Great White Sharks

[Elton]

Sometimes, man is so stupid....

 

We take down cages of tourists, feed sharks through the bars and then wonder why they attack us when we go swimming without the cages!

 

Article here:

 

http://bit.ly/aqsPwf

[chesters1]

sweet little things ,i saw one and a sea lion playing "tag" on telly the other night

[Vagabond]

We take down cages of tourists, feed sharks through the bars and then wonder why they attack us when we go swimming without the cages!

 

....and some even don flippers and wet suits so as to look as much like a tasty seal as possible !

[snakey1]

The problem with that idea is white sharks have been attacking humans for far longer than cage diving has been going on and the way sharks attack divers and surfers generally tends to be different to the way they attack pinnipeds that coupled with the fact they actually have good eyesite has made some experts rethink the idea of mistaken identity attacks and some are now suggesting that it is a popular explanation but in most cases an incorrect one.

see here

and here

[Ken Davison South Wales]

"Completely false," said R. Aidan Martin, director of ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research in Vancouver, Canada. A shark's behavior while hunting a pinniped differs markedly from its demeanor as it approaches people—suggesting that the animal does not confuse surfers for seals.

 

"I spent five years in South Africa and observed over 1,000 predatory attacks on sea lions by great whites," said Martin. "The sharks would rocket to the surface and pulverize their prey with incredible force."

 

By comparison, sharks usually approach people with what he calls "leisurely or undramatic behavior."

 

Yes, there are man-eating sharks out there, but there are very few individuals that end up attacking and eating a person, and very rare cases (but well publicised) of man-eating sharks going on a feeding frenzy. If you look at big cats there is a good chance a Lion will attack if you get too close on the African plains. For a Tiger in the Asian jungle this is less likely and in most parks where there are Tigers you are relatively safe walking along paths. The main danger is going off paths and getting close to a mother with young. Most Tiger attacks are by those that get a taste for human flesh, or old, weak and hungry animals, usually outside the best habitats and parks. In the Amazon, attacks by Jaguars are extremely rare - and so are attacks by sharks at sea.

 

I admire the confidence they have in their research as I don't think this gentleman would agree:

 

Lloyd Skinner cannot be consulted. Last month, on the sweltering summer afternoon of 12 January, this fit, 37-year-old tourist swam out from busy Fish Hoek beach, near Cape Town. Wearing goggles and trunks, the Zimbabwean was barely out of his depth – in about 7ft of water – when a great white charged him. The attack, which lasted three minutes, was watched by ­hundreds of horrified holidaymakers, ­including children playing bat-and-ball on the sand and bodyboarders only yards away. One witness tweeted in disbelief: "Holy ****. We just saw a gigantic shark eat what looked like a person in front of our house." And then: "We are dumbstruck, that was so surreal. That shark was HUGE. Like dinosaur huge."

 

The 15ft shark reportedly returned five or six times to eat its prey. All that remained were Skinner's flip-flops, towel and the box for his goggles, left with his shirt on the beach.

 

I also remember watching a series on tigers where wood cutters would take a cockerel with them for an alarm should a tiger turn up. During the course of recording the program a tiger lept on a man sitting with a group on a large tree log snatched him round the neck and made off with him never to be seen again.

 

Perhaps these animals are better looked upon as ones that have a taste for human meat and those who don't.

 

I watched another very interesting program on tiger sharks where they turned up during breeding time for I believe it was albatross chicks learning to fly, chomping on all the ones who failed to make a good take off. This showed a pattern for this group of tiger sharks travelling several thousand miles for these tipbits.

 

I think it is all down to personal taste plus the occasional snack on the side.

[Worms]

I look at it from the point of view that I'm not designed to go in the sea for very long and I'm not equipped to deal with a very large predator in that environment. I'd be quite happy to fish for them but as for getting in the water with them.........I think that'll be a no then!

[Steve Walker]

I think it is all down to personal taste plus the occasional snack on the side.

 

Personal taste - or tasty person?

[Vagabond]

As far as I am concerned, I don't care if a Gt White eats a swimmer because it likes human flesh, or mistakes the swimmer for a pinniped or even a pork chop. What I do know is that the swimmer won't be me if I have any say in the matter.

 

Once went on a bird-watching trip with a guy that, on a previous trip, had been walking behind the guide on a jungle trail when the guide was taken by a tiger. Orange flash, crash, gone! I made sure he always walked in front of me

[essox_lucius]

if you go in a predators domain you cant blame them for having a chew to see if yr tastey sharks or tigers lets face it without a gun a human is damn easy pickings

[essox_lucius]

if you go in a predators domain you cant blame them for having a chew to see if yr tastey sharks or tigers lets face it without a gun a human is damn easy pickings