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No Ocean Swimming For Me
By Matt Margolis | June 27, 2005
Two shark attacks in a week in Florida…
Goodbye ocean… nice knowing you.
UPDATE: And don’t people know that once you become rich and/or famous you should never fly in a “small plane.”
Topics: General |
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June 27th, 2005 at 8:56 pm
Years ago (too many) me and a bunch of Marines were swimming in the lagoon at Wake Island. An Air Force guy walked up and said “Aren’t you guys afraid of the sharks?” Turns out the lagoon was teaming with Great Whites and hammerheads. Needless to say, we were done swimming.
July 3rd, 2005 at 8:23 pm
Sharks have always been in the ocean, always will be. Every once in a while there is a rash of shark attacks and everyone swears off ocean swimming. After a few weeks, it will all be forgotten and people will go back into the ocean.
It is silly to stay out - even right after such attacks. I lived in Hawaii for several years and every shark attack turned out to be someone doing something that seasoned swimmers and surfers know better than doing, such as swimming/surfing alone, in murky waters (heavy hangouts for sharks), or along “bait lines” which is where small fish congregate and sharks hunt.
Further, most sharks attack humans by mistake. They think they are attacking their prey item, e.g., a seal or some fish. Normally, once the shark gets a taste of the human, it spits him/her out and goes away. That does not mean that the person isn’t gravely injured, sharks do a lot of damage with one bite, but if sharks were bent on killing humans in the water, no human would survive an encounter with a shark.
It is thought be marine biologists that sharks are just about as evolved as they’ll ever get and are at the top of their food chain. Designers fashion fast cars and airplanes on their body designs due to their sleekness. They routinely replace every tooth in their mouth with new ones which are brought forward on a conveyor-like belt.
Scientists in shark research have injected sharks with every disease known to man and have had no effect on their health. Sharks injured in mating (a violent affair often leaving the participants with gaping wounds) are seen mere days later almost completely healed. Scientist have no idea how long sharks live or even if they ever die of old age.
The point being that they could easily kill every human that ever entered the ocean, yet they do not. Shark attacks are very rare considering the encounters, and are usually due to the shark confusing the human with a food item like a seal.
Want to survive around sharks? Don’t act or look like a prey item and you’ll be fine. Remorrahs, for example, travel in close proximity to sharks and are never harmed.
So, Matt, your reaction is understandable and typical, but it is bordering on a phobia - an unreasoned fear. Next time you’re at the beach, just try to find a shark. Bet you can’t.
July 28th, 2005 at 10:01 am
Sharks scare me to death!
http://www.swimatyourownrisk.blogspot.com/