# Fact & Fiction about Sharks



## Rosemary (Feb 6, 2006)

*Swimming with dogs attracts sharks*:  Quite possible. Not being an equatic animal, a dog in the water behaves in a different way from that of a shark’s usual prey.  Any unusual behaviour will attract a shark’s attention because they are inquisitive by nature.

*Swimming at dawn or dusk is a more dangerous time*:  True.  Sharks take advantage of periods when animals slow down and/or go to sleep, which tends to coincide with dawn and dusk.

*Sharks attack humans because on surfboards we look like turtles.*  True.  Moreover, scuba divers, with their black wetsuits and fins, resemble  seals – and so occasionally get bitten by animals that feed on seals.

*Sharks sense fear.*  Not quite.  It’s behaviour that attracts the shark’s attention.  If that behaviour changes – say, frenzied splashing – then that is what could attract a shark.

*Punching a shark is a good idea.*  Maybe.  It might however stimulate the shark to attack you.

*A shark only attacks because it is territorial, not because it is hungry.*  Unknown.  It’s unproven whether an unprovoked shark attack is food motivated, territorial or because the sharks are disturbed while in the breeding season.  Many species of sharks are transient by nature and are unlikely to attack over territory.  The majority of bites suffered by humans are singular and raking, suggesting it wasn’t food motivated.  
   There are cases where people have been eaten and you would have to say that was food motivated.

*Wearing shiny jewellery in the water could be dangerous because the sharks mistake the reflections in the water for the scales of fish*.  Possibly true.  A woman had her hand taken off in the Swan River near Perth, Western Australia.  It was attributed to the fact that she had jewellery on her wrist and fingers.


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## Alexa (Feb 7, 2006)

Interesting. However, punching a shark it will never cross my mind.


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## direghost (Feb 7, 2006)

it would mine.  I want to meet a shark , in fact, just so I can punch it in the nose and see if that works.

...

of course, I'm thinking like a baby shark, perhaps half a meter long and without his mouth full of sharp jaw-y death.


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## weaveworld (Feb 7, 2006)

*not alot of sharks in bonnie Scotland but interesting facts Rosemary, thanks for sharing*


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## Rosemary (Feb 7, 2006)

I know I am always trying to find out about other countries.  It is nice to be able to read them here at the Forums. 

I thought there might be a few people who would be interested...


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## Brian G Turner (Feb 7, 2006)

Rosemary said:
			
		

> *Punching a shark is a good idea.*



Apparently, if you can, a good blow to the eyes can be helpful, though not necessarily practical for everyone.

I got to read a lot about shark attacks as a kid.


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## Rosemary (Feb 7, 2006)

Give me a *very* long pointed stick and I might poke it in the eye!


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## kyektulu (Feb 7, 2006)

*I must also confess that I would not even consider punching a shark if one was staring me in the face, maybe a little frenzied limb movements... 
 Would that even work with the water slowing you down?
 I bet it would, at the very least, lessen the impact.

One of my own sharky thoughts:
It does get to me when you hear in the news that people have been attacked by a shark. People seem to forget that the sea is the sharks territory and splashing around like a wounded fish will only make the shark think that you are a free meal. Unbelievably people are suprised when there are reports of shark attacks, I would personally think people would be aware of the dangers before venturing in shark infested waters and if they do so realise what the consiquences could be.
*


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## direghost (Feb 8, 2006)

Yeah you would think that, but land is spiders and snakes and bears territory, and people still get grumpy when they get bit by one of those on land as well.


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## Marky Lazer (Feb 8, 2006)

Better one shark in the sea than ten biting in your arse


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## Rosemary (Feb 10, 2006)

Marky Lazer said:
			
		

> Better one shark in the sea than ten biting in your arse


How true Marky!


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## PERCON (Mar 13, 2006)

Imagine someone breaking into your house and you only being able to stand there and watch. Personally, I'd expect them to attack me if I went into their 'home'. People should realise what they're doing before they do it.

Sharks are a lot more intelligent than given credit for. For one thing, a good indication of their intelligence is that they share the curiosity us humans have, they usually investigate an 'invader' in several stages. First is usually a distant look. Second is a closer look if the shark feels comfortable about the situation. Third is usually a bump or knock. At this stage the shark may swim off, this is usually the case. However it's possible that the shark thinks the 'invader' is a threat and will attack. The attack will depend on the shark, of course an attack by a Great White lasts about a second and you won't know what's hit you. The Great White is my favourite shark because of it's many behavioural mysteries.

As for the punch on the nose, it does work. Sharks use a type of electromagnetic sense, there are receptors in the nose, it will put off the shark by practically blinding this 'sixth' sense. Of course if the shark really wants to eat you, the tap on the nose will probably be too late as the mouth will be open by then. Also, if you're unlucky enough to get caught up in a feeding frenzy you don't stand a chance. Imagine one person loudly insulting a football team whilst standing amoungst the fans, not going to be very pretty.

Sorry about the HUGE amount of writing I got a bit carried away with the sharkiness.

_*PERCON*_


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## jackokent (Mar 13, 2006)

Nice to hear from another shark lover.  I was also given to understand that most attacks are acidents or "tasting" incidents.  After all I guess if a big one wanted to eat you, it would, but many people do get away. I understand there is concern that overfishing could however, drive them to seek out other food sources... us.

I have swam with little ones but they certainly didn't seem interested in coming close enough to get a punch in the nose.  

I've read that chances of being killed by a shark attack are in the regoin of one in a billion.  So it doesn't give me sleelpless nights.  There is far more chance of winning the lottery and it never occurs to me I'll do that either.


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## Brian G Turner (Mar 14, 2006)

It's also worth pointing out that shark attacks are very rare - they capture our imagination, but I guess some tidgy spider biting someone and them dying isn't so dramatic, though it's far far more common.


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## Adasunshine (Mar 14, 2006)

I said:
			
		

> It's also worth pointing out that shark attacks are very rare - they capture our imagination, but I guess some tidgy spider biting someone and them dying isn't so dramatic, though it's far far more common.


 
You just had to go and use the spider example.....

*shudders violently and starts looking round frantically for spiders*

I hate spiders, irrational fear of mine, it's the one reason I will never visit Oz, which is a shame because it looks rather lovely out there but the spiders put me off big time!

On Topic: Yes shark attacks are extremely rare although are becoming more common and sharks are now being seen where normally they weren't, Cornwall for example.  I shan't be going into the sea anymore either!!!!

xx


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## Marky Lazer (Mar 14, 2006)

I'm not going in the sea anyway! Swimming is evil ^_^


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## Rosemary (Mar 16, 2006)

Not sure how you worked out that swimming was evil, Marky?  


Ada - don't worry about the spiders over here.  Most of them are more frightened of humans...


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## Quokka (Apr 10, 2006)

Sharks attacking surfers due to the seal-like silhouette is still very debatable, studies with dummies etc on boards have gotten very little result. The behaviour of attacking a seal from below is largely specific to sharks feeding where the conditions make it a very successful tactic. Plus most larger sharks eye sight is not very good so it may still come down to smell, taste and the persons movements etc as much as anything else.

As I think other people have mentioned the majority of shark attacks involve one bite, they explore unknown (ie possible edible/threatening) things the same way as most creatures... they just dont have hands.

And along with what Kyketulu posted, I think rosemary will agree that when people have been attack by a great white in Australia (a protected animal) they are often the first ones to say that they dont want to see the animal killed unless it stays near shore and poses a continuing threat to other swimmers. Like you said Kyk we are the visitors.

Another thing to keep in mind is most of this is in relation to the larger breeds such as great white/ bullnose etc. Sharks encompase a huge range of animals and as such a huge range of behaviours.

Percon (and anyone else), If your interested in Great Whites and haven't already heard about the studies into satilite tagging and behaviours/migration I recommend you do. There's some really interesting results coming out including migration between Australia, South Africa and America. Two seperate studies on Great Whites dubbed _Bruce_ and_ Nicole_ are a good start.

Few movies if any have had such a large and ongoing affect on people as _Jaws_ and Spielberg has on several occasions said that he has some regrets over his role in instilling the fear of sharks on people.

Sorry for another long post but as Ive mentioned once before, Ive been lucky enough to cross off alot of my 'to do' list in the last few years and a cage dive with great whites is starting to get right up there near the top  .


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## polymath (Apr 10, 2006)

When I was in the Maldives there were loads of little (1 or 2 foot long) black tip sharks, cute little fellers to be honest, absolutely no danger at all. Then when I was snorkelling I saw a five or six footer (still not a danger, black tips don't attack humans that I know of) and even though I 'knew' it wasn't a bother, I still thought 'Shark!" Very strange feeling!


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## kyektulu (Apr 10, 2006)

Marky Lazer said:
			
		

> I'm not going in the sea anyway! Swimming is evil ^_^


*
No....

I love swimming, one of my dreams is to swim with dolphins and sharks....*


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## weaveworld (Apr 10, 2006)

*The only sharks I've seen where at the Sea Life centre in Blackpool and when we under the tunnel, there was a big shark lying on the top of it, and you could see because it was see through, I was abit scared! I knew the glass couldn't break but.....

*


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## YOSSARIAN (Apr 10, 2006)

Candygram...


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## Marky Lazer (Apr 10, 2006)

If we were meant to swim, we wouldn't have lungs.


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## Quokka (Apr 10, 2006)

Marky Lazer said:
			
		

> If we were meant to swim, we wouldn't have lungs.


 
Maybe we outa let the dolphins and whales in on that


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## YOSSARIAN (Apr 10, 2006)

Freshwater swimming is fine (and also shark-free), but most of the time I'll pass on taking a dip in the ocean or in a chlorinated pool.


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## Marky Lazer (Apr 10, 2006)

Quokka said:
			
		

> Maybe we outa let the dolphins and whales in on that


Those _fish _just need to make up their minds already.


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## Quokka (Apr 10, 2006)

Marky Lazer said:
			
		

> Those _fish _just need to make up their minds already.


 
Linking back to the global warming/ rising sea level thread.... we might want to keep our options on that one open as well.


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## Paige Turner (Apr 10, 2006)

I punched a shark once.

Well, replace "punched" with "insulted," and replace "shark" with "Jehovah's Witness," and you get the idea. It was still pretty scary.


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## cornelius (Apr 10, 2006)

Marky Lazer said:
			
		

> Those _fish _just need to make up their minds already.


 
whales and dolphins walking in the streets... right


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## jackokent (Apr 10, 2006)

YOSSARIAN said:
			
		

> Freshwater swimming is fine (and also shark-free), but most of the time I'll pass on taking a dip in the ocean or in a chlorinated pool.


 
Not always shark free, bull sharks go up fresh water rivers and are responsible for deaths.  They think many go unrecorded.


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## Brian G Turner (Apr 10, 2006)

YOSSARIAN said:
			
		

> Freshwater swimming is fine (and also shark-free), but most of the time I'll pass on taking a dip in the ocean or in a chlorinated pool.


 
Bull sharks are responsible for a heck of a lot of nasty attacks.


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## YOSSARIAN (Apr 11, 2006)

Candygram...


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## Paige Turner (Apr 11, 2006)

YOSSARIAN said:
			
		

> Candygram...



Candygram? I LOVE candy! Come on in.


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