Why I Would Rather Scuba Dive Than Drive A Car
With all the media coverage here in the south recently, of shark attacks that seem to be on an incline of incidences, I felt the need to do a little research in the matter, to study just how dangerous it is to Scuba Dive with such ferocious, and untamable creatures. A quick back ground on myself, I am a Course Director / Instructor Trainer / Instructor for 5 different Scuba Training Agencies, and a Scuba Center Owner-Operator. I have been diving for over 20 years with close to 4000 logged dives, and have dove in locations all over the eastern United States, and many said dives right off the coast of North Carolina (The Grave Yard of the Atlantic). I have been on many dives where it was very common to see a 12ft to 14ft Tiger Shark, or to be in a school of reef, bull, or black tip sharks feeding on local reef fishes. All without incident. Needless to say, I would classify myself as an Avid Diver, with many years experience with aquatic life that seem to be describe as ferocious and deadly creatures. I too have made a career in the Public Service, that of a Police Officer / Deputy Sheriff, and have investigated well over 150 Driving While Impaired cases, many of which were fatalities. In this writing I will be quoting statistics from the Florida Museum of Natural History, and from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I tend to compare the number of Shark Bite Incidences, Shark Bite Fatalities, Driving While Impaired Incidences, and Driving While Impaired Fatalities. Two things to consider while reading this, first there are way more Drivers than Scuba Divers, and the information obtained may not be current with the year 2015, however the purpose is to just get a feel for how safe diving is even with the mean, ferocious, untamable, people killing machines, called Sharks, swimming around us.
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, from the year 1820 to 2012, 224 Scuba / Skin Divers have been attacked by different species of Sharks, with only 19% being fatal. This tells us that in 192 years only 42.5 people have been killed by Shark Attack related incidences. Now if we compare that to Driving A Motor Vehicle, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that in 2013 alone, 10,076 people died in an Alcohol Impaired Driving Crash. All of course being fatal. That figures down to 1 death every 51 minutes. And this is just for one year in the United States along. Breaking down the numbers is not exact, and taking the time to do it is nearly impossible for me to do with my schedule, however, it is safe to say that way more people die in Driving While Impaired incidences verses Scuba Diving related Shark Attacks. Now it is openly understood that Scuba Diving / Skin Diving has been around far longer than Motor Vehicles, but the numbers still show more deaths are caused by Drunk Drivers than JAWS.
So what can we learn from this. Simply the likelihood of being attack by a shark is so minimal compared to being hit and killed by a drunk driver while driving to the Dive Charter. I would also like to add that these numbers and statistics are based off Scuba Diving incidences not swimmers wading in the water at the shore line. To end, it still amazes me, how many people come into my shop, and are amazed that so many divers dive our local freshwater environment, with all the Shark Attacks being reported. I always enjoy seeing Great White Sharks in local Fresh Water Lakes LOL. Happy diving to all.
With all the media coverage here in the south recently, of shark attacks that seem to be on an incline of incidences, I felt the need to do a little research in the matter, to study just how dangerous it is to Scuba Dive with such ferocious, and untamable creatures. A quick back ground on myself, I am a Course Director / Instructor Trainer / Instructor for 5 different Scuba Training Agencies, and a Scuba Center Owner-Operator. I have been diving for over 20 years with close to 4000 logged dives, and have dove in locations all over the eastern United States, and many said dives right off the coast of North Carolina (The Grave Yard of the Atlantic). I have been on many dives where it was very common to see a 12ft to 14ft Tiger Shark, or to be in a school of reef, bull, or black tip sharks feeding on local reef fishes. All without incident. Needless to say, I would classify myself as an Avid Diver, with many years experience with aquatic life that seem to be describe as ferocious and deadly creatures. I too have made a career in the Public Service, that of a Police Officer / Deputy Sheriff, and have investigated well over 150 Driving While Impaired cases, many of which were fatalities. In this writing I will be quoting statistics from the Florida Museum of Natural History, and from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I tend to compare the number of Shark Bite Incidences, Shark Bite Fatalities, Driving While Impaired Incidences, and Driving While Impaired Fatalities. Two things to consider while reading this, first there are way more Drivers than Scuba Divers, and the information obtained may not be current with the year 2015, however the purpose is to just get a feel for how safe diving is even with the mean, ferocious, untamable, people killing machines, called Sharks, swimming around us.
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, from the year 1820 to 2012, 224 Scuba / Skin Divers have been attacked by different species of Sharks, with only 19% being fatal. This tells us that in 192 years only 42.5 people have been killed by Shark Attack related incidences. Now if we compare that to Driving A Motor Vehicle, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that in 2013 alone, 10,076 people died in an Alcohol Impaired Driving Crash. All of course being fatal. That figures down to 1 death every 51 minutes. And this is just for one year in the United States along. Breaking down the numbers is not exact, and taking the time to do it is nearly impossible for me to do with my schedule, however, it is safe to say that way more people die in Driving While Impaired incidences verses Scuba Diving related Shark Attacks. Now it is openly understood that Scuba Diving / Skin Diving has been around far longer than Motor Vehicles, but the numbers still show more deaths are caused by Drunk Drivers than JAWS.
So what can we learn from this. Simply the likelihood of being attack by a shark is so minimal compared to being hit and killed by a drunk driver while driving to the Dive Charter. I would also like to add that these numbers and statistics are based off Scuba Diving incidences not swimmers wading in the water at the shore line. To end, it still amazes me, how many people come into my shop, and are amazed that so many divers dive our local freshwater environment, with all the Shark Attacks being reported. I always enjoy seeing Great White Sharks in local Fresh Water Lakes LOL. Happy diving to all.
