Do Sharks Attack Us?

[PonoBill]

For the most part, we are simply not on the menu. Almost all predators have preferred prey. It's how they get so very efficient and successful. It's also why the predator/prey cycles exist. There is always opportunistic or accidental predation, but it's just that. When the rodent population dips, the owls get scarce. Yeah, they might grab a kitten or a duck, but they aren't good at it, and they can't count on it, so they aren't really hunting them. They don't represent a replacement for scare prey, so the number of predators decreases.

There ARE sharks that are happy hunting humans. Oceanic Whitetips think we are very tasty. They don't have a settled prey relationship because they are mostly pelagic--deep water. They encounter their prey, they don't go where they expect to find it. So a few hundred humans struggling in the water after a battleship or a ferry sinks looks like a buffet. They don't taste and reject, they eat. I've seen one oceanic whitetip out of the many hundreds of sharks I've seen. And yes, he/she was quite interested in me. I've seen dozens of tigers, perhaps ten whites, and a few bull sharks, none of whom had an interest other than avoiding me.

[SUP Leave]

Great thread. I just read the whole thing and enjoyed it.

As a resident of the PacNW I only worry about bigfoots when I am walking out of the woods an hour after dark with a dead flashlight, and I only worry about sharks when I fall off my board in cloudy water with a lot of seals around.

Statistically my chance of being attacked by either is the same.

However, my chance of getting fat, sick and old is a lot higher if I quit my ocean activities. That danger is real.

I just watched Blackfish and those trainers got chomped and ate by Orcas (actually more than sharks have bit SUPs) so they attack us too.

[stoneaxe]

As a resident of the PacNW I only worry about bigfoots when I am walking out of the woods an hour after dark with a dead flashlight, and I only worry about sharks when I fall off my board in cloudy water with a lot of seals around.

As someone who is being called bigfoote lately I resent that implication......

The only times I've really been worried about sharks is the same.....if I fall off in the murk with seals around I don't hang in the water very long.....that and when all the seals suddenly disappear. THAT had me decide to take a break and eat my lunch.

[Sup44]

I didn't read this whole thread, but here's my deal:

I'm a surfer, free-dive spearfisher, kayak fisher, sea kayaker, and now SUP surfer-- all in NorCal. In my thirty-five years of doing this stuff on this coast, I've been chased by whitey twice, and have 2 or 3 "drive-by's".  Two of my kayak fishing friends (on the Norcal Kayak Anglers Forum) have had their boats (like 15' boats) attacked by the "Landlord" so hard they were ejected from their boats and narrowly escaped with their lives.  You can read about it on that forum.

And about 6 years ago, not far from my town (Fort Bragg, CA) an abalone diver had his head bit off--to be found three weeks later (the head) by a beachcomber.  I was surfing 1/4 mile away when that happened.

Do I hate sharks? No.  Am I scared shitless of them?  You fucking bet I am.

Maybe it has to do with where you live.  You don't have to be a PhD statistician to think that I might have a higher probability of getting hit by a GWS than an Iowa corn farmer.

So here's where my confusion lies. I've been studying shark attacks and incidents for years. The common theme is always "exploratory bite" or "mistake for a seal." But what about the ejection out of a 15 foot kayak? That kayak does not look like a seal from underwater. Thoughts?

[PonoBill]

Animals, not robots. They do what they want to do. They don't have a lot of rules.

[sterbo]

So here's where my confusion lies. I've been studying shark attacks and incidents for years. The common theme is always "exploratory bite" or "mistake for a seal." But what about the ejection out of a 15 foot kayak? That kayak does not look like a seal from underwater. Thoughts?

Often times these kinds of things require context in order to understand the whys and wherefores.

Maybe the shark was particularly hungry and just went for in case it panned out. Maybe it felt threatened, which as the human population increases, is more and more common. Maybe it was protected it's young. Maybe it's key receptors were impaired due to some kind of birth defect or, again more and more common, all too common interface with all the pollutants we dump in their backyard.
Etc...

[pdxmike]

Shark equivalent of Ted Bundy?

[covesurfer]

 I've seen one oceanic whitetip out of the many hundreds of sharks I've seen. And yes, he/she was quite interested in me. I've seen dozens of tigers, perhaps ten whites, and a few bull sharks, none of whom had an interest other than avoiding me.

Clearly, the whitetip didn't get a look at your feet; the other sharks did.

[lucabrasi]

So here's where my confusion lies. I've been studying shark attacks and incidents for years. The common theme is always "exploratory bite" or "mistake for a seal." But what about the ejection out of a 15 foot kayak? That kayak does not look like a seal from underwater. Thoughts?

Fishing with bait or chumming. Perhaps they had been catching fish and the fighting fish sending out signals of some sort,

[robon]

So here's where my confusion lies. I've been studying shark attacks and incidents for years. The common theme is always "exploratory bite" or "mistake for a seal." But what about the ejection out of a 15 foot kayak? That kayak does not look like a seal from underwater. Thoughts?

Fishing with bait or chumming. Perhaps they had been catching fish and the fighting fish sending out signals of some sort,

There has been multiple documented shark attacks on kayaks where no fishing was involved. Two women last September were Kayaking and dumped out during an attack by Whitey. The bottom line is that it happens regardless of what activity the person in their personal water craft is involved in. As PB states, they are animals and there are no rules. If you are in the water, you're fair game and large sharks such as Great Whites take out 500 pound seal lions and will attack even larger prey items. This generalization of Sharks not attacking SUPs and Kayaks because they don't resemble seals or are too big is bollocks. It happens, but just not very often. The point is SUPs have been bitten, bumped, and multiple accounts of Kayaks being attacked exist around the world. We can argue about biology, physiology, shark behaviour and statistics until we are blue in the face, but there are two simple points in the conversation. One is that Sharks do attack people in the water, and attacks do and will occur regardless of what type and what size of personal water craft you are using. Kayaks, SUPS, OC1s, Canoes, surf skis...whatever.

You can do the research and find documented attacks on all manner of human powered water craft. The other point is that for all the human activity in the water, attacks aren't numerous. There just exists a lot of grey area between these two points and a bunch of generalizations exist that aren't necessarily true about shark behaviour. The best proof comes from people who see it for themselves, whether it be sharks going to town on a tree in the middle of the ocean or the female Kayakers who were attacked last September, or someone who literally swims inches from a large Great White and nothing happens at all.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2743082/Two-female-kayakers-lucky-escape-attack-great-white-shark-threw-water.html

[stoneaxe]

 I've seen one oceanic whitetip out of the many hundreds of sharks I've seen. And yes, he/she was quite interested in me. I've seen dozens of tigers, perhaps ten whites, and a few bull sharks, none of whom had an interest other than avoiding me.

Clearly, the whitetip didn't get a look at your feet; the other sharks did.

White tips must also have a poor sense of smell.

[spookini]

Two women last September were Kayaking and dumped out during an attack by Whitey.

FWIW, those two women witnessed a GW/seal feeding from the shore, and decided to paddle out and take pictures.

Whitey was just trying to cull the herd.   

[PonoBill]

 I've seen one oceanic whitetip out of the many hundreds of sharks I've seen. And yes, he/she was quite interested in me. I've seen dozens of tigers, perhaps ten whites, and a few bull sharks, none of whom had an interest other than avoiding me.

Clearly, the whitetip didn't get a look at your feet; the other sharks did.

White tips must also have a poor sense of smell.

Sad to see that kind of jealousy. I may have a future as a foot model, though Diane claims my feet look like they should have a toe tag on them.

[robon]

Two women last September were Kayaking and dumped out during an attack by Whitey.

FWIW, those two women witnessed a GW/seal feeding from the shore, and decided to paddle out and take pictures.

Whitey was just trying to cull the herd.   

Interesting how variable the stories are. The account from the articles I have read was "a woman" (singular) saw a shark feeding on a seal "earlier in the day" (not when these women were out),  and yes they were hoping to see seals, but I highly, highly  doubt the two females were like, "hey, look at that big Whitey taking out that seal". "lets go paddle into the carnage and take pics". "like, okay, lets go". People are that stupid, but it doesn't seem the case in this story, and the point remains that their kayaks don't resemble seals, they weren't fishing, and still got hit. Paddling in seal territory is likely to produce encounters though.

[SUP Leave]

I fish a lot and sometimes I get asked: Why does the steelhead bite that (bait, fly, whatever) and the standard answer is: "because they don't have hands".

You have to figure sharks is going to shark. Call it an "attack" or "exploratory bite" or whatever they are animals reacting to their world the way they want.

Is knowing why they do it going to keep you out of the water? If so it is better to not know.