fairybasslet:
Please tell me the box said "Promoting undue fear of sharks" and not "undo" :shakehead
I wrote a letter to the editor of my paper denouncing a story about shark diving
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Please tell me the box said "Promoting undue fear of sharks" and not "undo" :shakehead
Thanks! Education is a good thing. I do have a question for you though...speaking of education. Whats the deal with lights and hanging on the up-line. I hadn't heard that before. Are sharks attracted to lights? I've illuminated a couple of sharks on night dives, but didn't think they were there because of the lights, just thought I happened to chance upon them.
Dave
Dave
OP
fairybasslet
Contributor
alcina:
It probably did. I didn't have it in front of me when I wrote it and I can be very ignorant sometimes.
OP
fairybasslet
Contributor
dlwalke:
I was reading someone's trip report on another board and that's where I got the idea from. Personally, I haven't had any encounters with sharks on night dives either, but I haven't been to the Bahamas.
http://dive.scubadiving.com/members/tripreports.php?s=3306
Sharks are attracted to lights.
Kudos Ellen!
Years ago I wrote a front page story about the soupfin sharks that enter our waters spring through summer. I mentioned that these sharks were harmless if you left them alone. Three visiting bozo jocks apparently read the article and intentionally went to Lover's Cove (the snorkeling site where I filmed them) here on Catalina. They grabbed the sharks' fins and tails... and all three ended up in the emergency room with bites. Of course the city completely hushed this up (I learned of it later from the attending physician).
I think back to my "early" days here on Catalina (late 60's and early 70's) when we used to count the blue sharks in the near coastal waters on our 2-3 mile boat trip from the school I taught at to the "big city" of Avalon. I'd see an occasional one underwater. It has now been at least 25 years since I've seen a blue while diving... although my LDS does take shark cage diving trips to areas away from the island where they can still be found. Sad.
I have an infrequent dive buddy from China who has a different take on shark finning (I strongly disagree with her). It is essentially because it WAS an elitist menu item in the past that she feels it should now be offered to the greater population in China. Considering that more people in China are acquiring the means to try it, this is a major reason why the practice continues and intensifies. Of course I am horrified by it, and have trouble understanding this cultural difference between us.
Years ago I wrote a front page story about the soupfin sharks that enter our waters spring through summer. I mentioned that these sharks were harmless if you left them alone. Three visiting bozo jocks apparently read the article and intentionally went to Lover's Cove (the snorkeling site where I filmed them) here on Catalina. They grabbed the sharks' fins and tails... and all three ended up in the emergency room with bites. Of course the city completely hushed this up (I learned of it later from the attending physician).
I think back to my "early" days here on Catalina (late 60's and early 70's) when we used to count the blue sharks in the near coastal waters on our 2-3 mile boat trip from the school I taught at to the "big city" of Avalon. I'd see an occasional one underwater. It has now been at least 25 years since I've seen a blue while diving... although my LDS does take shark cage diving trips to areas away from the island where they can still be found. Sad.
I have an infrequent dive buddy from China who has a different take on shark finning (I strongly disagree with her). It is essentially because it WAS an elitist menu item in the past that she feels it should now be offered to the greater population in China. Considering that more people in China are acquiring the means to try it, this is a major reason why the practice continues and intensifies. Of course I am horrified by it, and have trouble understanding this cultural difference between us.
I've heard mixed opinions before, even for the documentaries I watched and read.
I've seen people who are promoting "shark does not attack" that guy swam out from the shark cage with no protect, swam with sharks side by side. See.
Another case is that, a short documentary, maybe some of you have seen it.
Shark experts were shooting films at shallow water, 0.5m seawater with a group of sharks, swimming around. Suddenly, one of the shark tested the leg meat of one of the person with a small bit, and found it edible, and went ahead and started. A scary scene.
My father told me that one of his friend from Australia has one side of his butt gone.
I have heard a lot of stories from both sides, I don't think you can predict if a shark is going to attack or not.
In this society we can find nice people and bad guys, can we tell which side are we going to encounter more tomorrow? We don't know.
I am not a vegetarian, are you?
Probably I can't tell if I meet you for the first time. Can you tell if I am?
Do sharks eat human?
Will they refuse to eat even if they are hungry?
If we need to be educated with this topic, I wondered what kind of material we shall teach. I only know that sharks would never be educated.
I've seen people who are promoting "shark does not attack" that guy swam out from the shark cage with no protect, swam with sharks side by side. See.
Another case is that, a short documentary, maybe some of you have seen it.
Shark experts were shooting films at shallow water, 0.5m seawater with a group of sharks, swimming around. Suddenly, one of the shark tested the leg meat of one of the person with a small bit, and found it edible, and went ahead and started. A scary scene.
My father told me that one of his friend from Australia has one side of his butt gone.
I have heard a lot of stories from both sides, I don't think you can predict if a shark is going to attack or not.
In this society we can find nice people and bad guys, can we tell which side are we going to encounter more tomorrow? We don't know.
I am not a vegetarian, are you?
Probably I can't tell if I meet you for the first time. Can you tell if I am?
Do sharks eat human?
Will they refuse to eat even if they are hungry?
If we need to be educated with this topic, I wondered what kind of material we shall teach. I only know that sharks would never be educated.
OP
fairybasslet
Contributor
:lol:alo100:
Sharks are apex predators and are wild animals. Of course they are dangerous. OTOH, with a little education, you can dive around them in relative safety.
I found it interesting when I was explosed to more info...
The general info like, according to statistics, sharks like to attack moving objs with bright color, do not panic and swim like you're struggling, besides the detection of movements around, the sharks have electrical receptors to detect electrically... don't get into waters if you have any cuts etc...
We can pick up those and be aware, but when sharks are hugry for food, there are always very little we can do about it. As a result, we heard accidents happened all over the world.
Academically, we can talk about between the sharks and us, who is at the top of the food chain, or we should be mutually exculsive for our food and respect each other's right. We can talk, but yet there are only very little we can do once we are in the water and when the shark has decided what to do.
Again we can do a lot of surveys and study about which kind of sharks under what kind of conditions would they attack... but once we are diving we have volunteered to enter their habitat. We don't want to extinct the species, sure, but practically we need to find more efficient ways to protect ourselves, after all, none of us can affort to carry a shark cage around. According to what I have seen, we are still in a relatively primitive stage in terms of this.
The general info like, according to statistics, sharks like to attack moving objs with bright color, do not panic and swim like you're struggling, besides the detection of movements around, the sharks have electrical receptors to detect electrically... don't get into waters if you have any cuts etc...
We can pick up those and be aware, but when sharks are hugry for food, there are always very little we can do about it. As a result, we heard accidents happened all over the world.
Academically, we can talk about between the sharks and us, who is at the top of the food chain, or we should be mutually exculsive for our food and respect each other's right. We can talk, but yet there are only very little we can do once we are in the water and when the shark has decided what to do.
Again we can do a lot of surveys and study about which kind of sharks under what kind of conditions would they attack... but once we are diving we have volunteered to enter their habitat. We don't want to extinct the species, sure, but practically we need to find more efficient ways to protect ourselves, after all, none of us can affort to carry a shark cage around. According to what I have seen, we are still in a relatively primitive stage in terms of this.
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