Shark

[chevin]

Second to the great white according to figures here (although it does state that it is very often difficult to actually prove what species was the attacking one) it is debatable over which of the top 3 really is the number one.

 

 

I have to say that I am more than a little puzzled by that list though I guess that if the stats run from 1580 to 2008 there is a lot of room for doubt on some of the claims. As I said in a previous note, the fish most likely to attack us, is the wobbegong. Several of my friends over the years have been bitten (attacked) by them, but obviously the fish had no intention of eating or killing the divers. Black tip reef sharks are mentioned as being attackers, that is hardly believable. I have seen a lot of them and generally all you see of them is as they bolt away from you in sheer terror. If you get more than four of them together then they are a little braver but I have never known them to be strongly aggressive. The leopard shark has no teeth, though it could crush your fingers if you put them in its mouth. The Grey nurse shark is one that gives you a clear warning before attacking. They are territorial and if you overstay your welcome, they will swim directly at you, mouth wide open and veer away at the last instant with a powerful sweep of its tail. You feel the compression of the water against your body and you know that it is time to hit the fins - fast. Not a pleasant experience believe me, but you are safe as long as you take heed. Unfortunately they are generally docile and in parts of Oz were almost driven to extinction by spear fishermen like Ben Cropp, his wife and Ron and Valerie Taylor who described their good days as days of slaughter.

 

One experience I had with a tiger shark was when five of us were snorkeling, we were all abreast and I was at one end. As we swam, I suddenly realised that there was someone to my right and turned my head to see who it was. It was a tiger shark of about ten or eleven feet just swimming along with us. I could see its eyeball moving as it watched me but it was just curious as are so many sharks you encounter when diving. However, when you have sharks that size near you, it is obviously prudent to get out of the water.

 

We had a fatal attack just down the coast from us a couple of weeks ago and, as usual, a white pointer was blamed, there are more than a few of us however who are just as convinced that it was a bull shark.

 

Hammerheads have small mouths for their size and we do not regard them as being a serious threat.

 

From what I gather from what I read about shark attacks, the greatest danger is not the species of shark in the area, it is the conditions in which you are diving. It is beyond foolish to be in the water when it is dirty if you are in an area in which there are a lot of sharks. Most of the time, if they can see you clearly they are more than likely to leave you alone, though surfers splashing along on the surface and silhouetted against the sky are often going to be targeted by any species of shark that is partial to a bit of seal for lunch.

[snakey1]

I have to say that I am more than a little puzzled by that list though I guess that if the stats run from 1580 to 2008 there is a lot of room for doubt on some of the claims. As I said in a previous note, the fish most likely to attack us, is the wobbegong. Several of my friends over the years have been bitten (attacked) by them, but obviously the fish had no intention of eating or killing the divers. Black tip reef sharks are mentioned as being attackers, that is hardly believable. I have seen a lot of them and generally all you see of them is as they bolt away from you in sheer terror. If you get more than four of them together then they are a little braver but I have never known them to be strongly aggressive. The leopard shark has no teeth, though it could crush your fingers if you put them in its mouth. The Grey nurse shark is one that gives you a clear warning before attacking. They are territorial and if you overstay your welcome, they will swim directly at you, mouth wide open and veer away at the last instant with a powerful sweep of its tail. You feel the compression of the water against your body and you know that it is time to hit the fins - fast. Not a pleasant experience believe me, but you are safe as long as you take heed. Unfortunately they are generally docile and in parts of Oz were almost driven to extinction by spear fishermen like Ben Cropp, his wife and Ron and Valerie Taylor who described their good days as days of slaughter.

 

One experience I had with a tiger shark was when five of us were snorkeling, we were all abreast and I was at one end. As we swam, I suddenly realised that there was someone to my right and turned my head to see who it was. It was a tiger shark of about ten or eleven feet just swimming along with us. I could see its eyeball moving as it watched me but it was just curious as are so many sharks you encounter when diving. However, when you have sharks that size near you, it is obviously prudent to get out of the water.

 

We had a fatal attack just down the coast from us a couple of weeks ago and, as usual, a white pointer was blamed, there are more than a few of us however who are just as convinced that it was a bull shark.

 

Hammerheads have small mouths for their size and we do not regard them as being a serious threat.

 

From what I gather from what I read about shark attacks, the greatest danger is not the species of shark in the area, it is the conditions in which you are diving. It is beyond foolish to be in the water when it is dirty if you are in an area in which there are a lot of sharks. Most of the time, if they can see you clearly they are more than likely to leave you alone, though surfers splashing along on the surface and silhouetted against the sky are often going to be targeted by any species of shark that is partial to a bit of seal for lunch.

The situation that you are in is going to be a major factor in shark attacks (the sinking of the USS Indianapolis being an extreme example) the location will also greatly influence what species of shark is doing the attacking (in freshwater it is almost cetainly a bull shark unlike the matawan creek attacks where a GW was held responsible).

As for hammerheads having a small mouth relative to their size this may be true however when the get to this sort of size it becomes a relatively moot point.

Tiger sharks can also be quite aggresive, they were responsible for an attack off Mozambique earlier this year while I was there (although this was at first reported by the press as being the work of a great white) and also the unprovoked attack on surfer Bethany Hamilton show this.

Edited September 9, 2010 by snakey1

[chevin]

The situation that you are in is going to be a major factor in shark attacks (the sinking of the USS Indianapolis being an extreme example) the location will also greatly influence what species of shark is doing the attacking (in freshwater it is almost cetainly a bull shark unlike the matawan creek attacks where a GW was held responsible).

As for hammerheads having a small mouth relative to their size this may be true however when the get to this sort of size it becomes a relatively moot point.

Tiger sharks can also be quite aggresive, they were responsible for an attack off Mozambique earlier this year while I was there (although this was at first reported by the press as being the work of a great white) and also the unprovoked attack on surfer Bethany Hamilton show this.

 

I am not quite sure as to what you are trying to say here. I mentioned that situations can influence the danger of attack ie. dirty water, and flapping around on the surface. The Indianapolis incident is irrelevant in a discussion about shark attacks. Whether the size of a hammerheads mouth is moot or not is also irrelevant. Sure it is possible to show a picture of one huge hammerhead but I could show evidence of hundreds of the more average sized fish. What I said is fact, the hammerhead has a small mouth in comparison to its size. I simply expressed my doubts of the accuracy of that list of attacks from what I have seen when I have been diving in water that the media would describe as being "Shark infested".

 

Of course tiger sharks can be aggressive, any big fish can be aggressive but while I have seen a fair number of tigers, I have not come across an aggressive one, they have been curious as quite a number of species of shark appear to be. However, I do get out of the water if I see a big tiger as I see it being prudent to do so and we do get them pretty big along our coast - in fact I have caught them up to an estimated 1200lbs and seen them bigger than that. I also get out of the water if I see a big mako and would if I was ever to see a white pointer or bull shark.

 

I am not quite sure what is meant by an "Unprovoked" shark attack. One would assume that hunger or the chance of an easy meal is the reason for most fatal shark attacks which, incidentally, seem to be the actions of a shark that has not been seen before the event. However, I guess that whatever the reason might be, it is truly a moot point because the victim will have little interest in the reason for his demise.

Edited September 10, 2010 by chevin