OT: Jaws!

[Guest guest]

Butch,

 

Thanks for sharing this information, it was fascinating. I sure

didn't hear on the news that Jessie Arborgast's uncle had the shark

on his fishing line when it bit Jessie. We're planning on moving to

Miami, but I'm not sure I'll be brave enough to get in the water.

Last month, my Son was swimming at Miami Beach while my Daughter and

his Fiance (sp.) watched from shore. A shark was swimming right with

him. He was oblivious and unhurt, thank God, but the girls got some

grey hair over it! Do you think that the shark feeding trips by

divers, like ones off the coast of Miami, increase the risk of shark

bites to humans?

Denise

 

> My guess now is that the increased number of recent attacks reported

> along the Southeast coast of the USA are a result of increased net

> fishing and shark fishermen chumming. The whole story on the kid in

> Florida who was bitten was that his uncle (the hero who saved him)

was

> shark fishing, and had the poor shark on the line when the kid

rushed

> into the water. The shark was trying to escape - I'm sorry the

child

> was bitten but in fact, the shark did the normally expected thing!

[Guest guest]

Thank you for the awesome post chock full of info, Butch

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

 

-

" Butch Owen " <butchbsi

 

Tuesday, September 04, 2001 6:48 PM

OT: Jaws!

 

 

> Hi Ilene, other good folks ...

>

> Lemme tell y'all that I like sharks - find'em fascinating I do, and I

> don't fear them because I have learned a bit about them. Same for the

> rattlesnakes and copperheads that occupied the same hills, fields and

> woodlands in Kentucky I grew up using as my playground.

>

> Really, shark attacks are not something we should fear as they are rare,

> maybe 100 or so annually for the entire world, and all of these are not

> true attacks - some are a matter of a fisherman getting his finger in

> the wrong place - this happened to me back in the 60s while fishing in

> the Chesapeake - I was taking a 12-14 inch shark off the line and the

> little rascal nipped me good. So - if someone gets bitten by a 12-14

> inch shark and has to go in for stitches, it's written up as a shark

> bite or maybe a shark attack.

>

> It hard to know exactly how many attacks occur worldwide each year as

> many obviously occur in remote areas and aren't reported. The Florida

> Museum of Natural History keeps stats on the number and locations of

> shark attacks in the International Shark Attack File.

>

> They show, for example, 76 confirmed and 2 unconfirmed unprovoked

> attacks from Baja California, Mexico to Washington State for the entire

> period of 1926-1993 - and that is not many! Most of these attacks were

> in Central California and only 9 of the 78 attacks were fatal. This is

> maybe equal to the number of deaths in traffic accidents in one year in

> California - huh? I have a book (unfortunately in storage in Tennessee)

> that covers EVERY attack on the East Coast USA in detail from around the

> period of 1920 to roughly 1970 - I forget the exact dates but I remember

> that there are not all that many. There is also a book you can find at

> your library if you are interested in more info .. Baldridge, H.D. 1974.

> Shark Attack. Droke House/Hallus, Anderson, North Carolina.

>

> On the other hand, those oversize Dumbo's we see in the circus kill over

> 200 mahoots and trainers a year .. difference is we Americans know how

> to avoid elephants and don't worry about it too much ... ;-p

>

> For us Americans, it's soda machines we really gotta worry about because

> there are far more Americans killed each year by soda machines than by

> sharks. Machine doesn't work, man gets upset and kicks or shakes it -

> and the machine either falls on them or they have a heart attack. These

> are true statistics - not something I pulled out of my pocket.

>

> Americans can avoid becoming victims of mad Dumbos by avoiding Dumbo

> altogether - and there are ways we can avoid becoming a victim of shark

> attack too - not perfect it is, just as there are no perfect ways to

> avoid becoming a victim of a mugging - but there are ways to cut down

> the odds on us being one of those 100 or so unfortunate folks who are

> bitten or killed each year by sharks.

>

> When a shark(s) move into an area and start routinely nibbling on folks

> there is a reason that can be determined (and will be determined) by

> shark experts. A shark expert I'm not - an experienced international

> SCUBA diver I am, so I have given a bit of study to the behavior of

> sharks - both in books and at times up close.

>

> My guess now is that the increased number of recent attacks reported

> along the Southeast coast of the USA are a result of increased net

> fishing and shark fishermen chumming. The whole story on the kid in

> Florida who was bitten was that his uncle (the hero who saved him) was

> shark fishing, and had the poor shark on the line when the kid rushed

> into the water. The shark was trying to escape - I'm sorry the child

> was bitten but in fact, the shark did the normally expected thing!

>

> Sharks have an accute sense of smell - like that of eels and catfish.

> There are studies showing sharks become excited by the introduction of

> ONE DROP of blood in a 2,000 gallon tank - so we gotta understand that

> when we chum (as shark fishermen do) or leave dead fish or diving birds

> in a net, we're gonna attract this preditor.

>

> The shark is not our enemy - we are his enemy - his only enemy. Man

> kills or mutilates 75 to 100 million sharks a year! In 2.5 years, man

> kills more sharks than the population of humans in the USA so I reckon

> it's not totally out of line for Mr. Shark to try to take a bite of us

> now and then ... ;-)

>

> > Are you kidding? I saw the first Jaws (drive in, bigger than life) and

> > wouldnt swim in any of the Great Lakes even Superior because they are

> > connected to the ocean by the St Lawrence seaway and if the freighters

> > can come thru, so can sharks.

>

> Matter of fact that is .. but sharks don't generally go site seeing or

> take vacations away from their normal hunting (haunting?) grounds. ;-p

> Sharks are preditors that are constantly on the move in search of food

> and they don't hang around where there are slim pickings. In fact, some

> species of sharks - like the Hammerhead and some others that never rest

> on the ocean floor - have to keep moving 24 hours a day so we can say

> that they are pretty efficient hunters.

>

> What will sharks eat? Anything! There's a citation in Jerome Smith's

> 1833 " Natural History of the Fishes of Massachusetts " . " In the records

> of Aix, a seaport in France, in the Mediterranean Sea, is the account of

> a shark, taken by the fishermen, 22 feet long, in whose stomach, among

> other undigested remains, was the headless body of a man, encased in

> complete armor. " ;-p

>

> > Then after a year or so decided it might be a wee bit cool for them in

> > Lake Superior and ventured forth. lol

>

> Not likely to be bitten in Lake Superior because it just doesn't happen

> there often - more food for the shark out in the open seawater - but -

> don't let the temperature of the water give you any false sense of

> security cause the only mindless killing machine in the sea, the Great

> White, prefers the cooler waters. I refuse to dive in areas frequented

> by Great White Sharks - off the coast of Washington State, New England

> Coast and areas like the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.

>

> During my many trips to Somalia - I learned to not dive there either

> because man had taught the Zambize River Sharks (they live in fresh or

> salt water) to feed on him there. The American Army went into Somalia

> while the last smoke trails of the aircraft taking the Russians out of

> Somalia were still visable. The Soviets packed up all the industry in

> the country and moved out - as they did in all the countries they once

> occupied. One of the industries the Russians ran in Mogadishu was fish

> packing; they had a factory beside the Bay of Mogadishu. The spoils

> from the factory were dumped into the bay - and the bay is where most

> Somalis play or do their laundry - even wash their babies there. The

> Zambize River Sharks learned to go there to feed on fish spoils and

> Somalis - and they still do this. When a Somali loses a chunk of leg

> to Mr. Shark, s/he dies - it's routine due to an almost total lack of

> medical care there. A 45 year old Somali is an ancient sage!

>

> > Ain't no way I'm stepping even a toe in any big waters. -Ilene

>

> It's sticking the toe in that is dangerous - wading in to the knees or

> waist is even more dangerous. Both are more dangerous than swimming.

> Sharks don't feed on man as a routine - with the exception of the Great

> White - they feed on anything they want to. Almost without exception,

> shark attacks against human critters are a result of a case of mistaken

> identity .. that ain't too comforting to one who is bitten but it's good

> information for one who wants to avoid being bitten.

>

> So how do we avoid becoming a victim? By understanding how they think!

>

> Understand that a common motivation for attacks by all critters is basic

> defense. Most sharks, small or large, will bite a diver if they get too

> close and violate the shark's space. I won't talk much on this except

> to say that good divers know how to read the behavior of sharks and the

> shark does give ample warning when they are antsy. I'll also say that

> most of the bites to divers are not serious - a lot like one expects

> from the snap of a nervous dog or the scratch of a scared kitty kat.

>

> If a smart diver sees sharks feeding, they slowly move away. The only

> sharks large enough to routinely see us as food are the Great White, the

> Bull Shark and the Tiger Shark - though there are cases of Hammerheads

> growing large enough and attacking surfers.

>

> As I said above, Great Whites are normally found in colder water. Their

> major source of food has to be one that keeps them warm and that food is

> seals, walruses and sea lions. There are cases of Great Whites taking a

> human and later spitting it out undigested because human muscle lacks

> the nourishment the shark can get from the fatter seals, etc. Not that

> this fact would give warm fuzzies to the one that was spit out but it's

> still a matter of record .. ;-p

>

> It's the warmer waters - like the SE Coast of the USA - where we find

> the other two man-eaters - the Tiger and the Bull Shark.

>

> Smart divers avoid areas where there are lots of seals and sea lions and

> since Tiger Sharks like birds a lot - those divers avoid island areas

> where there are large concentrations of birds.

>

> There are other electronic and chemical means divers can use to avoid

> becoming victims, but since most of you folks are probably not divers -

> you're wondering about now how you can avoid becoming a victim. ;-)

> You can start by checking this book out of the library .. Klimley, A.P.

> 1974. An Inquiry into the Causes of Shark Attacks. "

>

> And I'll list a few things you can do.

>

> Don't fish for them. If you catch one, cut the line - don't try to land

> it or even take the hook out of the mouth of a small shark. You play

> long enough you gonna have to pay for it in time. I used to hunt them

> with bangsticks .. and I regret that now - wish I could turn back time.

>

> Don't surf .. when one is swimming out or back laying on a surfboard,

> imagine what it looks like from down below - to the shark that is used

> to feeding on sea-going land critters.

>

> Don't play grabass in shallow water unless it is a controlled beach with

> either shark spotters or shark nets. Sharks use a number of means to

> find their next lunch and plowing into a school of madly feeding fish is

> one of their favorite snacks - that's just what the shark sees when we

> are playing grabass in shallow water.

>

> Don't go in the water if you have an open cut of during menstruation -

> that is, don't go swimming or get the cut in the water - even though the

> salt water might be healing, you're stretching the odds a bit.

>

> Don't swim or play near fishermen .. they have blood on the end of the

> line and they will attract critters that like blood. Even a nip from a

> 12 inch shark can ruin a day at the beach.

>

> Use common sense and imagination but don't let that imagination get you

> to a point where you are a victim of sharkophobia ... the odds are much

> better that you'll get hit in the butt by a piece falling off a Boeing

> 747 passing overhead than they are of being bitten by a shark. ;-p

>

> Y'all keep smiling, Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum ... ;-)

>

> Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

>

> > Chris Ziegler wrote:

> > > Hey coastal dwellers,

> > > Be careful out there this year!

> > > ::Jaws Them

[Guest guest]

Hi Ilene, other good folks ...

 

Lemme tell y'all that I like sharks - find'em fascinating I do, and I

don't fear them because I have learned a bit about them. Same for the

rattlesnakes and copperheads that occupied the same hills, fields and

woodlands in Kentucky I grew up using as my playground.

 

Really, shark attacks are not something we should fear as they are rare,

maybe 100 or so annually for the entire world, and all of these are not

true attacks - some are a matter of a fisherman getting his finger in

the wrong place - this happened to me back in the 60s while fishing in

the Chesapeake - I was taking a 12-14 inch shark off the line and the

little rascal nipped me good. So - if someone gets bitten by a 12-14

inch shark and has to go in for stitches, it's written up as a shark

bite or maybe a shark attack.

 

It hard to know exactly how many attacks occur worldwide each year as

many obviously occur in remote areas and aren't reported. The Florida

Museum of Natural History keeps stats on the number and locations of

shark attacks in the International Shark Attack File.

 

They show, for example, 76 confirmed and 2 unconfirmed unprovoked

attacks from Baja California, Mexico to Washington State for the entire

period of 1926-1993 - and that is not many! Most of these attacks were

in Central California and only 9 of the 78 attacks were fatal. This is

maybe equal to the number of deaths in traffic accidents in one year in

California - huh? I have a book (unfortunately in storage in Tennessee)

that covers EVERY attack on the East Coast USA in detail from around the

period of 1920 to roughly 1970 - I forget the exact dates but I remember

that there are not all that many. There is also a book you can find at

your library if you are interested in more info .. Baldridge, H.D. 1974.

Shark Attack. Droke House/Hallus, Anderson, North Carolina.

 

On the other hand, those oversize Dumbo's we see in the circus kill over

200 mahoots and trainers a year .. difference is we Americans know how

to avoid elephants and don't worry about it too much ... ;-p

 

For us Americans, it's soda machines we really gotta worry about because

there are far more Americans killed each year by soda machines than by

sharks. Machine doesn't work, man gets upset and kicks or shakes it -

and the machine either falls on them or they have a heart attack. These

are true statistics - not something I pulled out of my pocket.

 

Americans can avoid becoming victims of mad Dumbos by avoiding Dumbo

altogether - and there are ways we can avoid becoming a victim of shark

attack too - not perfect it is, just as there are no perfect ways to

avoid becoming a victim of a mugging - but there are ways to cut down

the odds on us being one of those 100 or so unfortunate folks who are

bitten or killed each year by sharks.

 

When a shark(s) move into an area and start routinely nibbling on folks

there is a reason that can be determined (and will be determined) by

shark experts. A shark expert I'm not - an experienced international

SCUBA diver I am, so I have given a bit of study to the behavior of

sharks - both in books and at times up close.

 

My guess now is that the increased number of recent attacks reported

along the Southeast coast of the USA are a result of increased net

fishing and shark fishermen chumming. The whole story on the kid in

Florida who was bitten was that his uncle (the hero who saved him) was

shark fishing, and had the poor shark on the line when the kid rushed

into the water. The shark was trying to escape - I'm sorry the child

was bitten but in fact, the shark did the normally expected thing!

 

Sharks have an accute sense of smell - like that of eels and catfish.

There are studies showing sharks become excited by the introduction of

ONE DROP of blood in a 2,000 gallon tank - so we gotta understand that

when we chum (as shark fishermen do) or leave dead fish or diving birds

in a net, we're gonna attract this preditor.

 

The shark is not our enemy - we are his enemy - his only enemy. Man

kills or mutilates 75 to 100 million sharks a year! In 2.5 years, man

kills more sharks than the population of humans in the USA so I reckon

it's not totally out of line for Mr. Shark to try to take a bite of us

now and then ... ;-)

 

> Are you kidding? I saw the first Jaws (drive in, bigger than life) and

> wouldnt swim in any of the Great Lakes even Superior because they are

> connected to the ocean by the St Lawrence seaway and if the freighters

> can come thru, so can sharks.

 

Matter of fact that is .. but sharks don't generally go site seeing or

take vacations away from their normal hunting (haunting?) grounds. ;-p

Sharks are preditors that are constantly on the move in search of food

and they don't hang around where there are slim pickings. In fact, some

species of sharks - like the Hammerhead and some others that never rest

on the ocean floor - have to keep moving 24 hours a day so we can say

that they are pretty efficient hunters.

 

What will sharks eat? Anything! There's a citation in Jerome Smith's

1833 " Natural History of the Fishes of Massachusetts " . " In the records

of Aix, a seaport in France, in the Mediterranean Sea, is the account of

a shark, taken by the fishermen, 22 feet long, in whose stomach, among

other undigested remains, was the headless body of a man, encased in

complete armor. " ;-p

 

> Then after a year or so decided it might be a wee bit cool for them in

> Lake Superior and ventured forth. lol

 

Not likely to be bitten in Lake Superior because it just doesn't happen

there often - more food for the shark out in the open seawater - but -

don't let the temperature of the water give you any false sense of

security cause the only mindless killing machine in the sea, the Great

White, prefers the cooler waters. I refuse to dive in areas frequented

by Great White Sharks - off the coast of Washington State, New England

Coast and areas like the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.

 

During my many trips to Somalia - I learned to not dive there either

because man had taught the Zambize River Sharks (they live in fresh or

salt water) to feed on him there. The American Army went into Somalia

while the last smoke trails of the aircraft taking the Russians out of

Somalia were still visable. The Soviets packed up all the industry in

the country and moved out - as they did in all the countries they once

occupied. One of the industries the Russians ran in Mogadishu was fish

packing; they had a factory beside the Bay of Mogadishu. The spoils

from the factory were dumped into the bay - and the bay is where most

Somalis play or do their laundry - even wash their babies there. The

Zambize River Sharks learned to go there to feed on fish spoils and

Somalis - and they still do this. When a Somali loses a chunk of leg

to Mr. Shark, s/he dies - it's routine due to an almost total lack of

medical care there. A 45 year old Somali is an ancient sage!

 

> Ain't no way I'm stepping even a toe in any big waters. -Ilene

 

It's sticking the toe in that is dangerous - wading in to the knees or

waist is even more dangerous. Both are more dangerous than swimming.

Sharks don't feed on man as a routine - with the exception of the Great

White - they feed on anything they want to. Almost without exception,

shark attacks against human critters are a result of a case of mistaken

identity .. that ain't too comforting to one who is bitten but it's good

information for one who wants to avoid being bitten.

 

So how do we avoid becoming a victim? By understanding how they think!

 

Understand that a common motivation for attacks by all critters is basic

defense. Most sharks, small or large, will bite a diver if they get too

close and violate the shark's space. I won't talk much on this except

to say that good divers know how to read the behavior of sharks and the

shark does give ample warning when they are antsy. I'll also say that

most of the bites to divers are not serious - a lot like one expects

from the snap of a nervous dog or the scratch of a scared kitty kat.

 

If a smart diver sees sharks feeding, they slowly move away. The only

sharks large enough to routinely see us as food are the Great White, the

Bull Shark and the Tiger Shark - though there are cases of Hammerheads

growing large enough and attacking surfers.

 

As I said above, Great Whites are normally found in colder water. Their

major source of food has to be one that keeps them warm and that food is

seals, walruses and sea lions. There are cases of Great Whites taking a

human and later spitting it out undigested because human muscle lacks

the nourishment the shark can get from the fatter seals, etc. Not that

this fact would give warm fuzzies to the one that was spit out but it's

still a matter of record .. ;-p

 

It's the warmer waters - like the SE Coast of the USA - where we find

the other two man-eaters - the Tiger and the Bull Shark.

 

Smart divers avoid areas where there are lots of seals and sea lions and

since Tiger Sharks like birds a lot - those divers avoid island areas

where there are large concentrations of birds.

 

There are other electronic and chemical means divers can use to avoid

becoming victims, but since most of you folks are probably not divers -

you're wondering about now how you can avoid becoming a victim. ;-)

You can start by checking this book out of the library .. Klimley, A.P.

1974. An Inquiry into the Causes of Shark Attacks. "

 

And I'll list a few things you can do.

 

Don't fish for them. If you catch one, cut the line - don't try to land

it or even take the hook out of the mouth of a small shark. You play

long enough you gonna have to pay for it in time. I used to hunt them

with bangsticks .. and I regret that now - wish I could turn back time.

 

Don't surf .. when one is swimming out or back laying on a surfboard,

imagine what it looks like from down below - to the shark that is used

to feeding on sea-going land critters.

 

Don't play grabass in shallow water unless it is a controlled beach with

either shark spotters or shark nets. Sharks use a number of means to

find their next lunch and plowing into a school of madly feeding fish is

one of their favorite snacks - that's just what the shark sees when we

are playing grabass in shallow water.

 

Don't go in the water if you have an open cut of during menstruation -

that is, don't go swimming or get the cut in the water - even though the

salt water might be healing, you're stretching the odds a bit.

 

Don't swim or play near fishermen .. they have blood on the end of the

line and they will attract critters that like blood. Even a nip from a

12 inch shark can ruin a day at the beach.

 

Use common sense and imagination but don't let that imagination get you

to a point where you are a victim of sharkophobia ... the odds are much

better that you'll get hit in the butt by a piece falling off a Boeing

747 passing overhead than they are of being bitten by a shark. ;-p

 

Y'all keep smiling, Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum Tum ... ;-)

 

Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

> Chris Ziegler wrote:

> > Hey coastal dwellers,

> > Be careful out there this year!

> > ::Jaws Them