A few days ago, this happened. <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/13/cape-town-giant-shark-attack" target="_blank">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/13/cape-town-giant-shark-attack</a> <BR> <BR>Note where they said it happened. I used to tell people about this shark attack in South Africa where a colossal great white killed an elderly woman. Here's that news story. <BR> <BR><a href="http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/200806413249243" target="_blank">http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/200806413249243</a> <BR> <BR>I had a feeling the sharks were one and the same, so I did some more digging and found this article about the same attack,just with a little more detail. <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&amp;click_id=13&amp;art_id=qw11 00501821845B262" target="_blank">http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&amp;click_id=13&amp;art_id=qw11 00501821845B262</a> <BR> <BR>My initial suspicions were right, in that it was likely the same beach where the elderly woman died. The chances of there being multiple giant great whites at the same area aren't too big. <BR> <BR>Ironically, the shark watchers that were stationed to warn people about sharks coming in were posted up following the death of the elderly woman. <BR> <BR>Hello Jaws.

The second article said a surfer died in 2003 and another lost his leg in the same area...

Actually, the chances that there are multiple large White Pointers in the area is very high. Those sharks have a very large range (like thousands of miles) and while they will frequent an area for a period of time (ie. a seal colony), they are constantly on the move. In a place like South Africa where the seal population is like it is the white shark population is huge, and they are all pretty well fed. The famous Seal Island is approximately 50 miles from this Fish Hoek Bay. <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.fishhoek.com/sharks.htmL" target="_blank">http://www.fishhoek.com/sharks.htmL</a> <BR> <BR>Shark encounters are incredibly common, it takes someone to get eaten for them to be reported. Check this site for shark encounters on the Pacific Coast. I saw one fishing off Huntington Beach once, damn thing was over 20 feet, crazy! <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/pacific_coast_shark_news.htm" target="_blank">http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/pacific_coast_shark_news.htm</a>

The shark "accident" a few days ago was during bad water vis. Sharks do not attack humans as we do not provide enough nutrition, for the amount of energy exerted. Hence why most of the time the person lives. More than 80% of the shark bites are not fatal. They do cause a heck of a lot of damage though. It is also juveniles that you need to worry about more than a full sized shark, as they are more aggressive, and more likely to test bite. <BR> <BR>Since I scuba dive in the red triangle (Who wants to go and dive the Farralon Island's?(Some of the best diving in NorCal) I have studied pretty much every shark incident in CA and how the whites seek their prey. There is a reason surfers and swimmers are the ones that accidentally get hit every now and again. Staying out of the water at dawn and dusk helps too, as that is when the white sharks feed. <BR> <BR>Read this for Marco Flagg from Desert Star Systems got struck underwater, which is incredibly rare. Worries me since I often scooter dive. Make sure to read the sharks rebuttal at the end. BTW Over the New Year we did four dives at Lobos with two being in the exact spot Marco got hit. Oh and I do carry one of Marco's Sport Sonar units clipped off in my left pocket to re-find the boat in case I miss the anchor line. <BR> <BR><a href="http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&amp;friendID=662418 81&amp;blogID=247258036&amp;MyToken=7ff99b0a-aa36-478c-8573-0f02a24648d8" target="_blank">Marco Flagg incident</a>

megalodon must still be around

most shark attacks arent fatal but if you tangle with a great white your chances are very narrow for escape. Most sharks will ignore humans, but great whites will almost always attack. These sharks are giant man eaters and yes humans are on the menu. When I was in the caribbean when I was married, my wife and I went for a midnight swim one night. We were out doing it in the water lol and all of the sudden a pretty big shadow under the water appeared about 40 feet from us. Of course I through my wife toward the big shadow and swam for shore. Just kidding I let her go before me but I can tell you I was scared. It may not even have been a shark but in those situations your mind can run wild. I love the ocean but if I ever saw a great white while I was swimming I would poop my pants.<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/uhoh.gif" border=0>

"Of course I through my wife toward the big shadow and swam for shore." <BR> <BR>My GF in the background: what the hell is so funny? <BR> <BR>good one!

"great whites will almost always attack. These sharks are giant man eaters and yes humans are on the menu." <BR> <BR>I sure hope you were kidding about that one too. Especially since it is completely false information. <BR> <BR>BTW what the heck were you afraid of in the Caribbean? I love seeing sharks there. The reef sharks hunt at night. I should find the picture of me chasing a shark <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/proud.gif" border=0>

The only reason that I say its eerily possible that it's the same shark is because the incidents are nearly identical in how they occurred. Both were not cases of mistaken identity as the shark bit, liked it, and came back to finish the rest. Which is strange now matter how you look at it. <BR> <BR>I read a book called Meg when I was 10, and then the second one cameo out when I was 13, and I did a lot of shark research after the second one and learned a lot about what goes on with them. <BR> <BR>Although that was 8 years ago, so i think I may be a little rusty on facts. Hahaha. <BR> <BR>I once saw a massive dead shark floating belly up when I was on a cruise in the Caribbean. It was unreal. It was either a belly up shark or some kind of white whale that was dead. I just remember there being a chunk missing from one part. Looked like a ship hit it or something ate it...

Peter, Not kidding at all. Why do you think that shark experts swim with almost every species of shark except for the Great White? because the great White will attack them outside of a divers cage.

Flight, you have a lot to learn. Please do not make stuff up as it gives the White Shark a bad name. <BR> <BR>Funny cause I swim around them all the time. I just don't know they are there, but they know I am. <BR> <BR>One of the reasons they use cages is because they bait for the sharks to come in close. Of course they are going to be aggressive. Baiting was mostly banned recently. Whites attack at the surface and when they do it is because they mistake humans for pinnipeds. We do not have enough fat on our body to make it worth their while. They are an inquisitive creature though and will reach out and touch stuff...with their mouth. They are not trying to eat everything in sight though. <BR> <BR>BTW Bulls and Tigers kill more people per year. With Bulls being the most aggressive shark in both the ocean and in fresh water. They are known for being in rivers up to hundreds of miles from the ocean. Study up then come back with facts not gibberish. <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/4387/769304.jpg" alt="Upload">

I'm terrified of the idea of shark attacks but I also love the ocean. I usually limit myself to shoulder-deep water, but the first article says that's how deep the victim was when he was attacked. Looks like I won't be going in past my waist, now.

I know that beach well. My sister used to live there and my dad owned a restaurant in Fish Hoek. <BR>The surf normally sux but I have surfed there as well on occasions. The 2 oceans, Indian &amp; Atlantic, meet at Cape Point, about 5 miles up the coast. Fish Hoek is on the Indian Ocean side so therefore the water is much warmer there.In 40 years I can only recall one shark attack on the Atlantic side. <BR>When I was at school a teenage girl got attacked by a great white in Fish Hoek (she survived) and that story stayed with us for years. Seal Island is very near to there as well. <BR>If you consider how many Great Whites there are in False Bay (where the attack took place) the amount of shark attacks are relatively small. <BR>SA was one of the first,if not the first country, to make the Great Whites a protected species. It is illegal to hunt them. <BR>And contrary to peoples misconceptions Great Whites do NOT hunt people. <BR> <BR>If they did hundreds of miles of beach would be permanently closed in South Africa.

Surfed all the time near the mexican border, all the way north to Santa Cruz and everywhere in between. I once saw pictures of a high altitude image of surferes in the water, surrounded by 30 or so sharks....never even knew they were there. I keep that in mind. I have never been attacked, but but had an interesting encounter with a migrating grey whale!

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1><b>quote:</b></font><p>By Sly Park Mark (murrayair) on Saturday, January 16, 2010 - 12:02 am: <BR> <BR>I'm terrified of the idea of shark attacks but I also love the ocean. I usually limit myself to shoulder-deep water, but the first article says that's how deep the victim was when he was attacked. Looks like I won't be going in past my waist, now. <!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote> <BR> <BR>X2.... No joke, I get so anxious when I get in the ocean, it is tough for me to relax/enjoy. We spent a week in Kauai last November and I would swim daily....but the whole time I was checking out the water under me(like that would do any good)....

The key is to stay out the river mouths where the sharks feed and also were the vis is bad. That is when they mistake humans for prey. The worst place to be is in the surf at dawn and dusk when they are feeding. Of course that is also where swimmers and surfers like to spend most of their time. <BR> <BR>Think of dryfly fishing...a fish has a snap decision to take the bait or not. Once it takes the bait it only holds it a second or so before it realizes the bait is not food and spits it out. Same thing happens with sharks in low vis scenarios. Hopefully that analogy makes sense. <BR> <BR>BTW the last shark mistake on a human that I can remember on Kauai the girl was in less then 2 feet of murky water and she had her ankle bitten. Point being you either conquer your fears or just stay out of the water completely and leave it for those that can. <BR> <BR>Howie, "often" those shark like figures in the water are more commonly dolphins. We ran into a pod of about 40 of them a few weeks ago inside the Red Triangle. <BR> <BR>My neighbor growing up got hit hard by a GW, while body boarding, at Stinson Beach. He became someone we should all strive to be and even wrote a book called "Don't Fear the Shark", which is actually a kids book. Here is a quick blurb on him. <a href="http://www.marinij.com/ci_4305755" target="_blank">Victim turns experience of Stinson shark attack into lesson about life</a>

Yep. I thought so too, until they enhanced the photos and saw a vertical tail fin an all of them. I agree....sharks are just doing what evolution has programmed them to do. Its nothing personal, and if you know the feeding habits and areas to avoid, your chances of attack go from obscure to astronomical. Stinson has seen its share of GW along the shoreline, cant blame the sharks....lots of seals and fish around that area. <BR> Some of the best advice I got was from an Abalone Diver...if you see the seals getting out of the water for no good reason....there is probably a very good reason.

That is a great analogy Peter. Makes me miss the cold streams of the north. <BR> <BR>Never had a shark encounter but had a manatee encounter.

The ocean is so fascinating to me, but I am frightened by what I may run into if I were to dive. Besides that I am an asthmatic and I don't know how that might hinder a diving hobby. Something I've always wanted to do..

Barry it depends on how bad your asthma is. My ex had asthma, but had it under control with a daily dose of steroids. She uses an asthma inhaler before diving just to make sure. Now if you have to use an inhaler due to severe attacks, then it is worth staying on dry land. She noticed breathing got harder in about 85 feet of water (Or she got nervous with the depth when I took her to 95 feet on a wreck dive). Where as I can go to my max depth limit, per GUE standards on EANx32, of 100 feet with no issues. Honestly I can't tell the difference between over a hundred feet and 10 feet.

they are doing a show right now on the Great whites and the Faralon Islands on the NATGEO channel

This is for Flight who thinks GW's always attack. Video underwater shot by an urchin diver at the Farallon's without a cage all year long. <BR><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfyVbqS7W-M" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfyVbqS7W-M</a> <BR> <BR>Gotta love the quote "When the sharks are there, nobody else likes to dive there, but that is why I like it there, since it is such a quiet place". "The sharks help keep the crowds away".

Peter interesting video but the fact of the matter is most shark experts don't swim with great whites. You can always find the etreme guys who do these crazy things. Great whites usually attack from the bottom up. I just watched a show the other night where some teenagers were wakeboarding in Austraila. One of the kids jumped into the water and within seconds was bit in half by a great white. I guess the question is, would you let your kid swim if you knew there was a great white around? Not trying to argue with you I'm not an expert, but Ive seen enough footage to know i wouldn't want to be in the water with one.

Peter you are quite foolish to think you are safe swimming around a great white. Yes it's true they don't always attack, however do some studying and you will see that when they attack, it is without warning. If you are an expert in shark behavior, fine, but don't think because you "think" you know, that you are safe.

Dan - Seriously? Even you can't really believe that nonsense you posted. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0>

Lizzy you made me laugh<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/rofl.gif" border=0> BTW This Saturday night looks to be a pretty good UFC event. I know GSP isn't in it but just saying.

Are you sure it was a wakeboarder not a kiteboarder? A kiteboarder just got killed by a shark this month, but the shark was either a Bull Shark or a Tiger Shark not a Great White. <BR> <BR>I would also call an urchin diver an expert on Great White Shark behavior, over most shark scientists. It is one thing to study them, but it is a whole other to live with them. Someone who has been diving with them since 1978 on an almost daily basis definitely has balls, but has also "seen" hundreds of sharks pass by uneventful, let alone the ones he hasn't seen. <BR> <BR>Would I swim in the water having seen one? NO! Do I swim in the water when they are around? YES! All the time. As I said I dive in the Red Triangle and will continue to do so. The chances of an attack are about the same as being struck by lighting. We do not have lightening storms but maybe twice a year here. Surfers on the other hand are fly fishing...

Dan - You make me laugh too.. but that's probably not in a good way. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/proud.gif" border=0> <BR> <BR>I'm holding out for GSP vs. Hardy in March. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/lol.gif" border=0>

I was surfing about 15 miles south from where the kiteboarder got bit by the bull shark a couple weeks ago, the night before he got bit. After I paddled out a 5' spinner shark jumped out of the water about 50' from me. It was about an hour before sunset, so I called it a day. <BR> <BR>We surfed tonight from about an hour and a half before sunset till the sun just about went down, and it felt a little sharky but we didn't see any. Thankfully the water was really clear so we didn't feel too unsafe. <BR> <BR>I see sharks once in a while when diving around here, some come pretty close to you (10') but most stay away or stay just at the edge of visibility.

Peter no it was a great white and a wakeboarder 2 different events. i think it was about a year old. The crazy thing is they were pretty sure that the Great White was on it's way up in full attack mode when the guy in the water climbed into the boat and the other teen just happened to jump right into the path of the on coming shark. I mean if he would have just waited even 20 seconds it may not have happened.

Flight show me a link because I googled it and could not find anything.

It was a tv program I did not see it on the web.

Like I always say: <BR> " Every time you enter the ocean, you enter the food chain..... and we're no longer at the top"

I found Flights video. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XqRZdf4TYw" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XqRZdf4TYw</a> <BR> <BR>The Great White Shark is not at the top of the food chain either. Orca's are, and they happen to like the taste of shark liver. They even know to roll them onto their backs to put them in a catatonic state <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/crazy.gif" border=0> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uBFUumm3Dk" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uBFUumm3Dk</a>

I went diving with the great whites in S. Africa several years ago and it was very difficult to lure them into towards the cage. They seemed very docile but when they did strike the dummy seal it was very violent. Very cool experience. <BR> <BR>Here are some pics we snapped. <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/4387/775549.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/4387/775550.jpg" alt="Upload">

There is plenty of marine life that will kill you. Please stay out of the ocean. Thanks <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" border=0>

I heard Bull Sharks come up in the Delta.

<b>The Great White Shark is not at the top of the food chain either. Orca's are, and they happen to like the taste of shark liver.</b> <BR> <BR>I think that one of the single greatest nature vids I have ever seen is the one of the Orca's "body surfing" up in like 8 inches of water to get the seals, and then taking them into the waves and playing badminton with them.

I took my kids to seaworld last August and I had no idea how big the orcas were. One of them must have been 25 feet form head to tail. I had no idea.

Well Flight then you would down right blown away if you ever saw a full sized Blue Whale next to the boat, or even more common in our area a Humpback, or Grey Whale. They are massive compared to our little boats. Even the Risso Dolphin's are almost as big as my boat. I always enjoy going offshore and finding the largest mammals in the world. Although sometimes they come into the bays, and other times up into the Sacramento Delta. Too bad we almost hunted them to extinction and the Japanese are still working on hunting whales. <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.orienthq.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/305d.gif" target="_blank">CLICKY</a>

I would definitely agree with that Peter. My father &amp; I saw a blue whale off the east end of Catalina once, incredible! Same day we saw what looked to be a juvenile Orca. The ocean is an incredible frontier, I can think of no cooler place to explore. <BR> <BR>Here's a local pic from a couple years back. This Humpback was getting airborne in front of the Morro Rock. <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/4387/775627.jpg" alt="Upload">

great picture. I have caught some great fish right next to that rock in my day. Have also seen a handful of humpbacks in that area as well.