> From: Bob Denton <BDenton_at_aquagulf.com> >> That was Ken Johnson of Corpus Christi. The shark bit the stern but >> I do not recall Ken stating there were teeth left in the kayak (I could > >be wrong, though). I only recall his stating there were teeth "marks." > > No, it was a guy in Pompano Beach. I've forgotten his name. Never read anything about it. Can you find the article? > I've been diving this area for the past five years and have seen all the > local sharks "eye to eye" The only sharks that are common in the area are > nurse, reef and bull sharks. All of them? There are also blacktips, blacknose, bonnetheads, lemmon and hammerheads among others which are frequently caught in the Florida bay areas according to the Mote Marine Laboratory tagging program. For a list of at least 60 difference shark species in the Gulf of New Mexico, see http://www.shark.ch/cgi-bin/w3-msql/mSQL/map.html?mdist_id=9513 > We have a lot of porpoises here in Delray, and it's easy to tell the > difference. As I said, I was only able to identify the shark after I rolled > up and got a good look at it. It was swimming in an area where incoming > crystal clear water (100' plus vis) was mixing with tannic Intracoastal > water so it would be clearly visible for 5 or 10 seconds, then disappear > into the murk, then return into the clear water. Originally, you said you rolled up and followed, for a while, what you thought was a dolphin and it wasn't until you saw a dorsal fin that you decided it was a shark (according to your original post). However, it's not important. My point is that even if it were a shark, the risk of attack would have been slim next to none. >> If it actually *were* a shark, statistcally, nothing. The vast majority >> of sharks are harmless. And attacks on humans are *extremely* rare among >> those that could be harmful. Millions of people go into the water every >> year, world-wide. However, there are only about 50-75 shark attacks >> reported annually world-wide with *maybe* 8-12 fatalaties (see >> http://www.mote.org/~rhueter/sharks/attacks.phtml ). > > Based on the 25 shark attacks already this year in Florida alone, I would > question those statistics. If you add South Africa, Australia and some of > the pacific islands, that would significantly increase those numbers. The article stated there had been 22 so far this year, 25 last year. The vast majority of attacks occurring in a particular area happen during the season when there will be the most number of swimmers in the water. Florida statistics are increased over other states due to the number of visitors/ swimmers and length of beach access (which means bountiful sea kayaking opportunities for you folks :-) However, if you have official statistics which contradict the official statistics provided by the International Shark Attack Files, I (as well as the Mote Marine Laboratories, I'm sure) would be very interested in those statistics. By the way, I'm pretty sure ISAF considers S Africa, Australia, and the Pacific Islands as part of the world and, therefore, includes those areas in their world-wide statistics. > As for my situation, I believe had I blown my roll, I would have been at > least bumped or possibly "tasted". I don't understand why you think this encounter would have resulted in a different outcome than all the other "eye to eye" encounters you had with "all the local sharks" when diving with them. btw, I'm quite aware we have spent a lot of time in the surf with them without incident... along with millions of other water enthusisasts), including in murky water which is what we mostly have nearshore along the entire coast of Texas due to the shallow slope. I would not assume I would have an incident if I were to fall out of my kayak near one (depending on species, falling *on* might be another matter, altogether 8-}. I think the shark would be scared out of its wits, rightfully so since millions of them are killed annually by us humans. > I used to wave ski in Cape Town, South Africa in the early 70s. The ecology > is almost identical to California. There were a lot of whites but very few > attacks because of the abundance of seals. Ok, I'm confused. So, which is it... that if South Africa were included in the attack statistics, the numbers would be much higher, or there are very few attacks in South Africa. ? Regards, Jackie *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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