My own back yard -- Part Two

Atokal · Post by **Atokal** » August 27, 2003, 3:27 pm

I have always had a facination with sharks and particularly the interaction of sharks with people. The recent thread about the woman who was killed in California sparked that interest again.

A follow up to that story found here

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metr ... shark.html

Don't know if the guy on the board is shitting himself or yelling for help. I think I would be paralysed.

Siji · Post by **Siji** » August 27, 2003, 3:52 pm

The first time I went scuba diving in the ocean I remember chasing a shark that was about as big as me.. of course, it was a nurse shark.

Sharks in general however don't scare me. After you've descended through a school of barracudas, sharks don't seem as scary. The only thing that really scares me is alligators. I think I'd lose control of my bodily functions if I were diving and saw one.

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » August 27, 2003, 3:57 pm

depends on the shark.

hammerhead would scare me, nurse shark no =)

a_guide · Post by **a_guide** » August 27, 2003, 4:03 pm

LoL The shark in the opening scene of Laura Croft:2 (lame movie) scared me so badly! My fight or flight instinct kicked in, my heart started racing and I almost left the theatre in a panic ROFL

Normally the "BOO" effect (things jumping out at you in a movie) doesn't get to me... but then again I absolutely hate fish, I think they are very alien and they freak me out. And I hate the way they smell. Final thoughts, yuck.

Edit: I *can* spell very, I swear!

Krimson Klaw · Post by **Krimson Klaw** » August 27, 2003, 4:16 pm

A White Pointer is the only thing on this planet that would literally make me think twice about jumping in between to save my children. I know it's sad to say, but true. I would jump on a lion, swim through pirhana, wade through a snake pit, wrestle a nile croc, shove them out of the way of a charging rhino, bus, whatever and all without a single second of hesitation....but a White Pointer is the only thing that would actually make me tally up the commons sense factor and say "well, I could have more children.

masteen · Post by **masteen** » August 27, 2003, 4:27 pm

I've always had more fear for makos, tigers, and bull sharks than great whites. Those 3 species are more likely to come into shallow waters and are every bit as agressive as the whites.

EDIT: Also, the bull shark is also found up to 3 miles UP the Amazon and Mississippi rivers. Talk about a tough fish...

Atokal · Post by **Atokal** » August 27, 2003, 5:16 pm

masteen wrote:I've always had more fear for makos, tigers, and bull sharks than great whites. Those 3 species are more likely to come into shallow waters and are every bit as agressive as the whites.

EDIT: Also, the bull shark is also found up to 3 miles UP the Amazon and Mississippi rivers. Talk about a tough fish...

Great Whites are responsible for more attacks and fatalities world wide than any other species. The Great White was found some 11 miles up the Matawan Creek in New Jersey in 1916 and killed 4 people.

I also submit the following link showing that although Florida has by far the most attacks, California has more fatalities. This is not a coincidence this is because The Great White Shark doesn't go to Disney.
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/St ... mapusa.htm

I also submit these statistics showing clearly that the Great White is the most agressive and dangerous animal in the ocean.

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/St ... ecies2.htm

And finally to address your shallow water statement I submit the following

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/White/Depth.htm

Great Whites are powerful, dangerous and the most unpredictable predator on the planet. When Humans enter water known to be the habitat of the Great White they are always at risk.

Cheers

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » August 27, 2003, 5:30 pm

bulls have been found a lot farther than 3 miles up those rivers Masteen.

they been found hundreds of miles up them, particularly the Amazon.

Wulfran · Post by **Wulfran** » August 27, 2003, 6:06 pm

I view sharks as view any other predator in the wilderness: I am not about to knowingly swim up to a Great White/Bull/Hammerhead/other carnivorous and potentially dangerous shark any more than I am about to walk up to a grizzly bear. The ocean is the natual environment for these creatures and humanity is not indigenous to that environment. People never seem to realize that and don't treat the ocean with the same respect that would a mountain trail with fresh bear sign.

Any wild animal can be dangerous given the right circumstances, and for large predators the circumstances are broader.

Krimson Klaw · Post by **Krimson Klaw** » August 27, 2003, 6:08 pm

They are the only shark that can live in both fresh and salt water.

masteen · Post by **masteen** » August 27, 2003, 6:19 pm

Toker, the depth graph shows that the white sharks were in the top of the water column, but the total depth was over 10 feet for the vast majority of them.

Atokal · Post by **Atokal** » August 28, 2003, 11:51 am

Sorry Masteen I misread that chart. You are correct sir

Pherr the Dorf · Post by **Pherr the Dorf** » August 28, 2003, 12:20 pm

Tigers and Whites swap who kills more people all the time, they don't overlap and are always the top 2 baddies. I used to surf 4 mile North of Santa Cruz and the knowledge that sharks were there was part of it, the cases of bites are so rare it's not worth worrying about. Average 1500 surfers a day in Santa Cruz County(Spending over 100 million a year) (we are talking prime great white area, far more the SLO) year round, one hit in the past 4 years. We taste like shit too, no fat, they spit us out, just depends if they did enough damage with the first bites

Kylere · Post by **Kylere** » August 28, 2003, 2:51 pm

http://www.knake.info/knakezooi/surfen.html

Pahreyia · Post by **Pahreyia** » August 28, 2003, 7:16 pm

does Kylerie's pic look like a dolphin to anyone else?

Something about the back fin looks a little too horizontal.

Lohrno · Post by **Lohrno** » August 28, 2003, 7:20 pm

Pahreyia wrote:does Kylerie's pic look like a dolphin to anyone else?

Looks like a shark to me. The body, and head shape resemble a shark.
-=Lohrno

Atokal · Post by **Atokal** » August 28, 2003, 7:23 pm

Kylere wrote:http://www.knake.info/knakezooi/surfen.html

Nice shot Kylere, had that been a shark it would have been frightening for sure.

http://www.surfshooter.com/DolphinInfo.html

Cheers

There is some video footage out there somewhere that shows a surfer being attacked by a great white shark, would love to find out if there is an mpeg available on the net of this.

Krimson Klaw · Post by **Krimson Klaw** » August 29, 2003, 8:28 am

The key would be if we could tell if the tail fin is vertical or horizontal, but I cannot definitively say. I don't think dolphins get that big, but there are whales that small ie pilot whales.

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » August 29, 2003, 2:10 pm

Great Whites do venture to the atlantic Atokal. Their distribution is cosmopolitan, and as Masteen said they don't get in shallow water as often as Tigers, Hammerheads, and Bulls. The sea floor off of the atlantic coast has a much more gradual increase in depth than in the pacific, and because there is no tectonic subduction, there are no upwelling currents which bring massive amounts of nutrients to shallow areas of the water column. And along with these nutrient gradients come plankton blooms and bait fish flourish, as do larger predators like sea lions which of course are eaten by Great Whites.

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » August 29, 2003, 2:36 pm

Krimson Klaw wrote:A White Pointer is the only thing on this planet that would literally make me think twice about jumping in between to save my children..

one kind of cool name thing about family Carcharinidae is the common name for that taxonomic grouping: Requiem Sharks.

of course Carcharodon carcarinus is unfortunately a mackeral shark. Aesthetically, wouldnt it fit better in Carcharinidae?

i think so.

but yeah Krim, its a tough call as to what to do in that situation as far as rescuing your kids. Somebody (if not everybody) is gonna die if you jump in =).

Skogen · Post by **Skogen** » August 29, 2003, 4:31 pm

For Krimson:

http://users.senet.com.au/~gittins/white%20pointer.html

Krimson Klaw · Post by **Krimson Klaw** » August 29, 2003, 4:39 pm

Hehe I did not say I had a phobia for them, for some strange reason I would not mind being mangled/killed by anything else BUT them for a worthy cause. I swim in the ocean, surfed when I was on the coast etc like everyone else.

Skogen · Post by **Skogen** » August 29, 2003, 4:43 pm

Pherr the Dorf wrote:Tigers and Whites swap who kills more people all the time, they don't overlap and are always the top 2 baddies. I used to surf 4 mile North of Santa Cruz and the knowledge that sharks were there was part of it, the cases of bites are so rare it's not worth worrying about. Average 1500 surfers a day in Santa Cruz County(Spending over 100 million a year) (we are talking prime great white area, far more the SLO) year round, one hit in the past 4 years. We taste like shit too, no fat, they spit us out, just depends if they did enough damage with the first bites

Was that at Davenport? I used to surf there, and incidently, my last trip there was a week before a surfer was attack by a great white at the same spot. The guy managed to swim to shore, drag himself to the freeway, and flag down a passing car! His wetsuit was the only thing holding his guts in...

Skogen · Post by **Skogen** » August 29, 2003, 4:51 pm

Yikes.

http://www.wavescape.co.za/top_bar/tidi ... jumps.html

Atokal · Post by **Atokal** » September 2, 2003, 2:18 pm

Double Yikes

Note not for the squeamish

http://www.sharkattacks.com/

sarpranous · Post by **sarpranous** » September 12, 2003, 11:05 pm

heres a vid of a 2 great whites attacking a surfer. takes a little while to download. not grusome or anything.
http://www.surfermag.com/vids/sattackmov/