Saturday, September 27, 2008

Out there


"It could be the last thing you see...
A great beast - the size of a bus - and its ravenous appetite, savaging all it encounters with razor-sharp teeth and a crushing strength unknown to man. At first lurking in the distance - another shadow in an ocean full of dark nuances. Then it approaches - and strikes swiftly, without remorse - in a blink, it all ends. In these parts, the locals simply know it as... "

.... and-so-on and-so-forth...
And this in 2008 when scores of Conservationists are despairing at the world-wide demise of Sharks. Thank you for being biased, ignorant and unconcerned!

But granted, Shark incidents do happen and surfers and other aquatic recreationists are understandably concerned and anxious about not ending up at the receiving end of such encounters.
I for one would never, ever go surfing, spearfishing or swimming in Great White territory, ever!

Some simply gloat and try to exploit the ensuing news, e.g. by setting up idiotic websites.
Others, for whom staying high and dry is simply not an option, have gone to the trouble of trying to develop a list of reasonable recommendations.
Like with us Shark divers, it all boils down to being smart, responsible and hopefully, to minimizing the risk by displaying adequate behavior and following a sensible set of procedures.

I did like this post on a South African surfing blog for for its laudable intention to remain unbiased and to put things into perspective. As to the idea with the eye, well, I dunno.... As always in those cases, it will remain an interesting but untested Hypothesis.
Other sites worth consulting are the recommendations by the International Shark Attack File and the Global Shark Attack File. Most of it is nothing more than common sense - but as we all know, that is a rare commodity indeed!

And if everything fails, there is always this.
And this for gators (I don't go swimming in the Everglades, either...)
And this if you parachute should fail to open (yes, you're likely to break your arms! over my dead body....).

But better than starting to memorize - be smart!
Chances are very very very much in your favor and you're likely to have one helluva time out there!

4 comments:

Horizon Charters Guadalupe Cage Diving said...

I dunno, I think the Fear Beneath site is a nice counterpoint to the "Shark Messiahs" who believe that all sharks are just misunderstood critters that only need a big group hug.

Gratuitous yes, overly 70's in the descriptions of shark, naturally, but why not have this side of the cosmic shark balance out there?

DaShark said...

Hmmm......

to me, the longline fleets out there are "counterpoint" enough, dontya think? As in cosmic balance completely effed up?

A sensationalistic website just adds to the difficulty of trying to explain the need for Conservation.

As to the Tree-huggers, agree - as always in those cases, they undermine our credibility by being so far out there in idealistic la-la-land.

Horizon Charters Guadalupe Cage Diving said...

As always sir, I defer to your thoughts on the matter. Perhaps I was being a bit too karmic minded...gotta lay off the the Chai Coffee, damn hippie drink anyway.

DaShark said...

(-:

Oh-My-Gawddd!!!

Lemme tell u as s'body who has grown up in Italy...... that stuff is commonly called "Curry", not "Coffee"!!!

"Karmic" indeed!
U shud send some over to Congress, it might help them look at things in a different perspective!