~SHARK season again!~OR~ JAWS redux~

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 8:02 pm

well it's that time of year...florida will get thousands of tourists from east armpit, Iowa, and they will be munched for lunch by our toothy apex predators. remember a few years ago every news story was florida shark attacks? a few were tragic. but mostly we get surfer nips, they hang out there on their boards with limbs dangling for hours, so the sharks check out their edibility factor. yesterday a tourist was chomped on by a hammerhead, here we go! who likes to talk about sharks and shark attacks? i do.........

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David813 · Post by **David813** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 8:13 pm

Well I for one LOVE sharks. Their primal and ancient beauty is remarkable. There are too many tourists in Florida, Australia and other shark hotspots, so what's a few lost to such a regal beast. Even if I were to lose both legs to a shark I wouldn't want it killed. They actually rarely go for humans, and when they do it's because they mistake us for seals, sea otters or other blubber rich creatures. Now pop old pudgy Dick Cheney in the water and they might make an exception.

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 8:46 pm

i like them too, i have an underwater camera and chase them all over the reef. i just don't do stupid stuff like spear a fish and keep it wriggling in my hand. i had a buddy who should have known better and had her hand taken in the bahamas. bitten clean off. but they are apex predators and we are in THEIR world when we enter the sea. so we have to be sensible, the same as if we were out to photograph tigers.

Jika · Post by **Jika** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 8:59 pm

LC I'm curious to know whether you have a similar problem in Florida as we do here in Australia. Shark-feeding tourism operators!

Over recent years there has been a marked increase in the number of these business' which cater for folk who like to get up close and personal with the sharks albeit behind the safety of a veiwing cage lowered into the water. To attract the sharks, operators use burly/bait and actively feed the sharks as they emerge from the depths. Now Marine Biologists and other animal experts are calling for tighter regulation of this industry, drawing a link between these activities and the worring increase in shark attacks around recreational boaters along our coasts. They believe it's culminating in a ' learnt behaviour' pattern like Pavlov's Dog.....(ring the bell and the dog will salivate expecting food)

This debate is gaining attention in the media with the opposing sides, marine experts and tourism operators set to battle it out.

I'd like to know peoples thoughts on this.

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 9:06 pm

i am very much against the shark/dive cage tourism. it DOES train them to see humans as sources of food. and they are endangered. they haven't large brains, but they are, as you say, pavlovian in their responses. the florida probem gets lots of publicity, but the australian and south african problem is life-threatening.

BabyRider · Post by **BabyRider** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 9:18 pm

If it trains them to see humans as a food source, then wouldn't it be the people dumb enough to think this is a good idea that are getting eaten? Hmm...Sounds ok to me! Humans seem to think that because we have larger, more developed brains and opposable thumbs, we are impervious to these animals. Man has been playing "God" with wildlife for decades, usually with pretty questionable results. They want to get up close and personal with a shark? Let 'em, I say. Get more stupidity out of the gene pool.

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 9:29 pm

i get up close and personal with them with no problem. i don't yank on their tails or ring the dinner bell or dive when i am bleeding. we have so many attacks in florida, but we don't have the white pointers, man-eaters. hawaii too, with tigers. they do kill. the most deadly shark i see in florida is the bull, they do kill .and in CA...they have fatal white attacks. a lot. because of the seal population.

Jika · Post by **Jika** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 9:55 pm

BabyRider wrote: If it trains them to see humans as a food source, then wouldn't it be the people dumb enough to think this is a good idea that are getting eaten? Hmm...Sounds ok to me! Humans seem to think that because we have larger, more developed brains and opposable thumbs, we are impervious to these animals. Man has been playing "God" with wildlife for decades, usually with pretty questionable results. They want to get up close and personal with a shark? Let 'em, I say. Get more stupidity out of the gene pool.

It's not so much the people/tourists in under-water safety viewing cages that are in danger, it's the non-associated recreational boaters who are experiencing the horror of increasing shark attention.

Last December a young lad was taken in full view of his horrified mates, seconds after jumping off the back of their speedboat and grabbing onto a boogie-board they had been towing. This happened close to shore at Henley Beach South Australia. This is a popular swimming beach and an attack of that proximity and nature was unheard of.

Many called for the shark to be hunted and killed however in a moving tribute to his son, the father said it would not be what his son wanted, that his son admired sharks and respected the fact that when we swim in the ocean we are in their territory on their terms.

pink princess · Post by **pink princess** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 4:04 am

funny you should metion shark season, saw on sky one the other night an advert for shark season over here in the UK, showing lots of shark docs and films etc

Post by **kensloft** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:01 am

Hundreds of millions of years of evolution and now they are being destroyed by fat, thrill seeking bozos with too much time and money on their hands. Anything for a buck hustlers will be able to blame the sharks or the people that don't pay for their tours for the attacks. It sounds like the old, " I didn't know the gun was loaded?" routine.

Blaming the stupid sharks is a capital idea. It'll keep their bank accounts flowing with the lucre of their new found trade. Hopefully someone will sue the pants off them and it will stick.

BabyRider · Post by **BabyRider** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 1:12 pm

lady cop wrote: i get up close and personal with them with no problem. i don't yank on their tails or ring the dinner bell or dive when i am bleeding. we have so many attacks in florida, but we don't have the white pointers, man-eaters. hawaii too, with tigers. they do kill. the most deadly shark i see in florida is the bull, they do kill .and in CA...they have fatal white attacks. a lot. because of the seal population.And you're an experienced diver with more than 7 brain cells rattling around upstairs.

The people that want to jump into a cage after a 20-minute dive lesson and "pet the pretty sharkies" are the idiots that make me go: :yh_doh