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White Sharks Shock California Lifeguards?

The Inquisitr‘s headline reads “Shark Drone Shock Lifeguards” 

They report:  “A new shark drone used by Southland lifeguards in California reveal shocking evidence of the number of sharks swimming near the shoreline at Seal Beach. It wasn’t something lifeguards there were prepared to see.”

Imagine the shock these lifeguards must have felt. Who knew that there were sharks in the water? Where have these guys been lifeguarding all their lives? At a pool?

Actually, when reading the article, you’ll find out that the lifeguards are perfectly capable and were not “shocked” by the drone footage. They write: “The Chief Seal Beach Lifeguard, Joe Bailey, tells CBS News Los Angeles  This morning, we launched it and 10 minutes later, we knew there were 10 to 12 sharks all in the Surfside [Beach] area”

The article further states: “Bailey loves the shark drone. It’s easy and safe for everyone to see where the creatures are and when to steer clear of them.

“It works great. It flies up about 100 feet, looks down a wide area, and when we see the shadows, we’ll go down and focus in on them.”

A juvenile Great White in waist-high water at Surfside was captured by the drone Monday morning. At the time, there weren’t any swimmers in the water.”

And here is my favorite part of Joe Bailey’s statement according to the Inquisitor “If we get bigger sharks or we get sharks that are aggressive, we’re actually going to close the water. But right now, we have sharks that are 5- to 6-feet long, non-aggressive, acting like normal sharks, feeding on bottom fish, doing exactly what we would expect them to do. That’s why we have it posted just to let people know that they are there.”

Great response Joe Bailey! No hype, no scaring anyone and promising a reasonable response, should there be any potentially dangerous sharks coming too close to swimmers. I believe that closing a beach for a period of time is the best response to the sighting of a potentially dangerous shark.

Overall a good article, if only they could find a headline that is not in direct conflict with the article. Maybe something like “Lifeguards NOT worried about white sharks swimming off the coast”? 

Read the entire article here

Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO Shark Diver

Shark Diver is running great white shark expeditions to Guadalupe Island from August – November, tiger shark dives in the Bahamas from April – November and bull shark trips to Fiji from May – June.

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.

17
Jun 2015
By Shark Divercalifornia lifeguard, good shark policy, stupid headlines, swimming with sharks, UncategorizedComments Off on White Sharks Shock California Lifeguards?

Shark attack, surfer kicking for his life?

Today’s headlines of a few Australian newspapers scream “Shark Attack In Australia Had Pro Surfer Ryan Hunt Kicking For His Life”,  “Top surfer who survives shark attack after kicking it in the head“
and Surfer undergoes surgery after shark attack near Old Bar, NSW. 

So what happened? Another surfer attacked by a great white shark? 

The reports are stating things like “A surfer survived a shark attack after kicking it in the head as he rode a wave. Ozzie Ryan Hunt, 20, was attacked by a shark while surfing at Wallabi Point in New South Wales. The beast went for his foot repeatedly during the terrifying incident at around 5.30pm, biting through the board.”
and “A shark attack in Australia had a young professional surfer named Ryan Hunt kicking for his life when the shark kept coming back for him in the waves.”

Wow, sounds like this guy was lucky and barely escaped with his life! Of course, after reading the reports a little more carefully, you get the real story. After writing the headline “Shark Attack in Australia Had Pro Surfer Ryan Hunt Kicking for his Life” the “Inquisitr” states  “The 20-year-old surfer says the shark attack occurred while he was surfing small waves at dusk. According to Hunt, he was “pretty unlucky to stand on the shark’s head” while at Wallabi Point, which is on the coast of New South Wales, Australia. Needless to say, the shark was not exactly pleased to have a human standing on its noggin.”

So the guy actually stepped on the sharks head, OK, still, pretty lucky to get away with his life after being bit by this “beast”.  How big was that beast?  Well, lets see what they say about the size. “I tried to kick it off and it bit down again and then it swam up between my legs. I had my hands trying to push down its head, it was about 10 inches wide.”

Wow, the head was 10 inches wide!!! Imagine a 10 inch wide shark coming at you, ……. well, never mind. Another typical hyped up headline. 

And how about the injuries sustained in this “terrifying” “attack”?

     
source

 
Granted, that’s a pretty good gash, but by reading the headlines, you’d expect much worse. As to calling this a shark attack, seems to me that the shark was just reacting to being stepped on the head.
Surfer attacks shark, would have been a more appropriate headline.

Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO Shark Diver





About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.

30
Oct 2014
By Shark Diverstupid headlines, UncategorizedComments Off on Shark attack, surfer kicking for his life?

Man attacks shark! Sharks are demanding “man cull” to mitigate the danger!

According to an article in the Daily Telegraph, a man was attacked by a wobegong shark. The article states that “Mr Porter had no advance warning when he was attacked.
“I had no idea what was happening — it just clamped on and that was the first I knew about it,” Mr Porter told The Daily Telegraph today. “It sort of bit through the flipper and went through to my foot.”Shark diving is fun. Diving with Great white shark. Swimming with Bull sharks, cage diving with Tiger sharks

Wait a second, the shark “attacked” Mr. Porter? Wobegong sharks are carpet sharks, that usually rely on their camouflage to hide from prey, so they can ambush it. So most likely what happened is that Mr. Porter stepped on the shark, which bit him in return.

Wouldn’t it be more accurate to have a headline that says “Port Macquarie shark bites man after being attacked by him”? Shark had no advanced warning, when Mr porter viciously stepped on it’s head!

Injuries caused by shark bite

And the injuries to the man you ask?  Here is a picture of the “severe” wound the “shark attack” has left on the “victim”

Now this type of human/shark interaction is really what I call worthy of newspaper headlines. There are thousands of people who step on a stingray each year and get stung in return, in some cases causing injuries more severe than the ones caused by this shark bite.  Do you recall any newspaper headlines describing those incidents? As soon as a shark is involved, there are headlines, it’s always characterized as an “attack” and it almost never states that it was provoked.

Where is the harm in having headlines like this? You may be aware of the shark cull that is going in Australia right now. It is mostly based on the public’s fear of sharks and has very little to do with actually protecting the people. Headlines like these, perpetuate that fear and can cause real harm, not only to the sharks, but the entire ocean Eco system in turn.

I know I’m banging my head a against a wall, but had to get this off my chest.

Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO
Shark Diver

 About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdivercom.

14
Mar 2014
By Shark Diverstupid headlines, UncategorizedComments Off on Man attacks shark! Sharks are demanding “man cull” to mitigate the danger!