up to my bike and barreled it home.  Got home, hopped in my car and turned on KNX just in time to hear them begin the story.  Of course, they edited my comments to the point of ridiculousness.  They came out to this:  A man getting out of the water with his surfboard was asked why he would surf when there was sharks out there.  His reply was, "Sure I surfed, if you heard there was a dog bite in the park, would you stop going?"  Kind of bacterized my comments, but who cares?  People hear what they want.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2016, 06:31:45 PM by Zooport »
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pdxmike

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Re: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2016, 06:32:47 PM »
All your comments were great.    Too bad they didn't broadcast them all, but at least they got probably your best quote about the dog bite example.

covesurfer

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Re: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2016, 06:46:45 PM »
^^^Truth^^^

 

Ichabod Spoonbill

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Re: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2016, 07:56:51 PM »
Eek, a shark! Jeez, it's like people think all they do is hunt for human flesh.
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Re: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2016, 09:00:28 PM »
Lately when I'm floating out in the ocean I can't stop worrying about my 16 yr old daughter who just got her license and is out driving around by herself. 
It's not overhead to me!
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Zooport

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Re: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2016, 11:07:20 PM »
Lately when I'm floating out in the ocean I can't stop worrying about my 16 yr old daughter who just got her license and is out driving around by herself. 
Amen, that's really scary. 
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capobeachboy

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Re: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS
« Reply #6 on: May 31, 2016, 12:00:38 AM »
I would rather be one over the other, but you are right getting killed on our freeways happens way more often but everybody has someplace to go so keep on driving...
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amheckSUP

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Re: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS
« Reply #7 on: May 31, 2016, 06:44:51 AM »
Seriously, you can get a ticket for surfing/SUPing?
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PonoBill

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Re: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS
« Reply #8 on: May 31, 2016, 06:48:08 AM »
You can be arrested for ignoring a lifeguard. Strange but true. They can't directly arrest you, but they can call a cop who will.
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Tom

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Re: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS
« Reply #9 on: May 31, 2016, 07:39:25 AM »
You can be arrested for ignoring a lifeguard. Strange but true. They can't directly arrest you, but they can call a cop who will.


That  will  depend  on  where  you  are .  Some  San   Diego  life  guards  can  arrest  you  for  misdemeanors . Some  get  police  academy  training .

supthecreek

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Re: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS
« Reply #10 on: May 31, 2016, 08:30:08 AM »
Rise UP... Way to go!

Just when Zoos are going out of fashion, you go all civil disobedient and got your message heard.....
they did distill it down to the point, with that one quote, so well done!

 ;D


surf4food

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Re: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS
« Reply #11 on: May 31, 2016, 12:01:45 PM »
Seriously, you can get a ticket for surfing/SUPing?

Yes.  Happened to me twice. 

mrbig

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Re: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS
« Reply #12 on: May 31, 2016, 12:40:02 PM »
Zooport,
Gud on ya mate! Be careful out there!  ;D  ;D  ;D
Let it come to you..
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Re: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS
« Reply #13 on: May 31, 2016, 01:25:21 PM »
Seriously, you can get a ticket for surfing/SUPing?

Yes.  Happened to me twice.

Doh, so glad we don't have lifeguards in Oregon. I prefer natural selection.  :o
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PonoBill

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Re: Shark Scare. Zooport Disobeyed Lifeguard. Got interviewed by NEWS
« Reply #14 on: May 31, 2016, 01:46:01 PM »
You can be arrested for ignoring a lifeguard. Strange but true. They can't directly arrest you, but they can call a cop who will.


That  will  depend  on  where  you  are .  Some  San   Diego  life  guards  can  arrest  you  for  misdemeanors . Some  get  police  academy  training .

Wow, I bet that pumps up the budding fascists among them. In general I like and respect these folks, but there's some pretty heavy handed ones. I understand--if I were doing their jobs, dealing with idiots all day I'd be wearing jackboots and carrying an assault rifle. Fortunately I'm not. And probably some of them shouldn't be.

Years ago when we first started downwinding SUPs on the south side I had a lifeguard on a jet ski order me to the beach. He said some SUP guy had run into a problem with the offshore wind and had been rescued after clinging to the meteorological buoy that used to be anchored off the Cove--all of fifty yards from the beach. I said "well that's not me, I'm doing fine, I'm headed to Makenna". We had a little argument, he got really pissed--bright red face and all--and he said he was going to get the coast guard to arrest me. Knocked me off the board with his bow wave blasting away. Total idiot. No coasties showed up, but there was a cop waiting for me at Makenna. We had a good laugh about the haole lifeguard.
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