Do Sharks Attack Us?

[Sup44]

I made myself a serious checklist of what to do in case of a shark attack

Ok I'll bite, what's on your checklist BSD?  On my list I have denial, bargaining, anger and acceptance.

Hahahaha touché'

[Sup44]

Here's a question for you zoners...

Anyone have an idea of how sharky Baja California is? Specifically Ensenada and north area? My buddies and I have been debating this for years.

All my research points to Orange County being attack proof (not shark proof cuz Chuck Patterson proved we have them)...but you never hear about real attacks here. I guess they don't like the taste of the rich blood...

Santa Barbara and up your bummed...and then San Diego seems to get slightly higher activity than OC. 

But what about Baja? You would think it would be high considering how close Guadalupe Island is...But I can only find 4 recorded shark attacks in Baja in the last 60 years (and two were at Guadalupe). I once talked to a local who said the locals go to great lengths to keep attacks/sightings on the low to keep tourism flowing but I don't know how much I believe that. I suppose you could argue theres far less people in the water. But if it was as busy as San Fransisco you'd still hear about a lot more sightings.

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

Sharkey comes to eat our toes,
Bites us everywhere we goes.
Nibble on the calloused heel,
Chew it like an orange peel.
Maybe chomp a little hand
Fingers lying in the sand.

Chompy chompy here and there,
Chompy chompy everywhere.
Everywhere a dude can be.
Sharkey wants to bite on me.

[goodfornothin]

i spent three summers down in the abrejos area. saw lots and lots of sharks. especially kiting.  it was a daily deal to see munched seals on the north beach areas.  but there are a lot of fish in that area.  we would surf the estuary down near renes, so frickin sharky we would tow it just so we wouldnt have to sit and wait.

i lived near baja malibu for two years, never saw one shark

ive put some time out at todos proper, ive never scene anything there, surprisingly.

but there is a slabby right over by thors hammer, and i saw one big one there, towed right over it and had to bunny hop it, hahah

i have not heard of anybody getting tickled or munched. 

my two cents, and thats worth about, well not 2 cents these days


i did jump in the water with a whale once, that was the stupidest fucking thing ive ever done, seriously.  we where headed out of the bay down in san quentin.  we got the bay so good that day, holy cow. coming off the points and the main grinder out in the middle of the bay,, holy crap that was a good day.  but anyways, we where putting out on the ski and a whale was chilling. i just wanted to get in the water with it. i didnt get close at all, about 50 feet.  (i think its against the law, so double stupid).  i only lasted about .5 seconds.  just the current coming off that giant mammal made me rethink my position in this world.  so i cant imagine getting hunted down by a big shark.  i think i would poop myself

[BigSlaveDave]

I made myself a serious checklist of what to do in case of a shark attack

Ok I'll bite, what's on your checklist BSD?  On my list I have denial, bargaining, anger and acceptance.

Hahahaha touché'

I just saw this.  I don't get on the board too often.

There are specific things you can do for whatever specific activity you do, but here's the general list:

1.  This is a big one:  Don't paddle out with seals and sealions.  They are the specific prey item for GWS in Norcal.  Juvenile sealions  often "raftup" in huge gangs.  Stay away from these.  If they start doing this behavior around you, get out of the water.  This is a shark deli.

2. Stay with the pack.  Sharks like to prey on strays from the pack.  It's also important in case you do get hit to have assistance from others, as bleeding out is the real problem with GWS attacks.  That's their method: surprise attack and then wait for the prey to bleed out.  It's less work.  Many guys have had their lives saved by having buddies there with cell phones to call an evac helicopter.  Time is critical.

3. Fight like hell.  The shark's weak points are their eyes and nose, which contains the ampullae of lorenzini, a sensitive gel filled sensing organ.  GWS do not like being hit on the nose.  There are a few videos on youtube showing GWS being repeatedly rebuffed by folks hitting them in the nose.  If you're an abalone diver, use your iron to whack it on the nose and eyes.  My friend and neighbor was a commercial abalone diver off the Farrallone Islands (off San Francisco) in the 70s, when he got hit on a hooka assisted dive.  The shark grabbed him around the waist and John was able to get free by repeatedly striking the animal on the nose and eyes.  It just let go.  John has a fucking scar like you would not believe.

4. Don't be a silhouette.  GWS are sight predators that are programmed to scan for sea-liony looking silhouettes.  When possible stay in the kelp.  The kelp bed is your friend. Sharks have a harder time locating you with all the other shadows around.  Also, shark gill physiology requires that they keep moving to pass water through their gills, so they avoid it more than open water.  This silhouette thing is the reason prey fish like anchovies and mackerel are "counter-shaded", with black on top and silver on the bottom.  Predators looking up have a harder time seeing silver against the bright surface and predators looking down can'st see the black too well.  Contrary to popular belief about sharks, with GWS you have less chance of getting hit in really murky water, than in high vis water.

5.  Don't go out at river mouths where it's obvious that birds, fish and sealions are feeding.

6.  This one's obvious, but put speared fish in your kayak hold......and actually, believe it or not, peeing might be a problem, as they scent on mammal urine.

7.  Get to your buddies craft.  GWS get fixated on things, so keeping reasonably close together can help if you can get away from your board or boat and onto someone else's.  From what I've seen the sharks just keep gnawing these things for a while.

8.  For tank diving, don't go to the top if you have a driveby.  The surface is the GWS's arena.  If you've got enough air try to hide and slowly make your way out of there on the bottom.

There's more specific stuff for free-diving, tank-diving, and kayaking, but I'm tired of typing.  I think the most import thing is to stay away from sea lions and have folks nearby.  I almost never surf alone up here anymore.   i gave in to the fear.

[goodfornothin]

great info. thanks. 

i  chuckled at 7.    Bro scoot over man, i guess i dont have any good friends,  they would kick me off as soon as i got there,, ahhaha

[Sup44]

i spent three summers down in the abrejos area. saw lots and lots of sharks. especially kiting.  it was a daily deal to see munched seals on the north beach areas.  but there are a lot of fish in that area.  we would surf the estuary down near renes, so frickin sharky we would tow it just so we wouldnt have to sit and wait.

i lived near baja malibu for two years, never saw one shark

ive put some time out at todos proper, ive never scene anything there, surprisingly.

but there is a slabby right over by thors hammer, and i saw one big one there, towed right over it and had to bunny hop it, hahah

i have not heard of anybody getting tickled or munched. 

my two cents, and thats worth about, well not 2 cents these days


i did jump in the water with a whale once, that was the stupidest fucking thing ive ever done, seriously.  we where headed out of the bay down in san quentin.  we got the bay so good that day, holy cow. coming off the points and the main grinder out in the middle of the bay,, holy crap that was a good day.  but anyways, we where putting out on the ski and a whale was chilling. i just wanted to get in the water with it. i didnt get close at all, about 50 feet.  (i think its against the law, so double stupid).  i only lasted about .5 seconds.  just the current coming off that giant mammal made me rethink my position in this world.  so i cant imagine getting hunted down by a big shark.  i think i would poop myself

Interesting. Did you surf other spots than baja malibu? Ever here of any activity?

[covesurfer]

These were shot 2 days ago (Wednesday) at the Cove in Kihei (Maui). This is an extremely popular break, no matter what size. Usually it is small and attracts tons of people, many of whom are not very experienced in the water. There are several surf schools operating here that typically have 30 or more people in the water, many of them kids, and this day was no exception. This Tiger Shark was estimated at 12 to 14 feet based on the size of the board it was swimming under and around. The photographer surfs here every day and basically escorted the shark out of the area, warning people in the water as he went. No one was bitten or harassed.

[goodfornothin]

ive dipped my head in every nook and cranny i could get into, from the boarder to abre's.   there really isnt that much sea life in any of that area.  especially sharks.  3m's and down that way towards ensenada is where they seem to hang out.  but ive surfed that whole bay and i really have never been spooked. 

i was looking at surfermag.com and they have a thread with random surf photos, a bunch of them include a shark. so maybe im just clueless when im out there. probably better that way.

i have a buddy named troy, ralphie and gotwavz are friends with him as well.  holy cow, when we are towing. he makes me whip him in a circle so he can glide onto the rescue sled.  he is so scared its actually kinda funny.  his dad would stick him in an inner-tube and have him float in the kelp paddies as he dove for abalone.  he said he developed a fear that will never be broken, waaaaaay to deep,, hahhaha  poor guy

[PonoBill]

Nice shots. That's a big 'un. that ought to fire up Mr. Boyum.

[covesurfer]

Ron took those pictures. Going to be talked about for a while I'd bet.

[supthecreek]

Great pictures.... and very cool that he stayed with it until it left the area.

BSD.... oops... I (we all) break almost every rule you laid out, every day. We sort of have to, if we want to surf. 

[RATbeachrider]

Fluffy swum in front of me on Friday the 13th at Trail 1.

[magentawave]

Huh, my attitude in Baja was to not worry about em just because there was so much sea life down there - so I figured they were well fed.  Surprisingly though, I've never seen a shark in Baja. On the other hand, I haven't sup surfed Baja since I started sup surfing and it's amazing the stuff I see standing on a sup that I never see prone paddling a regular surfboard.

ive dipped my head in every nook and cranny i could get into, from the boarder to abre's.   there really isnt that much sea life in any of that area.  especially sharks. 

[BigSlaveDave]

great info. thanks. 

i  chuckled at 7.    Bro scoot over man, i guess i dont have any good friends,  they would kick me off as soon as i got there,, ahhaha

All my friends tell me I don't have any friends.