Do Sharks Attack Us?

[spookini]

great for sound bites, but these stats mean little.

Agreed, stats can be used to misrepresent anything.
I'm unlikely to die from 1 wasp sting.  But I am likely to be in bad shape from a shark's "exploratory" bite.
I can run from a wasp.  I can't run (or outswim) a shark.

"You're more likely to die in a car accident than a plane crash".  Which of course isn't true.  Car accidents kill more ppl, but you stand a good chance of walking away from a car accident.  You're not going to walk away from many plane crashes.

A big part of our fear is we can't see the damn thing coming.  At least I know to look up if I'm sitting under a coconut  tree. 

[PonoBill]

At least one of the Maui dive companies used to chum Molokini for night dives. I dropped into the crater one night with them and there were at least 100-200 sharks in sight all the time, like an aquarium for sharks. Scads of Blackips, but also lots of Galapagos, Greys, white tips and sandbar sharks. The Galapagos sharks are considered to be nearly as dangerous as Tigers, but they don't seem it, they seem almost as much a Golden Retriever as Blacktips. If I am ever bitten it will be by a blacktip, because I treat them like poodles, and they aren't. Grey Reef sharks look very menacing, but there are no recorded incidents with them. They look like they have a razor in their boot and a .44 tucked away somewhere. I sat on the bottom and watched sharks until I had to blow and go. Pissed everyone off because they were in the boat eating pineapple and drinking warm POG while I just sat there. Of course the swell came up, and I had a hell of a time getting up the ladder, which isn't all that much fun when you have curious fish with teeth hanging around your testicles. It's only 40 feet, but they wanted us to do a ten minute safety stop at 15. Goofy. No one else in the water, and I can't hold my breath that long, so that made folks happy too.

Making friends everywhere I go. Actually several of the divemasters became dive buddies because they have a similar philosophy about diving: Take care of yourself. If you can help someone else, do it, but don't rely on anyone.

[eastbound]

true all that PB--the heavy marketing of dive gear and the ownership of naui and padi (i date myself) by the gear manufacturers makes for a bad situation. i dove as a teen with a great teacher back in the 70's and never got certified, but got taught very well. fast fwd 15 years to a trip where it was required i be certified. took a class in nyc and was appalled at the incompetence of many who received certification! like if any of these "certified" folks had something as innocuous as bumping their mask off in 40 ft of water, they would be at serious risk of panic and drowning. there were several who "passed" who could not doff/don their mask in a pool! incredible. a few years later i went on a dive with club med in st lucia, and it was a complete shit show swarm of like 75 people--most of whom were "certified" to the extent (nil) of those i'd seen in nyc. i hunkered down and kept to myself, ascended with the mob.

turned out the WS at this club med "family" resort was shit too, and the room was awful, so we left for the much nicer jalousie resort the next day---funny was when club med insisted i engage an "early departure debriefing"--my response: "you must be kidding--get me a cab". when i asked if there was a room which had been recently renovated and how they could provide rooms in such derelict condition, they said "at club med youre not supposed to be in your room"--i said "really my three month old and three year old shd be out drinking all night and out of the room--here at club med "family""

[TallDude]

I'm not a diver. Snorkel and spearfished but never wore a tank. On a recent trip to Catalina Island with my son, we happened upon the weekend dive scene at the Casino. At first, it looked like a swap meet for dive equipment. Then I realized it was more of a 'look what I own show'. Everyone lays out there equipment on a blue 12'x 12' tarp on the pavement that surrounds the casino, near the stairs that lead directly in to the ocean. There is a coffee house right there. They all stroll around with their wetsuits rolled down to their waist, and a Latte in hand. I overheard one of the guys say he was a doctor an lived in Beverly Hills. We hung out by the stairs to watch them enter the water. No one did for the 45 minutes that we were their. The water was glassy clear. There must have been over a 100 divers and a mountain of equipment to be talked about. I don't quite get it. Cool I guess? My son asked why they weren't diving? I didn't have an answer for that. Do you dive for 15 min. and that's it for the day?

Or maybe they found out that 'sharks do attack us'. 

[BigSlaveDave]

I once saw a GWS take out a 500 lb sea lion while I was checking out one of our local breaks from a bluff.  Luckily there was no one out, but it was just outside the lineup.  The shark just tossed that sea lion around like a cat plays with a mouse.  Then it went away for a while and let the thing bleed out.  The water turned red in a 1/4 square mile area.  Then the shark came back to feed.  After watching that, I made myself a serious checklist of what to do in case of a shark attack--and i review it regularly.

If you surf, dive, or kayak regularly off the Northern California Coast, and you don't have a plan in case of shark attack, IMO your'e a bit foolish.  They're there, they bite, and they're the size of my pickup truck.

[PonoBill]

Yeah, talldude, that's the "I'm a diver" swagger, a lot like the "I'm a surfer" swagger. Got to have the right knife, the right dive computer, the latest BC, blah, blah. Substituting gear for skill or experience. I do it with stand up boards, so I can't feel too superior. It's like the "Starbucks Angels" that drive their Harley to Starbucks and meet up with the rest of their Harley friends, all with a couple of thousand miles on their bikes (if that) and leather everything. They never ride. Too busy adding bling to their bikes.

The biggest problem with diving is that it's so gear intensive. Haul all that crap to a dive location, two tanks of air, fiddle around with transport of some kind unless you want to dive where ten thousand people have screwed up the reef by touching everything. Spend an hour on the bottom, some of which will be boring. Wait for some interval to get your N2 right, dive for another hour, haul everything back.

Ive been fortunate enough to have two good diving buddies that knew what they were doing and were excited about the experiences, not the opportunity to stand out from the crowd of non-divers. That makes it worthwhile. But one has passed and the other stopped diving. I still have gear, but it hasn't been wet in two years. With all the facets of SUP and good friends to do it with I don't miss diving at all.

I do miss seeing sharks up close and personal. Might have to dust the stuff off.

[SUPcheat]

A sport that's all about swanning, preening, runway twirling and molesting/displaying expensive equipment.  I like it, it's kind of like being an audiophile.

[eastbound]

aint no fitness in diving, that's for sure--and, yeah, the gear is extensive--finally threw out all my old us divers stuff--including my conshelf se2 which was the best regulator of its time (appx 1990)

sidebar: when i learned, occasionally had to use a twin-hose valve mounted regulator. barbaric. new gear thes days looks nice, but havent been diving in years to try.

sadly most hyped dive destinations are basically dead these days--fished and picked clean to 100 feet by locals, coral all bleached and weak.  very sad.

[Bean]

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.

[ron.c]

Boy, this thread has got some miles on it.  I've yet to read about anyone who's had a real first hand experience like me, hopefully not worse.

I used to think that maybe carrying a knife on my leg would be handy.  If the shark is motivated -- Not a chance, if it's your day, there's probably not much you're gonna do to fend off that initial attack.

RC

[sterbo]

Boy, this thread has got some miles on it.  I've yet to read about anyone who's had a real first hand experience like me, hopefully not worse.

I used to think that maybe carrying a knife on my leg would be handy.  If the shark is motivated -- Not a chance, if it's your day, there's probably not much you're gonna do to fend off that initial attack.

RC

You know, it seems here it's a bit like climate change - naysayers abound.
Regardless of the endless digression into debatable statistics of when, how many, cars, boats, and planes compare to the numbers of sharks that end us, emotionally and physically, the fact remains that for all of us whose blood runs with salt water, sharks are a threat and sharks do attack us. For the aforementioned it may not seem significant but for those who've suffered the 'grin' it's one of the most horrible of life's moments.
But hey, we suffer that endless dispassionate academic debate until someone close to them gets taken - then watch the turnaround..

[TallDude]

Not likely to be one of us as long as we do Stand-Up.

[stoneaxe]

I guess we're all supposed to conform to one opinion? That would make forums pretty boring.

[PonoBill]

Actually Dave P (DPMaui) chimed in and I told him his opinion doesn't count--too biased by reality. Dave got his board bit by a big tiger at Kanaha. When the shark bit his board Dave fell ONTO the shark, and then pounded away on him with his paddle until it swam away. Dave was injured--he pulled his shoulder beating on the shark.

I still think that board should be on my wall instead of getting dusty at Dave's shop.

[lucabrasi]

I guess we're all supposed to conform to one opinion? That would make forums pretty boring.

wrong thread.