Shark attack stories anyone?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I am recording a series of television reports and one of them is about shark attacks. I was wondering if I can records a television interview with shark attack victim and was hoping if anyone knew anyone who has survived a shark attack. I will be traveling along the East coast to record shark attacks stories (among a series of other TV reports) and if I could interview someone in NC, SC, GA, FL that would be really great. Also open to discussing other shark related story ideas / interviews.

Thanks.

CS

 

[drbill]

I was filming a horn shark a few years ago and (shame on me) touched it to move it into a better position to film. The 16" monster turned on me, swam up to my chest and tried to gum me through my 7mm wetsuit. I laughed so hard that my reg dropped out of my mouth. Sorry, but so far none of the great whites, tigers, bulls, hammerheads, leopards, lemons, or reef sharks have seen fit to attack me.

However, the year I saw "Jaws" (1975), which I don't believe they showed in our island theater, a former high school student of mine introduced me to a surfer who had been hit presumably by a GWS while surfing off Pt Conception. The scars on his torso were incredible and gastly. I quit diving for three years... until I saw "Jaws 2."

 

[Peter_C]

My old neighbor wrote a book about his shark incident after he was bitten.

Victim turns experience of Stinson shark attack into lesson about life - Marin Independent Journal

Not my video, but someone got attacked by a shark at Catalina.
[video=youtube;5P5zHhrWKWA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P5zHhrWKWA[/video]

 

[drbill]

Another "deadly" horn shark "attack." Wonder what the diver was doing to provoke that?

 

[Steve_C]

What's the point of the stories you are doing? What is the educational value? Shark attacks along the NC coast are very rare. When they do occur it is usually mistaken identity and close to shore with swimmers or surfers.

 

[DiverAmy]

I know this is non-responsive, but I am pretty sure human on shark violence exceeds shark on human violence like 1,000,000 to 1. I wish we wouldn't glorify shark attacks in the media.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

What's the point of the stories you are doing? What is the educational value? Shark attacks along the NC coast are very rare. When they do occur it is usually mistaken identity and close to shore with swimmers or surfers.

Television industry does not exist for the purpose of "educating" its audience. Public schools and universities do that. True there will be an overlap between what we study in schools and what we see on Discovery channel but that does not mean that people producing television must always justify their existence as "educationists." We would be more accurately defined as "Info-tainers." We are the ideological bastards of two different industries i.e Information and Entertainment. This means that the scientific community went out and fornicated with entertainment industry so that Steve Irwin could come in this world and do what they were unable to do in the first place i.e GENERATE A FREAKING AUDIENCE!!!

It does not matter how smart you are, or how socially beneficial your message is if people are watching the other channel.

---------- Post added April 10th, 2013 at 03:00 PM ----------

I know this is non-responsive, but I am pretty sure human on shark violence exceeds shark on human violence like 1,000,000 to 1. I wish we wouldn't glorify shark attacks in the media.

That is correct but there are two ways to go about it. First is that we stop reporting shark attacks on humans because they are politically incorrect and feed the negative stereotypes about sharks. That would be like saying September 11 should not be reported because it feeds into the negative stereotypes about Muslims. Massacres in Rwanda should not be reported because they feed the negative stereotype about blacks and war in Afghanistan should not be reported because it is a repeat of the Cowboys and Indians happening once again in a different time and space etc. Imagine if the whole television news industry was to re-invent itself according to this political correctness what it would look like.

A better way of going about it would be to have a shark attack survivor on TV who is also a shark conservationist. If they could speak a few words on why it is important for us to not lose shark populations, that would benefit the cause of shark conservation a lot more than censorship of shark attacks on humans.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I know several people who have been attacked by sharks. Many, many surfers are attacked in the surf off the north and central East coast of Florida. I witnessed one myself.

 

[DiverAmy]

[snip]. That would be like saying September 11 should not be reported because it feeds into the negative stereotypes about Muslims. Massacres in Rwanda should not be reported because they feed the negative stereotype about blacks and war in Afghanistan should not be reported because it is a repeat of the Cowboys and Indians happening once again in a different time and space etc. [snip]

LOL to these analogies, but do what you gotta do. I was just expressing my opinion.

 

[drrich2]

Shows about sharks and other dangerous creatures do remind the public (much of which doesn't live in coastal areas) that there are oceans, and interesting things in them.

As for marketability, let 2 1-hour shark specials run at the same time on different sharks:

1.) Great Whites - Terror of the Seas

vs.

2.) Basking Sharks - Plankton-eating Behemoths

and see what people watch!

Richard.