Preventing Shark Attacks

General Discussion
1

All this talk of shark attacks + a shark attack near where I surf has got me thinking. I think its time to start (restart?) a thread on some things to do to prevent shark attacks.

To kick it off, I was informed from a professor at my school, that the color red can deter unwanted attention. He told me that red is a warning color for sharks becasue there are some creatures that hurt sharks also use red as a defense mechanism. so, tinting boards red/wearing a red wettie should help prevent shark attacks.

any other handy tips/evidence contrary to any views on preventing sharks? post them here.

2

don’t worry about it, there really isn’t anything you can do besides not surfing.

and who wants to do that?

3

Im just looking to compile a list of easy to do precautions…like not dressing up in a giant fish suit and dowsing myself in blood. if anything this will make for an interesting/humorous read.

4

Shark attack is a statistically insignificant risk.

But it does happen, so basic risk minimisation is a good idea.

Ride boards over 8’ (glad I love my 9’6" ;).

Avoid peeing in your wetty as much as practical.

Don’t surf the sunset (chow time for sharks).

Don’t surf breaks junked up by significant runoff (this was my mistake on Sunday - we got a year’s worth of rain in a week).

Don’t surf rivermouths (sharks hang around these waiting for food to wash out).

If you see and sealife behaving strangely get out of the water.

If you see a shark over 6’ get out of the water.

And listen to your instincts. I firmly believe that this last one saved my arse on Sunday (that and, maybe, being on a 9’6").

Just my 2c!

-doug

5

Heres a trick my friend taught me (and its worked so far)

Step 1- kidnap/capture/catch a pod (pod?) of dolphins- the easiest way i found is to grab onto the dorsal fin and wrap your legs around their tale.

Or if you cant find dolphins- orcas are an acceptable substitute.

Step 2- Spend about 1 month training the dolphins in the ways of shark defense ie having them attack shark dummies while being rewarded with food.

Step 3- Build large dolphin tank in back of truck to transport dolphins to beach everytime you surf.

Step 4- Shred the waves with your own personal dolphin army to protect you.

An optional additional step is to surf-ski behind the dolphins on the waves for added protection and fun.

6

Hi Scott,

I think that the red color preventing shark attacks only works if you’re underwater (e.g. scuba diving) because light can reflect on the color and ‘show’ that you are red. but if you’re on the water surface, a shark looking up just see’s your silhouette and thinks you’re a delicious bass…err, i mean seal (hehe).

Rio

7

Hey SK,

Have you heard of this? Us Navy Marine Mammal Program

"Everyone is familiar with security patrol dogs. You may even know that because of their exceptionally keen sense of smell, dogs like beagles are also used to detect drugs and bombs, or land mines. But a dog would not be effective in finding a sea mine. Sea mines are sophisticated, expensive weapons that are designed to work in the ocean where they can sink ships, destroy landing craft, and kill or injure personnel. Sea mines are made so that they cannot be set off easily by wave action or marine animals growing on or bumping into them. If undetected, sea mines can be deadly, destructive weapons. But just as the dog’s keen sense of smell makes it ideal for detecting land mines, the U.S. Navy has found that the biological sonar of dolphins, called echolocation, makes them uniquely effective at locating sea mines so they can be avoided or removed. Other marine mammals like the California sea lion also have demonstrated the ability to mark and retrieve objects for the Navy in the ocean. In fact, marine mammals are so important to the Navy that there is an entire program dedicated to studying, training, and deploying them. It is appropriately called the Navy Marine Mammal Program (NMMP). "

I bet these guys wouldn’t mind moonlighting as personal security guards…

Rio

8
Quote:

Ride boards over 8’ (glad I love my 9’6" ;).

-doug

I ride a 12’ board a lot. I do feel like I’m the last on the menu but then again, what if it is an extra large shark? I mean, only a giant one will go for my enormous board… Tiger sharks love to gang up on injured whales… I shudder to think…

9

yet it’s still just as likely someone surfing a beach break with a blue board and whizzing in there wettie will be attacked.

i just don’t worry about them.

I’m more scared (and indanger) driving on a Sydney road than swimming with sharks.

10

http://www.marktheshark.com/html/sharkattacks2_0.html

Another Bad day on the job…

11

The only things that i know that hurt sharks are humans maybe fishermen wear red t shirts

Please ask the professor what things hurt sharks i would be interested to find out

Mike

12

Ahmmm- only a few little problems with sea lions ( and porpoises ) as personal bodyguards out there-

1- they are what ya might call preferred foods for our pointy-toothed pals out there, so if they are around you may well get a whole crew of happy diners lined up. And if they run out of the dinner special, well, then, they’ll take the chef’s surprise.

2- in order to keep said marine mammals close, well disposed and obedient, you’ll need to be carrying a bag of fish chunks. Overall, this probably isn’t a great strategy around the gray-suited guys.

lastly - sea lions and porpoises surf soooooo much better than we do, and paddle so much faster that not only won’t you get any waves, you’ll be totally outclassed and embarassed if you manage to sneak one in.

Now, Orcas probably like a little shark now and then. And they are the top predator, even better than us. And best of all, they are used to cooperating with humans on the food front… http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/killers/ …mebbe they’d share a little shark steak with us land-dwellers.

doc… ‘lets do it to them before they do it to us’ - Hill Street Blues

13

Wasn’t there a company selling some kind of pattern for the bottom of your board, that was black and white stripes? I think it was to make it look like a Sea Snake or a Lion Fish or some thing like that. Does anyone remember that?

14

Hey, Bagman, look for the ad down there: “Shark deterrent”. Must be what you’re talking about. Isn’t it nice to have ads answering your questions?

15

Nope thats not it, balsa. This was a design that went on the bottom of your board.

16

Right, I remember those, some sort of peel-and-stick thing, kinda like that stuff that you can put on your kitchen shelves if you tend to put jars back wrong-side up.

There were a number of claims made for the stuff. And I’d guess those very, very few paranoids who actually tried it had a 100% safety record. But, the possibility of being sharkbit bein’ as low as it is and so few people actually using it, I’m not surprised. Heh - with those odds, it would be mighty tough to come up with something that didn’t work. Kinda like standing in your back yard on a clear day wearing a wetsuit and then claiming that prevented lightning strikes.

Now, if one of the inventors wanted to volunteer to lie on a board covered with the stuff that had been set into the middle of a feeding frenzy, and did, and wasn’t shortly after making their way through the curious spiral stomachs that are peculiar to squalidae- then I might believe.

But it still looks stoopid - and the concept is kinda flaky. Think about it, if a shark sees a board, he’s looking up. Where board and occupant are no more than shadows, 'cos the light source is above 'em. For instance, if a plane flies well overhead, can you tell what if anything is painted on the underside of the wings?

What color and what pattern is on the bottom of the board are gonna be kinda irrelevant unless the shark is carrying a very powerful flashlight, something natural science tells us they don’t do very often and only internally when they do.

Besides which, sharks tend to prefer dining in murly, bad visibility water, where such things are totally irrelevant.

However…just a thought. Sometime circa 1945, experiments were done with powerful lights mounted to illiminate the undersides of aircraft. So that they wouldn’t be visible as a black dot from the ground but instead the well-lit underside of the plane would blend in with the rest of the sky.

Only a few slight problems with making that work on a surfboard, of course, like the 200 lb generator and all the lights mounted on the underside of the board…

doc…

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/attacks/relarisk.htm

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/Attacks/relariskreduce.htm

17

along those lines, there’s something about an electrical “force” field that deters sharks. Shocks them or something.

The only problem with that , again, is having to surf at the end of a very long electrical cord. Its rather restricting. May be some other draw backs , too.

18

Names have been blurred to protect the innocent :smiley:

Custom board with the Shark Camo pattern airbrush on the top? and bottom.

19
Quote:

mebbe they’d share a little shark steak with us land-dwellers.

sorry, doc…but you’ll NEVER catch me eating shark. if i’m walking down the street, and a cow takes a bite outta me…okay, i probably deserved it. karma’s a bitch. no shark is ever goin’ past my chompers, and i hope the men in gray suits give me the same courtesy.

20

Listen, you guys got it all wrong! Here we are a surfboard design web thing and were talking about wetsuit pee. I pee in my wetsuit all the time, and I’m still here to tell about it. So without digression we need to about internal surfboard diffusion tanks (IDT’s)…yes diffusion tanks. Here’s my idea:

While shaping your next board put 2) 2" PVC pipe w/caps running the length of your board. One of these tubes can be made to hold the old fashion tried and true escape seriums, ie, Oil slick, Smoke Screen, or my favorite…Thumb Tacks. If that doesn’t bamboosel the man in the grey suit,…and i’m sure it will, then you can release tube “B”. Tube “B” is a mixture of oil, glue, squid chum and compressed nitrogen, any fish mess will work (check your local regulations to see what is lawful, I’ve heard of some 3rd world countries loading smaller 16 oz pineapple grenades in the tubes, this is a bit extreme and unlawful I might add), any how when the grey landlord get too close expel tube “B” towards the closest “other surfer” in your area. You’ll need to make sure your fin area is pointing toward that “other surfer”, because the release of nitrogen gas will propel you away from the "other surfer at a rate of 75fps/205lbs tq. I digress…anyhow the squid glue/oil mixture will stick to the unassuming “other surfer” He will be stupified by the smell and bubbles, and in some instances in smaller surfers, be knocked unconscious by the gassious explosion coming from your surfboard ass. This all works out to your advantage, sharks love slow/non moving prey, they are opportunistic feeders…you might hear a squeel or some gurgling noise as you are pulling away from the kill zone, don’t look back, continue your safety jetison towards the shallow safe inside reef silently thanking ol resinhead for the surfboard design upgrade.

another problem solved by Resinhead…your welcome, remember (IDT’s) Internal Difusion Tanks