Shark Appreciation Thread

Manton · Jul 30, 2007

Originally Posted by JBZ

They're generally not overly aggressive, but they're not necessarily so harmless and have been responsible for attacks on men. As they're deep water sharks, many of the attacks have been on sailors whose ships have gone down at sea. Deep water sharks such as blues, makos, and oceanic white tips are opportunistic feeders, as food sources are more rare. This makes unlucky sailors a target of these animals.

Well, the one I saw swam right past me. If he had wanted a bite, there would have been little I could have done to stop him.

JBZ · Jul 30, 2007

Originally Posted by Manton

Well, the one I saw swam right past me. If he had wanted a bite, there would have been little I could have done to stop him.

Don't feel bad. You probably just need to work on your shipwrecked sailor impression a little bit more.

Not surprisingly, sharks don't consider people a natural food source. It is theorized that most shark attacks are cases of mistaken identity rather than a conscious attempt to feed on humans. If you compare the number of people who enter the ocean recreationally versus the number that are attacked, sharks offer virtually no threat. It's just that attacks (even if they are cases of mistaken identiy) can be particularly horrific. With the number of people entering the water at any given beach on any given day, if sharks really considered people to be food, they'd be picking us off at a rate of 10 every hour.

Manton · Jul 30, 2007

I was close to shore. Couldn't have been further out than 50 yards. Past the break, but still close in.

flylot74 · Jul 30, 2007

Having done several hundred dives, I have encountered numerous shark, mostly tipped reef sharks. They are indeed beautify and deadly. I am very uncomfortable when they are around.

Often (when they aren't too hungry) they will leave humans alone. It's when they hang around that gets us to call off the dive. I've had one bump me with his nose once. After the aborted dive, the divemaster informed me that is how they tell if you are edible or not, by how "hollow" you sound. Scared the cr*p out of me!

whodini · Jul 30, 2007

Originally Posted by JBZ

Bull Shark. Considered very aggressive and dangerous to man. This was the shark that was most likely responsible for the famous Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 (which inspired the book Jaws). They are particularly dangerous because they can congregate in shallow waters, close to shore.

These guys are fairly common here in CR and are notorious in Nicaragua. I did a few dives a couple of months ago, one of which was a point where one bull shark was known to frequent. Sure enough, there he was about 60 feet down. We only hung around for about 10 mins but it was just long enough to get an idea.

Didn't take the camera for the bull shark dive as I figured it was going to be the last dive of the day, but I did take a few shots of the scaredy-cat reef sharks:

Tyto · Jul 30, 2007

Originally Posted by whodini

These guys are fairly common here in CR and are notorious in Nicaragua.

The other problem with bull sharks is that they frequently venture into freshwater. One of the reasons they're so notorious in much of South America is their propensity for attacks in rivers and interior lakes.

Did anyone see the Shark Week special last night on the USS Indianapolis? According to that show, the current thinking is that silkies and oceanic white tips were the primary culprits, with blues possibly mixed in. Also, based on interviews of survivors, the vast majority of deaths appears to have been due to drinking saltwater (hallucinations and aggression), with only a (relatively) small number of attacks on healthy survivors--the number of corpses found with bites on them probably skewed perceptions of what actually happened. Many were likely severely injured or dead to begin with.

whodini · Jul 30, 2007

Originally Posted by Tyto

The other problem with bull sharks is that they frequently venture into freshwater. One of the reasons they're so notorious in much of South America is their propensity for attacks in rivers and interior lakes.

That's what I was referring to when I mentioned Nicaragua. People are surprised when I tell them that there are bull sharks (and not just a few) in Lake Nicaragua and that the ocean is a good 20+ miles away by river. People for years thought that the bull sharks in the lake were a different species from those in the ocean until they saw the sharks going up river with other fish. I think they also confirmed it by finding several sharks that had been tagged in the lake caught in the sea.

Flylot's "bumping" incident is something I am told that is very common with bull sharks. I'm happy I've never experienced first-hand as I've heard of people being seriously injured by it.

One of the guys on shark week recommended that if a shark comes toward you to attempt to meet it half way. The theory was that if you tried to swim away that you became prey but if you tried going for it, it would become nervous as if being attacked and get away.

Remind me to give that a shot on my next dive.

lawyerdad · Jul 30, 2007

Originally Posted by Manton

Slim, is that pic from the Aquariaum? I was there last August and they didn't have one. In fact, as I recall, no aquarium has ever been able to keep one for long. When I was a kid, some dudes caught one out by the Farallons, and it ended up in the Steinhart Aquarium in GG Park, but they released soon after. Monterey had one a few years after that, but it died.

Yes, they had one that they held for a while and then released maybe a year or two ago (I have a poor sense of relative chronology). My brother, who is the smart one in the family, was doing a marine biology post-doc at Stanford's research facility there, so we got to go "backstage" and see it without the crowds around, etc. Pretty cool.

lawyerdad · Jul 30, 2007

Originally Posted by Ivan Kipling

Sharks are elegant, graceful, sinister and dangerous. I once watched a hammerhead shark, 'captured' off Clearwater Beach, Florida. I was 8 years old.
Shark finned Cadillacs are still my favorites. What a thrill it was, to see one cruise up your drive.

I admire your taste in cars, IK.

Ivan Kipling · Jul 30, 2007

I loved Imperials, too.

Tokyo Slim · Jul 30, 2007

Originally Posted by Manton

I was close to shore. Couldn't have been further out than 50 yards. Past the break, but still close in.
Most shark attacks happen close to shore. The Great White is the only shark that sticks its head above water and looks around for prey. I'm particularly fond of the species that "jump" while hunting. Great White

Mako

Thresher

Fonzarelli

Manton · Jul 30, 2007

I usually abhor netspeak acronyms, but ... LMAO.

LSeca · Jul 30, 2007

Where are the Hammerhead pics?

dtmt · Jul 30, 2007

Tokyo Slim · Jul 30, 2007

Originally Posted by LSeca

Where are the Hammerhead pics?

Shark Appreciation Thread

RINO

Distinguished Member

RINO

Senior Member

Conan OOOOOOO"BRIEN!

Senior Member

Conan OOOOOOO"BRIEN!

Lying Dog-faced Pony Soldier

Lying Dog-faced Pony Soldier

Distinguished Member

In Time Out

RINO

Distinguished Member

Distinguished Member

In Time Out

FEATURED PRODUCTS

Similar threads

Featured Sponsor

Definitely full canvas only

Half canvas is fine

Really don't care

Depends on fabric

Depends on price

Forum Sponsors

Forum statistics

FOLLOW STYLEFORUM ON: