I agree! There's far too much hype about shark attack and I think a lot of confusion is caused by the inaccurate way that attacks are reported. I appologise I don't know who Rodney Fox is, but I guess on a similar note, a scuba Instructor recently died at Sodwana Bay in South Africa.
The press went to town as they do (in their manner of creating sensationalism to sell more of their papers) cleverly mixing words like scuba/diver/shark in the same sentance leaving the impression on a non-diving mass that a scuba instructor had savagely and aggressively been attacked and eaten by a large tiger shark to the extent that only his one hand was recovered. Although I have no place to comment on the events of an unfortunate incident, deeper investigation would appear to reveal that he was actually spear-fishing no where near any of the dive reefs, and had suffered shallow water blackout a few days previously. It's been suggested that he might have blacked out again this time as he failed to surface and wasn't seen by his buddies. OK, so we have a spearfisherman laying on the sea bed with speared fish on or near his person?
Following an aerial search a large Tiger shark was 'seen in the area', and apparently the dive team found the guys hand. Of course, follow up reports where not published in the press to any full extent, and the record remains in people's minds that a scuba instructor was killed by a dangerous tiger shark in an unprovoked attack at a popular dive destination, and therefore it must mean that scuba diving is extremely dangerous. What rubbish! And how typical of the press!
Of these statistics mentioned above regarding attack on 'scuba divers' it would be interesting to know how many of those occured unprovoked whilst underwater and how many occured on the surface perhaps at the end of a dive, which would make complete sense.
Again my comments on great white attacks: other sharks have a similar tooth structure to the great white (the zambezi/bull shark has the same upper tooth structure). It seems that worldwide whenever there's a shark attack, what ever species it might have been, the press immediately goes to print frequently without justification about another killer great white. Thanks Mr Spielberg!
My advice: if you get to see a shark whilst diving, consider it that you have just witnessed a special event in your life. It's an awesome experience, and not one that you will forget soon. In my experience I have found sharks to be extremely shy on the whole and most shark sightings are of the tail end as they are shooting out of the visibility zone. Sharks are not aggressive man-eaters as the press will have us believe, and they will not come looking for a fight unless they are being provoked, cornered, or put into an eating frenzy because you're teasing them with fish products.
There, that's my 5 cents worth. Boy, this is fun!
UWSojourner, I hope you didn't take any offense at my use of the word 'ignorance', as none was intended. You're completely correct, what you don't know can harm you sometimes, and you're absolutely correct to ask the questions. As an Instructor I always encourage people to live their lives to the full. Risks CAN be taken, it's how we grow, expand, and develop, but risks must always be calculated to be within your own zone of comfort and capability. Sometimes, you HAVE to leave your comfort zone to achieve success in life. Live a safe, predictable life, and you will never know just how extra-ordinary you really are and just what a great life this is that we have to enjoy. Lucky you going to MAUI next week, I hope you have a great time. Happy safe diving!
kind regards
Dennis
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