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ramonmercado AKA Dora Kaplan Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Total posts: 7414 Location: Dublin Gender: Male |
 Posted: 15-02-2006 18:11 Post subject: World Shark Attacks Dipped In 2005 Part Of Long Term Trend |
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| Quote: | World Shark Attacks Dipped In 2005 Part Of Long Term Trend
Surfers were the most frequent victims, accounting for 29 incidents, followed by swimmers and waders, 20, and divers, four.
by Staff Writers
Gainesville FL (SPX) Feb 14, 2006
Assertive and even aggressive human behavior could explain why shark attacks worldwide dipped last year, continuing a five-year downward trend in close encounters with the oceanic predators, new University of Florida research suggests.
Greater safety precautions and in-your-face responses to confrontations with sharks went a long way in reducing the total number of attacks from 65 in 2004 to 58 in 2005 and fatalities from seven to four, said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File housed at UF’s Florida Museum of Natural History.
In contrast, there were 78 shark attacks — 11 of them fatal — in 2000, the all-time high record year for attacks since statistics were kept, he said.
There also were simply fewer sharks to attack people, a result of a decline in populations caused by overfishing of the carnivorous creature, which generally is slow to reproduce, Burgess said.
“It appears that humans are doing a better job of avoiding being bitten, and on the rare occasion where they actually meet up with a shark, are doing the right thing to save their lives,” he said.
In one such case, a surfer bitten by a great white shark off the Oregon coast on Dec. 24 had the presence of mind to drive it away with a well-timed punch to the nose, he said.
“That gentleman did precisely what he should do under those circumstances,” Burgess said. “A person who is under attack should act aggressively toward the shark and not follow the advice given to women who are having their purses snatched in New York City, which is to lie on the ground, play dead and give up the purse.”
Despite the worldwide decline, the number of attacks in the United States rose slightly, from 30 in 2004 to 38 in 2005. But that is still considerably lower than the recorded high of 52 in 2000, he said.
The same pattern emerged in Florida, the U.S. shark attack capital, where the number of attacks increased from 12 to 18 but was still well below the 2000 record of 37, he said.
The 2004 numbers were the lowest in more than a decade, however, and were probably due to Florida’s unusually active hurricane season, which kept people out of the water, he said.
In addition to last year’s 38 U.S. attacks, Burgess tracked 10 in Australia, four in South Africa and one each in the Bahamas, St. Martin, Mexico, Fiji, Vanuatu and South Korea.
Compared with previous years, the number of attacks in Australia was relatively high last year and in 2004, when there were 12, prompting some people to call for the installation of nets to barricade sharks from beaches, Burgess said. But the per capita rate of shark attacks has not risen over the past century, with apparent increases coinciding with a rise in population and Australia’s growing attraction to tourists in recent decades, he said.
The number of shark attacks at any particular time depends on a variety of factors, including oceanographic and meteorological conditions, abundance of prey items, and very important, the amount of time people spend in the water, he said.
“We need to remember there have been huge changes in how humans use the water over the last 20 to 30 years,” Burgess said. “When our parents and grandparents went into the water, they maybe wiggled their toes, or if they were very daring, jumped in and swam. People of our generation are surfing, diving, sail boarding, scuba diving, skin diving and engaging in all kinds of activities.”
Of this year’s four fatalities, two were in Australia, one in the Indo-Pacific island of Vanuatu and one in the United States.
The U.S. attack occurred June 25 along Florida’s Gulf Coast, when 14-year-old Jamie Daigle was attacked by a bull shark while swimming off Sandestin. It was the state’s first death from a shark attack in four years. Two days later, also in the Florida Panhandle, 16-year-old Craig Hutto lost his right leg to a shark while fishing in waist-deep water off Cape San Blas.
Five of the state’s 18 shark attacks last year occurred along Florida’s Gulf Coast, which is a greater proportion to the Atlantic coast than previous years, Burgess said. “It’s unusual to have only 13 attacks on the state’s eastern coast,” he said.
Elsewhere in the United States, five attacks occurred in South Carolina, four each in Texas and Hawaii, three in California, two in North Carolina and one each in New Jersey and Oregon.
Surfers were the most frequent victims, accounting for 29 incidents, followed by swimmers and waders, 20, and divers, four.
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| Heckler20 The Sockpuppet of
Cthulhu's Prodigal Son Joined: 16 Jul 2004 Total posts: 3492 Location: In the Nostril of The Crawling Chaos Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 15-02-2006 18:15 Post subject: |
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Could be also that the meat is getting too fatty for the Shark's palate?  |
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rynner2 What a Cad!
Great Old One Joined: 13 Dec 2008 Total posts: 3896 Location: Under the moon Gender: Male |
| Posted: 28-10-2009 13:01 Post subject: |
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Tourists in Australia warned of 6m 'monster' shark
Tourists holidaying in the Australian state of Queensland have been warned to stay out of the water by authorities who fear a giant six metre-long shark might be prowling the coast.
Published: 7:00AM GMT 27 Oct 2009
Concerns were raised after a 3m great white shark was found dead with two huge bites taken out of its body.  Experts believe the bites were made by an even larger predatory fish.
Swimmers have been warned to stay out of the waters off Stradbroke Island, north of Brisbane.
"It certainly opened up my eyes. I mean the shark that was caught is a substantial shark in itself," Jeff Krause of Queensland Fisheries told the Sydney Daily Telegraph.
Surfers have reacted to the news of the shark attack with shock.
"Whatever attacked and took chunks out of this big shark must be massive," said Ashton Smith, 19. "I've heard about the big one that's lurking out there somewhere.
"We're all being very, very cautious."
Australia is entering summer, a period of the year when shark attacks on humans increase because of the higher number of swimmers in the ocean.
The country's most popular beaches are protected by nets and what are known as drumlines - a series of baited hooks that hang from buoys placed in a line about 500 yards from the shore. However, neither guarantee that sharks cannot get through.
Since the net and drumline programme was introduced in Queensland there has been only one fatal attack on a protected beach.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/6442974/Tourists-in-Australia-warned-of-6m-monster-shark.html |
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| McAvennie_ OBE Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Total posts: 1188 Location: High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire Age: 30 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 29-10-2009 22:57 Post subject: |
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The mammoth shark images...
Do people think it was shark-on-shark crime or could it have been a boat propeller? Photoshop shenanigans?
Have to say the images looked pretty convincing. |
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| feen5 Don't tread on any mines Joined: 09 Feb 2004 Total posts: 1221 Age: 36 Gender: Male |
| Posted: 30-10-2009 13:52 Post subject: |
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| If it is real, and not photoshopped, i take it as a good sign that shark conservation (white shark at least) is working. 6m white sharks maybe a rarity nowadays but not in the past. Hunting has seen the average adult shark size been dramatically reduced over the past 50 years. 20 or 30 years ago a magnificant shark like this 6m one would probably have been killed. |
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| theyithian Keeping the British end up
Joined: 29 Oct 2002 Total posts: 8185 Location: At the sharp end Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: 07-11-2009 23:46 Post subject: |
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| McAvennie_ wrote: |
Do people think it was shark-on-shark crime... |
Tough on Shark; Tough on the causes of Shark. |
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