Shark Killing as a Precaution

[Rule3]

We be talking at the public beach, not 40-100 miles offshore.
Just don't like like a big fat seal or whatever local prey is

Never swim in fresh water in Florida or a Gator will eat you. Stay out of fresh water anywhere as you get amoeba disease and die.

Yes, I used to dive over the reefs in the Keys. The Barracuda scared me more than Sharks. Cudas are just all of sudden there! They are invisible when looking straight at you.

How many shark attacks/deaths are reported on all of the Gulf Coast beaches??

I stand a better chance of death going to WalMart at night.

 

[COL Jagdog]

The reality is, where we dive here in Ca the water is usually not crystal clear. We are around sharks fairly often, yet we just do not see them. We rarely can see beyond 20-25 feet laterally in the water. GWS are dirty water hunters. Plain and simple, it's not easy to hide 2000lb of fish, so they use dirty water as camoflauge. They are ambush predators, and they do not often know what they are hitting when they come in for a shot. They simply try the Pepsi taste test, and if you are chosen, you will be lucky to survive a solid hit.
Once they bite you, then they decide whether or not they are going to eat you. In most cases, humans do not represent their intended target, so they just pass on coming back to finish you off. (Imagine when you are expecting a nice cold beer, and you take a swig of a soda. INSTANTLY, your taste buds say 'What the hell is this???!!' Well, when a GWS is expecting the blubber of a seal, and they get a mouth full of surfer or diver, they spit them out and move on.
FWIW, I have been in the water, and not seen a shark, yet my dive partner will rush to the boat and start yelling 'Get OUT' because they saw a white shark following me........
Now: Tigers, bull sharks are very different in 1 way. They are man EATERS. They will swim right up to a person, and start feeding. No Pepsi taste test. Just swimmer buffet. When a pair of 6ft bulls just waltz right up to you and start ramming you taking turns before they light you up, you start to get a real good understanding about what is gonna go down in a few seconds.
Likewise, when a tiger that runs 10-16ft rolls in and starts corraling you, he will intentionally cut between you and the boat, and makes no bones about swimming to you face first, and does not mind much if you hit him. In fact, like a kinky chick, I get the feeling they like it when you play rough with them. Makes 'em appreciate the meal they are looking to get. And for the record, all 3 of these species love to use diry water to their advantage. Stay hidden until they want to blast you.

Have a nice swim kids!!

Good post -- I have only seen one Great White -- from a boat -\having surfed and been a scuba diver since I was 12, I have seen many bull sharks, a few tigers, lots of of blacktips, a few white tips, many hammerheads. They are for the most part ambush hunters although bulls are particularly aggressive, especially in the Gulf Coast area, and tigers as well. The Great hammerhead (which in the Gulf may approach 14 ft in length, I have seen many 12-footers) is also a very aggressive shark, particularly if one is spearing fish. They will also "cordon" their prey -- once it happens to you, you gain a lot of respect for hammerheads.

Problem with carrying a powerhead (bang stick) -- when surfing or body surfing or body-boarding, just impractical,(where do you carry it?) plus the first "hit" is usually an ambush hit -- so it is not like you had time to sense or see the shark and take defensive action. Plus, you are spending your time watching the wave sets and other surfers/body boarders as you vie for waves. Same thing for swimmers that get hit, usually they do not know the attack is about to happen. Diving is different as you are underwater and often will see sharks as they approach and have time to react -- pull your powerhead off your tank where it is mounted, pull the safety pin out and be ready -- and there are "shark sticks" -- very hard dense plastic with studs on the end (kind of like a small bat with nails sticking out the end) that can be used to fend off a shark, often very successfully. But almost any diver who has spent any time in the water has been surprised by a big shark that the diver did not sense or see --
I remember one dive when I felt a surge of water from behind-
and just as I did a half-flipper turn, saw a large hammerhead that had materialized out of nowhere (visibility 50 - 70 ft).
Have been "stirred" but never "shaken" or "taken" (to paraphrase James Bond).

Wanna be involved in water sports -- you take your chances.

Just like teal hunting down here (which ends tomorrow) -- have to be careful of water moccasins in both rice fields and the marsh -- and if you hunt in the marsh for teal (we don't), do not bring your dog unless you want to risk him to an alligator. Alligator season is in full swing -- we wait until the first good frost (40 degrees or lower) to bring dogs into the marsh blinds during big duck season. Simple fact -- know and understand your environment and acknowledge the risks or "stay out of the kitchen".

Of course, my friends tell me that the reason that sharks have passed on biting me is a matter of professional courtesy -- being a lawyer and all.

 

[BearBio]

Years ago, there was a sci-fi story about a man who did everything he could to prevent death from reaching him (filtered air, didn't carry metal in lightning, etc)==he lived to be 101....and discovered he had died years ago.

Eliminate some sharks when it becomes a problem but Hell, we got more people than sharks.

Sorry...maybe I'm a throwback but I like knowing there are things out there that could and would scarff me down in an instant. I've hunted in grizzly country, I've swam with sharks (not intentionally!)==My profession has taught me that man is not the top of the food chain! Live with it!

We had a saying in grad school (My bachelor's was in Marine Bio): Marine biologists end up as shark sh==, ecologists end up as bear sh==.