Author Topic: Everything you want to know about White Sharks in the California and the US.  (Read 19764 times)

connector14

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When we do our annual Maui visit,  I feel much safer when we are scuba diving as opposed to when we snorkel. I am seriously contemplating carrying a billy club (cut-off broomstick) to carry when we snorkel. If lucky enough to actually see an attacking shark before it gets to you,  a bump with the stick might save you.  Only once have I had a shark (female reef whitetip) get really close as she was protecting her area (which I found out about later from locals). We we not aware at the time that we were entering a known breeding area. This also was a number of years ago back before the Wailia area to the south of Kihei was really deveoped,  and people dumped alot of their garbage out front.....imagine that?!  Nude beach down in that area too.....sharks got to love to snack on humans without the pesky "wrappings" on.
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PonoBill

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I've done more than a few night dives with hundreds of sharks swimming around. The safest place is sitting on the bottom, and it feels that way. I dump my BC and take a seat.  Getting back into the boat or hanging out at 15 feet for a safety stop doesn't feel safe at all. Those feelings don't have any basis in an actual threat. Not like having a dog try to get at you. I've never even been given a serious "what the fuck is that" pass. The most surprising thing about night diving with platoons of sharks, or coming up from a wall dive through a few hundred hammerheads, or slipping into a cave full of white tip reef sharks is how little they care about us. No interest. Not even curiosity.

The reason videos with sharks being interested in people or making a close pass get posted is because they are so rare.

Eastbound, there's not enough unprovoked attacks worldwide to draw any relative conclusion from. That table is drawn from 88 attacks worldwide. Two percent equals 2. Three percent = 2.67 five percent =4.4. 
« Last Edit: August 13, 2018, 03:10:17 PM by PonoBill »
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connector14

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I don't mind the idea of diving with sharks,  especially if you know for sure they are going to be there and you are with a guide that knows what to expect. It's the "surprise" encounters that are spooky.
I'll never forget some of the scenes from the documentary "Blue Water, White Death" that Ron and Valerie Taylor did with Al Giddings and a few other mossbacks from the day. Some awsome shots swimming outside of the cages with Great Whites off of Africa. I wouldn't mind watching that one again.....it's a classic.
"never leave the dock without your paddle"
Imagine Rocket 14 ...my new favorite, smooth and fast and lite
2018 Red Paddle 14 x 27 Elite
2014 Bark Dominator 14....smooth and quiet
2014 Imagine Connector 14...the "barge"

connector14

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"never leave the dock without your paddle"
Imagine Rocket 14 ...my new favorite, smooth and fast and lite
2018 Red Paddle 14 x 27 Elite
2014 Bark Dominator 14....smooth and quiet
2014 Imagine Connector 14...the "barge"

SUP Sports ®

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I've seen some biggies while I was getting my undergrad degree in Oceanography at Humboldt...chased out of the water several times...

My friend, Greg Huglin, filmed this incredible movie clip in 35mm...he showed it to us on a big screen before he left for Australia...jaw dropping...literally...;-)

https://youtu.be/sQA1wd7pORw

The father of one of my staff got hit awhile back by a Hammerhead while freediving...and, was lucky to live...

"Matt has been spearfishing and foraging coastally since the mid-1970s, growing up along the prolific waters of Monterey Bay. In 1981, he enrolled at UCSB, where he was a Division 1 swimmer, and started beach and boat diving along the coast and out at the islands. Now 51, he’s become a highly respected badass in spearfishing communities at home and abroad, diving about 50 days a year, mainly going after lobster, white sea bass, yellowtail, and tuna and other open-ocean species. His peers call him prudent and bright, a quiet leader and mentor."

https://www.independent.com/news/2015/oct/22/shark-attack-santa-cruz-island/

Rob Rebstock, a local surfer/windsurfer/kiter...was bit by a GW at the Ranch and lived...only to later die of a heart attack while surfing there...so, there's that...

"Sport scuba diver Robert Rebstock, age 23, was attacked at the same location as Gary Johnson only four days later, on Wednesday, 23 July 1975, at 1430 hrs. Rebstock, accompanied by his brother Scott, Jeff Morris, and Tom Hesseldenz, had decided to go diving and fishing at Point Conception. As fate would have it, on the way out to their dive site they passed the commercial dive boat of Gary Johnson. He told them of his experience four days earlier and suggested they not dive or fish in the area of Perch Rock. Rebstock and his companions misunderstood Johnson, thinking he had said it was "safe" to dive Perch Rock.

They approached the rock from the south, passing very close to it as they circled, looking for a suitable anchorage. This maneuver frightened several of the Harbor Seals that had been sunning on the rock, causing them to enter the water. Rebstock and his three companions then anchored their boat about 10 m south of Perch Rock. Rebstock was dressed in a black wetsuit with hood and boots, mask, weight belt and flotation vest with green swim fins, a scuba tank and regulator, and carried a yellow pole spear and white game bag. He entered the water by rolling backward out of the boat. Rebstock surfaced 1 m from his boat and trod water while his companions handed him some additional equipment. About one minute after the diver's entry into the water, a White Shark, 5 to 6 m in length, came from directly beneath him, striking with such force that both the diver and shark rose 1 to 2 m out of the water. The shark released Rebstock at the height of its breach, arching its back to re-enter the water nose first. The diver was thrown from amidships to the stern, a distance greater than 3 m. He was immediately pulled aboard, the anchor rope was cut, and the boat headed for Government Point.

Physicians at Lompoc Hospital described Rebstock's most severe injury as "a single deep laceration to the outer surface of the upper thigh. This wound is shaped like an upside-down 'J' and is about 6 inches [15 cm] in length. This injury penetrated deep into musculature, but did not involve any major nerves or vascular vessels. The second injury was to the front of his lower left leg, consisting of multiple tooth punctures. They range in length from 0.5 to 2 inches [1.25 to 5 cm] and were 0.5 to 1.5 inches [1.25 to 3.75 cm] deep."

The pattern and arrangement of these individual punctures is consistent with the victim's leg having been bent at the knee (treading water) when the shark struck from directly below, causing the anterior surface of Rebstock's lower leg (shin) to be depressed against the teeth in the shark's lower jaw. Further, because the wounds are smooth-edged, razor-like cuts, there must have been very little movement of the shark relative to the victim while his leg was in contact with the shark's teeth. Interspace measurements (the distance from the centers of adjacent tooth punctures) of the wounds were comparable to tooth interspace measurements (the distance between adjacent tooth tips) of a White Shark 5.8 m in length. Physicians were confident of a complete recovery for the scuba diver. Today, Robert Rebstock practices law in Santa Barbara.

It is not possible to positively determine whether the shark that attacked Gary Johnson on July 19 was the same individual that then attacked Robert Rebstock on the 23rd, four days later. However, research conducted at the Farallon Islands off San Francisco suggests that some White Sharks remain within a given home range during certain times of the year, for varying lengths of time. Although no direct evidence exists, the short four-day period between the attacks on Johnson and Rebstock at Point Conception, together with the size estimates of the attacking shark by the victims and witnesses, strongly suggest that a single White Shark might have been responsible for both attacks."
 
http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/unprovoked_diver.htm
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WhatsSUP

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LOL.....I always feel safer on the Cape if there are shortboarders around. Safer still if the chubby sponger guy with the red and black boogie, red and black shorty suit, and red and black fins is splashing and looking like a wounded seal. I try and stay a good distance from him though....guy could start a feeding frenzy all on his own....reminds me of a red and black broken back rapala.... ;D

Hah!!!!  That's hysterical Stoney!!!!!!
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PonoBill

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Amazing video Wardog. That freediver has a lot bigger balls than I do. I've seen a big Great White up close and personal, in Monterey Bay, but I didn't head towards it or play around with its nose.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

SUP Sports ®

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Amazing video Wardog. That freediver has a lot bigger balls than I do. I've seen a big Great White up close and personal, in Monterey Bay, but I didn't head towards it or play around with its nose.

Yup...Greg is a world class photog and cinematographer...

http://www.greghuglin.com

I got heaps of shark stories, too...too many really...Red Triangle...the Baja...mainland Mex...and, ummmm locally...then there was that croc in Central America...and, a few bears up north...etc...;-)

That tonic immobility thing is amazing...divers risking limb removal or damage by hopefully making them go catatonic...here little kitty...purrrrrrrrr...count me out...;-)

https://youtu.be/5usnMtNVyp8
« Last Edit: August 13, 2018, 06:07:58 PM by SUP Sports ® »
Mahalos...{:~)

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connector14

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I might be willing to do it IF wearing a full stainless steel "chain suit" ! :o
"never leave the dock without your paddle"
Imagine Rocket 14 ...my new favorite, smooth and fast and lite
2018 Red Paddle 14 x 27 Elite
2014 Bark Dominator 14....smooth and quiet
2014 Imagine Connector 14...the "barge"

SlatchJim

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I can't even imagine the cojones it takes to fiddle around with an alpha predator in their element like that. Great vids.

sflinux

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Some statistics here for those that are interested:
http://sharkresearchcommittee.com/statistics.htm
Quiver Shaped by: Joe Blair, Blane Chambers, Jimmy Lewis, Kirk McGinty, and Bob Pearson.
Me: 200#, 6'2"

 


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