How many fatal shark attacks to stop you diving

[Foxfish]

If 10's of thousands of people were going into the water in that time frame, and most of the attacks weren't on scuba divers, yes, I'd probably keep diving, even if it were 26. I don't have a set number threshold; I don't think most people do.

Shark-related fatalities don't come anywhere near a rational threshold compared to other dangers in the real world in the overwhelming majority of cases, so most of us don't have much real world experience trying to establish a threshold and are left with some pretty wild guessing.

Richard.

In fact of the five who were recently killed, two were scuba divers which puts them into the high risk category over here given their percent of the total people who enter the water, at least in recent years. One was an attack as a diver descended down the anchor line in a bay area I've dived a number of times and would never have expected to see a white pointer let alone get attacked by one.

Kurmann was attacked off Stratham Beach - about 230km south of Perth near Busselton - while diving with his older brother Gian, who tried to fight off the shark with his diving knife.

"He had a go at the shark with his knife," friend Peter MacDonald said. "They were both descending down the anchor rope to the dive site and Peter was in front of Gian and apparently it came out of nowhere and grabbed him."


Mr MacDonald - who owns a boating and dive business in Busselton - said in the months before his death Mr Kurmann had discussed the effectiveness of shark shields, which he sells to divers who frequent the waters surrounding Geographe Bay.


"He was asking me about . . . whether they attracted a shark first before they deterred it. We had a bit of a giggle in regards to that. He said: 'What's your chances of getting attacked by a white pointer in the bay?' There's never been a diver taken in Geographe Bay and now we're eating our words."

Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian

Tragic story.

 

[Ste Wart]

In fact of the five who were recently killed, two were scuba divers which puts them into the high risk category over here given their percent of the total people who enter the water, at least in recent years. One was an attack as a diver descended down the anchor line in a bay area I've dived a number of times and would never have expected to see a white pointer let alone get attacked by one.



Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian

Tragic story.

It is tragic, but I used to work for Peter MacDonald. If he knew the divers, then they were probably Cray fishing.

... 2 sec google and

Peter Kurmann, a local businessman, was killed by what was thought to be a 4m (13ft) great white shark while diving for crayfish with his brother Gian on Saturday morning, approximately one mile (1.6km) off Stratham Beach, near Busselton in southern Western Australia

Western Australia ?shark attack capital of the world? | The Times

Also as Uncle Pete says in your article; on Sharks:

He said it was their ocean, we're just merely visitors.

 

[Foxfish]

Read the article again. He jumped out of the boat and was descending down the anchor line. If you are intimating the attack was somehow provoked you'd be wrong.

And if my memory serves me well Peter MacDonald at the time worked at one of the dive shops in the area so he was well known.

 

[Ste Wart]

Read the article again. He jumped out of the boat and was descending down the anchor line. If you are intimating the attack was somehow provoked you'd be wrong.

Doesn't say that. Just says he was descending down the anchor line. Could have been 2nd dive. After a catch drop off etc etc

And if my memory serves me well he used to work at one of the dive shops in the area so he was well known.

So?

 

[CT-Rich]

How many fatal shark attacks within a radius of say 300 km of the ocean location you are about to dive would it take to deter you from diving? Pick the one that best describes your choice.

I'm interested to get some idea of the risks divers are typically prepared to take in this regard.

Assume the coastline is straight and sharks can move freely along the coast.

Assume you are diving without any special protection like a shark cage.

Assume that there is no human feeding of sharks in the area.

Assume that the attacks occur on people undertaking the normal spectrum of water sports in the ocean including diving.

I'd be also interested to hear in a post below how many fatal shark attacks there have been within this distance of the location you typically dive within the three years?

It is the situation that you describe here that made me stop wearing my lucky ham.... the risks of the hypothetical straight coast and the sharks by Nintendo.... Not much of a hypothetical if you are going to assign the sharks behaviors that are unnatural... like eating people and random straight line motion. I think you should include sharks that can skittle across parking lots and catch you while you are gearing up...

Besides, what's the fun of shark diving if you aren't feeding them humans?

Diving and not wanting to see a shark is like going on safari and not wanting to see a lion.

 

[chillyinCanada]

That's why I'm not having better encounters than I used to do . . .I haven't been wearing my lucky ham.Damn I'll fix that next trip.!!

 

[xyrandomyx]

How many fatal shark attacks to stop me from diving? Just one. I don't imagine I'll continue diving after being fatally attacked by a shark.

 

[chillyinCanada]

But if you aren't fatally wounded . . .what if all that happens is that the shark approaches you, makes you soil yourself as you think it might be your last moment . .. but it isn't. Just an extraordinary experience that you desire to have again and again and again and. . . .

 

[Hank49]

Hunh? Please explain your thought process for me. Do you believe that 15 footers won't bite you or if they do, it won't leave as bad a mark?

The theory was in Hawaii, culling took out a lot of the big tigers. When that stopped, instead of numerous 8 footers or so, by the mid 1980s, many had grown to 15 feet and the number of shark encounters (attacks) rose very quickly.
When I got to Hawaii in 77 the last attack was in the 50s. When I left in 1986, I personally knew three people that were attacked on Kauai. One young boy lost his foot. Another boogie boarder lost his hand. And one guy was eaten after he fell in he water fishing at Kalihiwai. (he may be been knocked unconscious when he fell but all they found were bits and pieces) All within about 3 years.

 

[Ste Wart]

But if you aren't fatally wounded . . .what if all that happens is that the shark approaches you, makes you soil yourself as you think it might be your last moment . .. but it isn't. Just an extraordinary experience that you desire to have again and again and again and. . . .

Soiling yourself