Marina State Beach, Monterey County this AM. I know it’s off the topic of board building. Just wondering if any one heard about it? Who it was? Their condition etc. Was just up there and had a conversation with someone about the relative safety of that beach.
The only “facts” I have heard to date is he was a CSUMB student. Nobody I know by name. Bit on the lower back, buttocks area. It was a very bad bite. Air lifted to Stanford. The guy can use some prayers right now. I checked the Marina parking lot after work. The beach is closed. Full of our local “news” people. Mike
Thanks Mike. He will be in my prayers. My daughter goes to school there. She recently stopped surfing there because she said she didn’t feel safe. Surfs Carmel instead.
Hi McDing.
PMed you. Marina is a wide open raw beach as you know. I learned to never paddle out there if there were no other surfers. Learned that lesson the hard way. I’ve never surfed OBSF, but the descriptions resemble Marina. You think it’s head high, see a nice peak, paddle out and then the bombs come out of nowhere and your a mile down the beach. I hear the hang gliders see Whities all the time. When I get that ‘feeling’ around here I always get out of the water no matter how good the surf is. This time of year the ocean is on full volume in terms of wildlife. The bait moves in, the sardines follow, the seals and sea lions follow the bait, birds by the thousands diving, and Whitey. We are lucky to have it in all it’s splendor, but there is an occasional price to pay. "
We have a relatively small surf community. It hits home pretty hard when someone gets hurt or killed. Even if you didn’t really know them by name, you usually recognize the face. mike
Off topic as well, but on topic for being off topic…
http://surfermag.com/features/onlineexclusives/gwspaddlerace07/
I was eating sushi beside Vic (named in the article) right after this happened and he told me the whole story. The article does not do it justice. Not an actual attack but close enough to raise eyebrows in this area (Malibu/SM Bay), especially if you hunt/spear…
More info here -
http://forum.surfermag.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=1240754&an=0&page=0#Post1240754
this is a serious question:
does anyone know if he had a habit of peeing in his wetsuit?
Hope he makes a speedy reccovery!
First off, I hope he’s doing ok, and getting the great medical care that is needed.
Regarding the peeing in the wetsuit question:
I read a while back that a study was done with sharks in a tank. Honestly, can’t remember all the details or even the source, but maybe someone else here does. They found that when human urine was added to the tank, no reaction from the sharks. When herring urine was added, they went nuts. I took comfort from this, just wish I could cite a source for you.
Pat
The Monterey Herald stated he was in stable condition at a hospital in San Jose. He’s going to live. I don’t know much else except the water is closed for the time being. Mike
Quote:
They found that when human urine was added to the tank, no reaction from the sharks. When herring urine was added, they went nuts. I took comfort from this, just wish I could cite a source for you.
Yeah, but if you eat fish or seafood…what do you think you are putting out?
I don’t eat fish, fish don’t eat me…that’s why I’m smiling in the avatar…
Nels
Glad to hear he is going to make it.
As for the pee in the water test, I think that was on MythBusters a couple years back during Shark Week, and it was conducted with lemon sharks. While they might say “myth busted,” I would say it is only really a test of how lemon sharks react to concentrated human urine from one particular human. I also saw where the fella who got hit by two white sharks at the same time down in South Africa, and got hit another time when he was out surfing pees in his wetsuit a lot. Neither of these is conclusive, so take with you what you will.
Good point on fish proteins in your pee, Nels. Think I’ll stick to pizza tonight.
–BCo
Yah, saw all that.
Might depend on the kind of shark too. Consider that Great Whites dine on large ocean bound mammals… Just possibly they are more in tune with mammalian urine than other kinds of shark.
ROFL!
You go ahead and trust two special effects guys from myth busters with your safety… thats science eh…
mammal pee, white sharks not good it seems…
that’s why I am curious if this poor chap had the bad habbit…
http://www.wavescape.co.za//top_bar/tidings/Sharks/sharkpage.html
Yeah, the Myth Busters call it science, I would call it entertainment. I do like it when they blow stuff up, which is more their forte.
–BCo
love the show.
i remember watching the episode.
they put fish blood and Adam’s blood in the water too from what i remember.
the little lemon sharks reacted to the fish juices but not the human’s.
and i remember thinking to myself…
i’m not worried about a lemon shark, try that with whitey. they eat mammals.
even i can smell the difference between fish blood and other blood. i’m sure those
guys in the grey suits are a lot more in tune to that than i am.
Since 1580, there have been 9 recorded unprovoked attacks from lemon sharks, no fatalities (International Shark File).
Since 1580, there have been 232 recorded unprovoked attacks from white sharks, 63 fatalities (ISF).
–BCo
In response to McDing above, I grew up in that area and my Dad surfed the Monterey/Santa Cruz/Big Sur area for a couple decades and the only time he saw a Great White was at Carmel Beach. Everyone got out of the water and just watched it swim down the beach.
The truth is, they are always out there. It’s not called the Red Triangle for nothing.
They ARE out there. Fortunately they are an apex predator and there are not a LOT of them. Dang! I eat fish like crazy and love taking a nice warm pee in my wetsuit. Mike
I surfed alot at Marina in front of the hang glider place and when it was crowded you could go down the road to another access point to the beach. Over the 6 years I was there I probably surfed alone or 2 or 3 guys out at that spot 50 times. Only saw a shark 1 time but people up in the parking lot saw them afew times. In that area they are just always around and everybody just hopes for the best. The area between Santa Cruz and Big Sur has some of the most incredible surf I have seen along with some great scenery/wildlife. Like somebody already said, you just have to realize you are not at the top of the food chain anymore.
I peed in my wetsuit constantly.
Quote:
Dang! I eat fish like crazy and love taking a nice warm pee in my wetsuit. Mike
No doubt.
Oh well, so much for the fish/mammal pee security blanket. Still, pee or not, he survived, which is something to be amazed at and thankful for.
Pat