Surfing Waves

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/15/us/suspe ... index.html

Apparently the bodyboarders were only 30 feet away from the shore.

I was surfing Rockaway this weekend and I saw group of fish swimming very fast and jumping out the water. It also looks like a dark shadow was chasing them so I was kinda worried that it would be sharks. If it was dolphins, I normally see their fins.

Looks like shark population is growing rapidly. Perhaps the Chinese are consuming less shark fin soup.

If surfing near a bite victim I would go for the rescue since I would already be in danger and unable to paddle away fast enough should the shark return.

According to the United States Lifesaving Association...

in the vast majority of cases, the shark will effect a bite, then leave the victim alone, well before the lifeguard could possibly intervene. Once injury has been inflicted to the victim, heavy bleeding is likely, so rescue from the water and immediate medical aid may be essential to victim survival.

https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.usla.org/resource/resmgr/Guidelines/USLA_Guideline_003_Shark_Bit.pdf

But with the bleeding, it will attract even more sharks and might trigger a feeding frenzy?

If there was a school of sharks this might be a concern. Certainly another shark might make the same mistake and bite a human instead of a seal

It would be hard for me to leave someone in trouble.

That's sad to hear. Cape Cod definitely has its share of sharks as this Nova doc (probably not viewable in all countries) shows.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/why ... ttack.html

BaNZ wrote:But with the bleeding, it will attract even more sharks and might trigger a feeding frenzy?

BaNZ!! C'mon, man! It's already extremely rare to be seriously attacked by a solitary shark, you think it is likely for it to happen and then signal even more into a feeding frenzy? You watch too many piranha movies Jokes aside, it's scary, but think of the hundreds of thousands of surfers who have been in that water for the last 80+ years without it happening. Aren't the more aggressive species of sharks more solitary anyway? You can't walk around wrapped in bubble wrap all the time (sad but true).

RinkyDink wrote:That's sad to hear. Cape Cod definitely has its share of sharks as this Nova doc (probably not viewable in all countries) shows.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/why ... ttack.html

at around 6:00 when the guy who was bitten in the arm starts to cry describing what it's like to have so much fear associated with something you absolutely love to do... ugh, tears.

RinkyDink wrote:That's sad to hear. Cape Cod definitely has its share of sharks as this Nova doc (probably not viewable in all countries) shows.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/why ... ttack.html

BaNZ, please don't watch this, buddy.

I've read about this attack, apparently there has been a huge increase in sea lions in the area (as well as significant increase in shark sightings.) It's the first fatal Cape Cod attack in around 80 years I believe, but the second attack in 1-2 months.

Generally speaking, we shouldn't be too worries about shark attacks, if you know you're not living in some sort of hot spot (on the left side of the page is a menu where you can drill down into geographic regions):
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark ... e-summary/

All the same, if I surfed in an area that had attacks on the rise I would avoid dawn and dusk, surfing in the rain, avoid river mouths, especially during or after rains, and not surf alone.

If I were surfing alone at river mouths during or after rain at dusk I would be careful to stay in shallow water and not splash around like a wounded fish

kookRachelle wrote:

RinkyDink wrote:That's sad to hear. Cape Cod definitely has its share of sharks as this Nova doc (probably not viewable in all countries) shows.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/why ... ttack.html

at around 6:00 when the guy who was bitten in the arm starts to cry describing what it's like to have so much fear associated with something you absolutely love to do... ugh, tears.

Yeah I felt for that guy. But you know, what would the odds be of him getting attacked by a shark again? Probably something astronomical. Still, there was that South African surfer who got attacked by two Great Whites simultaneously (another Nova doc ) so you never know. Kelp is your friend.

RinkyDink wrote:Yeah I felt for that guy. But you know, what would the odds be of him getting attacked by a shark again? Probably something astronomical.

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I don't know about that....I like the taste of salmon for instance. No coincidence at all that when I smell it I want to eat some. I don't care for mortadella. A sliced plate in the same room with me will stay untouched......also no coincidence.

Big H wrote:

RinkyDink wrote:Yeah I felt for that guy. But you know, what would the odds be of him getting attacked by a shark again? Probably something astronomical.

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I don't know about that....I like the taste of salmon for instance. No coincidence at all that when I smell it I want to eat some. I don't care for mortadella. A sliced plate in the same room with me will stay untouched......also no coincidence.

Yeah, I thought about that too. If you got attacked once, it might just be that sharks find your scent irresistable (akin to yum yum yellow) and in that case the general chance-of-attack probabilities go out the window.

I just met a guy who was bitten by a shark on a trip to the Tuamotu islands. He was on a surf trip on a sail boat. It was a lemon shark which aren't known for attacking and bit twice, once on each leg. He said he still had shark teeth in him and that he was fortunate they found a guy who had a medical kit to wrap him up and stop the bleeding and they got a nurse from a nearby island to come on a speed boat and take him back to an island with a doctor to sew him up (70 stitches and he showed me the scars) Apparently this was just a territorial issue. Didn't stop him from surfing although that was the last day of the trip.