Have you seen sharks???

[baldie]

I guess if you see fins of the shark, it probably wants to just swim around you before attacking. I agree that if a shark really want to attack you, it will do a fast attack from below. You will not able to see any fins or feel anything.

I see many surfers with red surfboards or red shorts. I'm kinda scared to have anything red on me while surfing. The redness looks like blood and may attract sharks...

[Dec]

actually..that has been proven wrong by those dudes at Mythbusters!!

I think it atacted grey first..and red last...

But to be safe..i wud just wear blue shorts and keep the board white

[baldie]

I wonder with all the shark attacks, do color of the board or boardshort matter. Maybe the shark just attack anyone randomly.

[baldie]

I think it atacted grey first..and red last...

Red last??? unbelievable, How did they taste that???

[Dec]

they put out some colored buoys the same distants apart..and had some blood sent to them.

The sharks teared the crap put f the grey and not the red

[sup3rc0w]

I'm from J-Bay in South Africa.... so yea, I seen some... and I almost sh!t myself an island

A friend got attacked actually, but hes ok and back surfing again

[Stone Fox]

I think I can clear a few things up here. Sharks rarely attack people - you're not it's food. If it's very bored or very hungry you're screwed. Sharks vision isn't very good at all, but their sense of smell is world class. They can smell a couple of cc's of blood in open water from around a mile away. It's the smell not the colour that attracts them. On the subject of colour - most of the stuff they eat is grey...! Go figure. Bright red and yellow stuff tends to be poisonous or vicious - natures warning colour. The same goes for berrys although that's not always true (I love cherrys)

If it's starving it may simply attack from below, especially if you're wearing grey or causing a lot of cavitation (like a wounded fish / animal) but GENERALLY speaking they will rub against you first.



Think that's a tooth? It's not. It's a diagram of their skin which is thousands of overlapping little teeth. It's like really sharp sandpaper, which is why anyone that has to handle sharks wear gloves (frequently chainmail!) because if you kick or grab a shark you're more than likely to bleed. (Guy who posted above, that was probably a ray you kicked, either that or you're VERY lucky - imagine if you'd started bleeding)

(more diags here: http://www.elasmoworld.org/biology/anat ... rnal.shtml the Skin is the bottom one)

THATS why they brush your legs, to dislodge skin cells / scales / blood so they can 'taste / smell' what you are to see if you're edible. Which is why they rarely attack divers - neoprene doesn't smell / taste edible!

As for seeing fins? they tend to cruise around close to the surface to absorb sunlight, and they are pretty short sited so unless they 'smell' you then they can get VERY close, if they get curious and decide to brush you or attack then the fin disapears.

fin = start worrying.
no fin = put your head between you legs and kiss your fleshin' arse goodbye. (or just get the HELL out the water)

As for sharks? I've always been a fan of this photo:

[sup3rc0w]

...and the fact that its a fake... seen the original and its only a dolphin

[tomcat360]

the fact that sharks are always around you just has to be accepted. its where they live....obviously they will be there. so you just have to accept that they are there, and its just you aren't seeing them. when you do see them, its no different then when you don't.

if that made any sense...

[baldie]

That's a cool photo Stone Fox.. It looks too scary to be real...

[baldie]

the fact that sharks are always around you.

Yes, I agree... I heard that in the discovery channel. It's kinda weird to know that sharks are around you but you can't see them.

[Stone Fox]

I guessed it was probably fake. Never cared though.

Sharks are always there. Don't bleed, avoid excess cavitation and don't wear grey...? Dunno. That would seem kind of logical.

And don't kick them! (It's never sensible to row with anything that out weighs you two to one or has more teeth than the entire osmond family)

Seriously though, if they bother you that much buy a little can of shark billy (Don't think it's that expensive) and if you panic or something, just rip it open.

(Shark Billy = shark repellant)

[trails surfing]

human blood does not attract sharks.

[Dec]

Yea..thats true! Also they cant actually taste (or smell or wateva they do) a drop of blood in a kilometer like the documentaris say! The dudes at mythbusters sorted that one!


So..if you see a shark, lift you feet up, be calm, and paddle back into the shore!

I dont really feel that going out of your way not to wear grey or red or yellow, or watever it is, is really going to help. If its your day, its your day!!

[baldie]

Seriously though, if they bother you that much buy a little can of shark billy (Don't think it's that expensive) and if you panic or something, just rip it open.

(Shark Billy = shark repellant)

What is Shark Repellant??? I've never heard of them. How does it work???

[baldie]

human blood does not attract sharks.

Are you for real??? I'm really not sure about that. It's kinda hard to believe after all these time what people are saying. If it's ture, I will feel like a fool... hahaha..

But anyway, I always put 100% water proof band-aid on all my wounds before going out to the Ocean. I didn't want the sharks to smell my blood, just want to play safe...

[trails surfing]

in know it sounds lame but i also watched that mythbusters episod and they had two lemon sharks in a small tank, one of them cut thier finger and let the blood drop in the tank. the sharks noticed the blood in the tank, just as quickly as they noticed the blood they stopped caring. then they took a daed fish and cut that and let the blood drop in at the sharks went nuts. the distance a shark is said tobe able to smell blood is not true, human blood is not part of the usual diet.

on another note. i saw something on the news when i was at work about shark repellant. what i got from it was that it's a chemical that bilds up in the body of a decaying shark. correct me if i'm wrong.


HUMANS ARE NOT ON THE MENU!!!

[Stone Fox]

Lemon sharks... right.

What a stupid study.

They can 'mythbust' all they like, but the proven reality is Sharks DO attack people. Not often, because we're not their natural food, but they DO bite, and they CAN smell our blood.

As for the shark billy, you're right - it's extract of dead shark.

[Dec]

Gues wat I forgot to mention?!?!, sharks ARE atracked to your pee! It has the same chemical make up as blood, therefore, if you pee in the water, its the same as having an open wound!!!

[baldie]

Lemon sharks??? what are they??? Why Lemon Sharks???

I don't know about the result of the Mythbuster that human blood won't attract sharks. They should have tested on Great White sharks or Tiger sharks instead. Cut themselves and jump into the water. Lets see if their blood will attract the Great White or not... hahaha...