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/ ***************************************************************************
--- Peter Rattenbury <ratten_at_uow.edu.au> wrote: snipping>>> > 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. snipped<<< I recall reading last year that the color yellow is actually an attractor for shark. This was after one of the high-profile east-coast US shark attacks that happened along our mid-Atlantic. Can anyone confirm or corroborate this? Jennifer (who paddes a RED boat with a RED pfd, because I haven't seen a bull in the ocean yet. Hmmmm?) Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
> From: Jennifer Pivovar <kayak_at_headwinds.org> > I recall reading last year that the color yellow is > actually an attractor for shark. This was after one > of the high-profile east-coast US shark attacks that > happened along our mid-Atlantic. Can anyone confirm > or corroborate this? Read where? This "theory" crops up on various paddling, surfing and diving lists from time to time (any lists that involves getting into the water... we love our monster stories :-) Sometimes the rumor evolves to include other colors or combinations of colors. Makes gear manufacturers really happy to oblige those who hunt for the colors sharks "avoid." There is no conclusive evidence that supports the yellow preference myth. I was told by a retailer that more yellow kayaks are sold than any other color (yellow is especially popular with rentals). If the color yellow for kayaks isn't number one, it's awfully close. Taking that into consideration, you'd think that if the above rumor was correct, there'd be shark attacks on kayaks happening all over the place. It simply isn't the case. As a matter of fact, it's extremely rare for *any* color kayak. Cheers, Jackie *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Jennifer said: <snip> I recall reading last year that the color yellow is actually an attractant for shark. This was after one of the high-profile east-coast US shark attacks that happened along our mid-Atlantic. Can anyone confirm or corroborate this? --------------------- We had a victim badly hurt after being attacked in a park by a mugger recently. The poor sod was wearing a yellow rain jacket. Was the attacker motivated by the yellow. I don't think so. It was simple opportunity. Popular wisdom suggests there is a connection, but all the information Jackie has sent to us over the years, suggest otherwise. However, North Americans continue to hold strong convictions about shark attacks and the color yellow. We do have our strong convictions on this continent, don't we? Our respective Founding Fathers had strong convictions too. But then, so did the Australians, originally -- most were sent there with a number of strong convictions! :-) Anyway, those poor Aussies. First they get a major drought with fires, then copious rain and swollen, muddy rivers. Doug Lloyd *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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