Concerned about sharks? Odds?

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Misconception is saying the word "attack", when no one was attacked.

Otherwise I have been attacked by a bear, and my dad in one incident and his father in another incident were attacked by mountain lions. Since they never actually touched any of us though, I feel it would be wrong to claim it as such. Instead they acted in a threatening manor. Being charged by a bear or mountain lion and having them growl/scream at you is a scary experience though, let me tell you.

I had previously read Walter's report with great interest. That was one heck of a lasting scary experience you guys had.

Then, you don't understand how attacks are classified and should become better educated. It was Walter who researched and pointed out that we were in fact victim of attack

 

[Deefstes]

Then, you don't understand how attacks are classified and should become better educated. It was Walter who researched and pointed out that we were in fact victim of attack

I'm not sure I could agree with you on that one. Just how are attacks classified then? Are you saying that any threatening display by a shark, or other wild animal for that matter, should be classified as an attack? If you are correct then none of the available sources on shark attacks are even remotely accurate.

I can't claim to know or understand shark behaviour particularly well but let me use the example of a lion. They will usually charge you once or twice and then stop short of actually setting upon you. These are called mock charges and, while it's certainly worth a mention and will scare the bejeepers into you, I don't think it makes sense to classify that as real attacks. In other words, if I read a paper listing lion attacks on hikers, I might have a peripheral interest in reading about cases where people were eyed, growled at or mock charged but the main reason I'd be reading such a paper is to learn about actual attacks.

I'm sure witnessing a Bull Shark circling you, showing a keen interest in you and even brushing close by you is highly intimidating and worthy of a thread where others can learn from your experience, but I still don't think it should be classified as a shark attack any more than my neighbour's dog barking at me should be classified as a dog attack.

 

[orm]

Shark week is interesting if you are interested in the biology of the sharks. But Discovery Channel uses it to sensationalize the sharks in some of their shows. The Air Shark series has great videos in slow motion of high speed attacks, but they had to go to extreme lengths to get those photos. In many ways, I think Shark Week does a disservic to the diving community by making it appear that sharks are in attack mode a lot. But what they have to do to get to that stage is not shown on TV. They have to chum the waters, sometimes for hours, to get the sharks to the boat for the photography. So while the shows sell, and are interesting in some respects, they also really distort the public's perception of sharks in some shows. Others show the sharks as they really are, rarely inclined to bite people and trying to stay away from trouble.

SeaRat

Could agree more. It's alarmist sensationalised TV fodder thrown out by lazy producers who don't have the inventiveness to do an actual expose on the real dangers that sharks face, us.

Thousands are being slaughtered every day for their fins. This involves picking the animal out of the water, slicing it's fins off and throwing it back, alive. The shark ultimately perishes in a cruel manner.

They're also caught up in nets and left to drown.

We 'allow' this to happen because they're portrayed as a dangerous man-eating species, and hey, good riddance, eh?

Without sharks the fragile ecosystem would start to collapse and we would loose a prehistoric ancestor that is a beautiful creature to have under water.


Really good people that are doing a lot of good work... this should be Shark Week.

 

[drbill]

When people talk about "attacks," I often remind them that in many cases the animal is attempting to feed. Yes, I know, I attack my dinner, too. I wouldn't consider threatening behavior an attack. Of course there are cases involving critters where attack might be the appropriate term to use... in cases where they are defending their territory or their offspring and actually make contact with a human.

 

[Swheeler25]

I'm sure witnessing a Bull Shark circling you, showing a keen interest in you and even brushing close by you is highly intimidating and worthy of a thread where others can learn from your experience, but I still don't think it should be classified as a shark attack any more than my neighbour's dog barking at me should be classified as a dog attack.

I agree. If you are being stalked, circled, or checkout out, I would classify that as an encounted. If it takes a go at you and actually opens its jaws regardless of contact or not, i would consider that an attack. Both equally terrifying though.

 

[WKD]

A shark will only attack you, when you are wet. FACT!

 

[Walter]

After what I thought was almost an attack on us, I started reading the International Shark Attack File website. During my reading, I saw something (I'm trying to find it again) that said a shark attack did not necessarily mean there was physical contact with the shark. At that point, I filed a report with the International Shark Attack File. I was immediately contacted by someone from the organization about the attack and some months later by Director George H. Burgess about the attack.

It has been over 4 years since this all took place, so my memory of it is not sharp, but at no time did anyone at the International Shark Attack File even remotely suggest we were not attacked.

 

[Splitlip]

I agree. If you are being stalked, circled, or checkout out, I would classify that as an encounted. If it takes a go at you and actually opens its jaws regardless of contact or not, i would consider that an attack. Both equally terrifying though.

And if it bumps or rubs you without opening it's jaws, that is classified as an attack. They are checking you out the same as if they took an exploratory bite.

The animal bumps your board or vessel, that also is classified as an attack.

Florida being the shark [-]attack[/-] "bite" capital of the world suffers few fatalities.

 

[PatW]

I live near New Smyrna Beach which glories in having more shark attacks than anywhere else. I don't know what is so special about that one beach. There are bunches of bathers at the beach. If you look at aerial photographs, you can see the sharks and there are often quite a few of them mixed up with the swimmers and waders.

I suppose the sharks come in after the bait fish. I would think that most of the shark bites are caused by a shark pursuing fish and it happens to bump into a person. The shark being optimistic bites, hoping to get fish (that is my presumption). Most of the bites are single bites so I would think that the shark does not like the result and swims off looking for something better. Of course, the person has a nasty wound that often requires a bunch of stitches. It seems that this happens nearly every week out there.

 

[The Mighty Thor]

Some friends of mine recently went on a shark cage dive in the Atlantic. They ended up snorkeling outside of the cage, because the sharks did not want to get close to them while they were blowing bubbles. Once they started snorkeling, the sharks investigated by rubbing up against them. They did not feeel that the sharks were being aggressive towards them, despite the water being chummed.