sharks eat surfer

[Scubaguy62]

My condolences to the family of this surfer.

Anytime some one dies during the course of engaging in a sporting activity they love, whether it is scuba diving, sky diving, surfing, bungie jumping, etc., a shadow is casted on that sport, mostly out of spite, or out of stupidity, which then incites an idiotic response (i.e. avenge the death!!!). As scubadivers we take into consideration the inherent risk scuba diving involves, and we deal with it. In legal terms, we assume the risk.

The South Florida diving community recently lost a very dear member, and you can bet your last dollar that even those who didn't know this man personally were affected by his death. But, did we go looking for someone to kill over it, despite that his death didn't involve a shark attack? The death of this surfer was a tragedy no different than Eric's death. I applaud the position they have taken about the shark(s). Killing the shark(s) would accomplish nothing more than to disrupt the ocean's ecosystem, which in the long run, would be worse.

 

[divenut2001]

Well, I would like to add that near shore dwelling sharks dont like humans. In the open ocean food is scarse and open ocean sharks (black tip for one) are not to picky and will be more than happy to circle a sinking ship.

Name one attack involving a Black Tip Reef Shark, because I've never heard of one myself. I've swam with Black Tips, White Tips, Silver Tips and Grey Reefs. None were threatening. The Tiger Sharks on the other hand made me a little uneasy!

 

[scubaculture]

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/scuba/Shark/Shark.htm

A breakdown of species involved in attacks.

Blacktip Reef Carcharhinus melanopterus, 2 attacks

 

[PRL]

I am not talking about reef sharks, the sharks Im refering to have a black tip on their fin, but Im not sure of their name, they are NOT found around reefs but in the open ocean.
During WWII they took many lifes from sinking ships, and the sharks associated the noise from a sinking ship with food.
PLEASE understand that I do not view any sharks as a threat to humans. The only significant danger from human/shark interaction is to the sharks. So shark interaction is DANGEROUS, but we are not the victims

 

[smay28]

I am not talking about reef sharks, the sharks Im refering to have a black tip on their fin, but Im not sure of their name, they are NOT found around reefs but in the open ocean.
During WWII they took many lifes from sinking ships, and the sharks associated the noise from a sinking ship with food.
PLEASE understand that I do not view any sharks as a threat to humans. The only significant danger from human/shark interaction is to the sharks. So shark interaction is DANGEROUS, but we are not the victims

Sounds more like the behavoir of the Oceanic Whitetip shark.

But I'm no expert..

 

[PRL]

As for Tiger sharks, probably the most famous attack is during the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. An estimate is around 300-400 sailors killed by tiger sharks during 5 days in the water (dont know how accurate this estimate is)
The point I was trying to make in my post above is that shore dwelling or reef sharks in general dont like humans. Open ocean sharks dont have the luxury to be picky.

 

[PRL]

Sounds more like the behavoir of the Oceanic Whitetip shark.

But I'm no expert..

Could be, Im not an expert eather

 

[Scubaguy62]

If watching enough Shark Week and NGC programs makes you an expert (NOT), I would have to agree with smay28, it would be the Oceanic White tip...but it does not have any black tips...

Open ocean sharks dont have the luxury to be picky.

I disagree...the GW is notorious for its undeniable preference for seals and sea lions......I'm not an expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night

 

[PRL]

GW feeds near shore. There are many sharks that do not aproach shore in their lifetime. those are the sharks I refer to as Open Ocean Sharks

I'll have to stop posting, I'm getting way off Topic, Sorry to the original author.

 

[Hank49]

I applaud the position they have taken about the shark(s). Killing the shark(s) would accomplish nothing more than to disrupt the ocean's ecosystem, which in the long run, would be worse.

Hawaii used to have a shark fishing program to catch and kill large sharks. There were no attacks between 1950 something and the late 70s. then they stopped, the little tiger sharks grew up into 15 footers and there have been numberous attacks since. A good friend of mine has a step son whose foot was bitten off boogie boarding. Another friend's brother was eaten after falling in the water at Kalihiwai. I believe killing the big tiger sharks does no "harm" to the ecosystem. Not on a world wide scale, but in places like Hawaii or Florida it may be prudent to control them....There will just be a lot more 8 footers. Stop fishing..they'll come back.