Sydney shark attack victim was dive instructor

[GreggS]

Most attacks in the ocean happen in the surf because that's where most of the people are.

Yes, I'm well aware. People playing and splashing around in the water. Hence the apprehension.

 

[Snoweman]

I don't know how much sharks are motivated to feed by taste, as e.g. humans are. We use our sense of taste to choose what is good or bad to eat. Sharks have the marine equivalent of an acute sense of smell, but do they have a strong sense of taste? Maybe there is a marine biologist on the board who could tell us.

Tiger Sharks, for example, are known to eat a lot of inedible rubbish - they don't seem to select their food based on what tastes good or bad. I wonder if sharks are more opportunistic feeders, motivated by shape, movement, etc. In this case, the shark had clearly been attracted by the feeding activity in the water, but who knows why it decided on this day to attack the swimmer.

Interesting point. The human tongue only senses sweet, salt bitter and sour. The rest (eg raspberry) is sensed by smell. I've got to think that sharks are somewhat motivated by smell/taste. That's why chum works.

Tigers are also known for biting something in murky waters, moving away, and then coming back for it. That may be why they find bits of junk in their bellies. I would understand if this shark had hit its target and moved on. The fact that it kept chomping is what alarms me.

 

[Shasta_man]

Sharks are opportunistic feeders. They eat whatever they find. I don't think that they don't eat something that is a fleshy object because it doesn't taste like a seal. They might not prefer it and given the choice they might not eat it but they have no choice other than what they have found. I don't see how a shark could develop preference for human flesh because it doesn't happen often enough to do so. I think it bit something that reacted like prey so it continued to try to eat the prey. Nothing more ominous then shark doing what sharks do

 

[Kay Dee]

Certainly not the first person to be 'eaten' / dismebered by a shark, and it wont be tbe last. Rare yes, but not unheard of.

Condolences to his famiy and friends.

 

[dmaziuk]

I don't know how much sharks are motivated to feed by taste, as e.g. humans are. We use our sense of taste to choose what is good or bad to eat.

Oh come on. You don't expect a human in a survival-type situation to starve to death because "sh*t don't taste good". You think a wild animal will? Whose every meal is a "survival-type situation"?

 

[Mike1967]

Oh come on. You don't expect a human in a survival-type situation to starve to death because "sh*t don't taste good". You think a wild animal will? Whose every meal is a "survival-type situation"?

Very true but do you think great whites, or even most sharks, would ever struggle to get a feed? Serious question, I don't know but I would think probably not.

 

[dmaziuk]

Very true but do you think great whites, or even most sharks, would ever struggle to get a feed? Serious question, I don't know but I would think probably not.

I have no idea but I suspect wild animals don't get three square meals a day and a little snack with their five o'clock tea.

 

[John the Pom]

Oh come on. You don't expect a human in a survival-type situation to starve to death because "sh*t don't taste good". You think a wild animal will? Whose every meal is a "survival-type situation"?

Presumably, the sense of taste evolved to help animals choose food that was high in nutritional value (sweet, umami) and avoid those things that were poisonous (bitter).

If you've done any survival training, you will know that there is a protocol for testing unfamiliar food, and taste is an important part of that. There have been many well-documented cases of people in survival situations dying because they ate the wrong thing, either out of ignorance or desperation. Any many wild animals are cautious about unfamiliar food - rats or foxes being good examples.

I was asking the question of whether sharks have a well-developed sense of taste (as opposed to the marine equivalent of a sense of smell) in the hope that, given there are many knowledgeable people on this board, there might be a marine biologist who knows the answer.

 

[Mike1967]

I suspect wild animals don't get three square meals a day

Wild animals in general but I believe sharks to be the ultimate hunters in a system with an endless food supply compared to land, that's just my uneducated guess though

 

[scubaozy]

I cannot think anything more natural than a shark attacking or checking out objects floating on the surface. No different than your cat chasing birds. Sometimes caught animal is eaten sometimes just played with. Do you exactly know when your cat will kill or when it will play or eat, or bringing the catch home, or even continue sleeping and not being bothered?
It is just bad luck and a terrible accident involving the nature and the human..