[Paddlewise] Shark Attack folo

A brief addendum for those of you who follow shark attacks;  the Sydney
Morning Herald reports the latest case under the headline: Shark Attack
Survivor's Encounter with a Load of Old Bull

A play on the probable family name of the attacker, a bull shark,  member of
the Carcharhinus leucus, or whaler grouping.

The SMH goes on to describe the bull shark as having a stout body, serrated
teeth in the upper jaw,  grey to light brown above and pale below, sometimes
with pale stripe on flank. Grows to about 3.4 metres.

Eats fish, turtles, birds, molluscs, dolphins; in fact 'almost anything'.
Because of this lack of a discriminating diet, and its fondness for
estuaries,  the Australian Museum considers the bull, 'the most dangerous
shark in the world'.

I wonder how folks who have encountered great whites would regard that
statement.

Perhaps the key factors here for kayakers are:

1/ the bloke was 'attacked' at around 7.15 p.m , local daylight saving time,
around dusk.

2/ Recent flooding rains made local waters murky,  but brought more fish out
of the smaller creeks into the bigger rivers and estuaries.

3/ The bloke's kayak was YELLOW,  and it was what I would describe as a
glass fibre river boat, not a sit on top.

4/ So perhaps colour is not a key safety issue.  Or perhaps it is with
certain types of shark. It is hard to imagine that the bull shark mistook a
large yellow kayak for a fish.

Peter Rattenbury, Wollongong, Australia





***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed
here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire
responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author.
Submissions:     PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net
Subscriptions:   PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************