Asking for it

Well, they're at it again.
The people, not the Sharks!

A woman went wading in murky water at 5:30 pm and got bitten by a Shark - and Sharky can finally start the 2009 tally.

Where? You guessed it, Volusia County.
In Florida, the very State that banned Shark feeding as too many people were being nipped - and has become the Shark Bite Capital of the World ever since!
Yes, I'm repeating myself and will never cease to do so!

So what have the good people of Volusia, in their wisdom, undertaken in order to minimize the risk of further accidents?
Look no further than April 1-5 and the Landshark Spring Surfari Pro Tournament! Great choice of activity and above all, great choice of name! The Beach Patrol shrug their shoulders and brace themselves for the inevitable.

Sharky must be happy - and I'm reminded of Einstein.

The token Shark Expert

You have to hand it to George, he always comes up with the answers.

Last year, he managed to link some Shark attacks in Mexico to the La Niña. Did anything useful eventuate from his subsequent fact-finding trip to the region, apart from free tickets and a vacation? Did anybody see a paper outlining his thus acquired insights?

This time, he's linking a drop in Shark attacks in 2008 to the economic downturn.

• is that because historically, the majority of victims have been tourists and not local surfers, swimmers and spearos?
• is that because the residents of, say, Florida, California, SA and Oz who couldn't afford a holiday didn't use their own beaches but locked themselves into their homes instead? In utter frustration?
  
• and when, exactly, did the economic downturn explode? Maybe very much at the end of last year, i.e. kinda late for having a noticeable effect on the statistics? But before the recent events in recession-plagued Oz?
  

Well, to his credit, he then manages to observe that there might be a lot less Sharks around - but then, why predict an increase in attacks in the long term?
Because there will be more Sharks? I wish!

Collecting Shark attack data may be related to Ichthyology - or not.
But it certainly doesn't qualify anybody to go dabbling in Meteorology, Sociology and Economics - that is, unless interviewed in a Discovery Channel special where obviously anything goes and bloviating is being elevated to an Art.

Or is this the new direction of Academia, to reach out to the masses by postulating ludicrous Correlations based on completely inadequate Sample Sizes and nonexistent Hypotheses Tests?
Remember the Scientific Method?

As Gaius Plinius Secundus said nearly 2000 years ago: sutor ne supra crepidam!

And: did you notice the statistics from Florida? Where they did ban Fish feeding in 2002?
Will somebody please start asking the question what may be attracting the Sharks to the beaches?
Yes, I know, I'm repeating myself.

Cool Dude!

Can't beat an Ozzie when it comes to keeping one's cool!

Mind you, with everything out there poised to kill you (and I mean it!), it might just come with the territory!
Story here.

Busted!!!

Say "See Ya Later" To Another Big Beautiful Shark (yes this is a link)

Well well...

A nip at New Smyrna Beach helps Volusia County break its own record by reporting its 23rd Shark bite for 2008.
And in Islamorada, a heroic owner rescues his dog from the maws of a Lemon Shark, thus un-busting one of Mythbusters' busts!

So what, I hear you say.

The "what" is that both locations are in the State of Florida.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but that would be the very same State of Florida that decided to enact a Shark feeding ban in 2002, thus putting a grand total of three or so operators out of their unholy business - this of course for the benefit of the poor harassed wildlife and for the safety of the public (and pets!) at large - Right?
Yes, Florida, home to the people who gloated and felt "vindicated" when tragedy struck in the Bahamas!

And yet, it appears, the numbers aint dropping!
And how about Hawaii, the second State to pass such groundbreaking and "eco-friendly" laws?
Thought so...

So, what's going on?
Who are those people that continue to attract the Sharks to the beaches by throwing in bait and chumming the waters?

Might those be the very same guys who lobbied to have the Shark feeding ban enacted in the first place? And their trigger-happy brethren?

The same people whose "game" Association endorses the killing of Sharks for "sport, fun and relaxation", including a "Royal Slam" for the successful demise of nine species? And "Monster Tournaments" aimed at wiping out the last breeding stocks? The same people who fill websites with detailed instructions about how to mix up a batch of rubby dubby, or chum in order to motivate their prey to come inshore?

Yes, to lure them Inshore! As in "Shell bars, grassflats, jetties, inshore cuts and channels, mangrove and grassy points, docks and rocks, ledge dropoffs and similar fishy locations"!

So much for Myth versus Reality, eh?
Busted!!!

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!