gimmick? does it work? hmmmm…
BB
The way I always thought about “Sharkcamo” is that when surfing somewhere like Northern Calif, the water is dark and murky. So you are sitting there bobbing around at say… Davenport Landing thinking that your Sharkcamo bottom is going to scare away the sharks. Only problem is that the sun is above your head, burning that bald spot in the back. So while you are getting a sun burnt nose, guess what, that cute little Zebra striped bottom isn’t getting any light, and from the deep murky depths where Mr. whity is hanging out (and oh yeah, he’s down there) you still look like the shadowy outline of a tasty seal treat. -Carl
Also, note how they imposed the board in this picture from the website… why? Because in the real picture the board was only a shadow maybe?
You are so right. That WOULD only show up as an outline. I, myself, think that it’s just dumn luck to get bit by a great white. But, in all reality, there have only been ten documented cases of death by Great White in California. Out of those ten, nine were swimmers, divers, or kayakers. Only one was a surfer, and he was out all alone at Asilomar Beach in Monterey, and was, in fact, a kneeboarder with a swallow tail design (more prone to attack, according to a special I saw on TV), and he was wearing swim fins, which mimicked a sea lion. That was the only surfer killed by a great white, although others have been bitten and survived.
That shark camo is a fraud. They cannot prove that it is more effective. My personal opinion is that the only way someone is going to prevent shark attacks is through some kind of electronic device built into the board that emits a frequency that drives fish away (which will immediately be banned for environmental reasons), or some kind of spray on odor that repels fish. I’m sure both have been tried unsuccessfully.
But the bottom line is that sharks are really, really stupid animals that often bite before they think, and you might be one of them. Keep in mind, that if you are surfing in California and are killed by a great white, you will be the very first stand up surfer ever to be killed by one in California. If you don’t believe me, go to the Internation Shark Attack File and do the research. But I must warn you, if you go to that website, you might never want to surf in shark infested waters again, especially in Hawaii and Florida.
My advice is that if a Great White does attack you, jump on its back and yell yeehaw while holding on tight. You will probably be the first to pull it off, and if videoed, will get interviews on every late night talk show in the country. You’ll definitely get that fifteen minutes.
Another point to consider. If you do get bit, and survive, you have a great story to tell the grandkids and anyone else willing to listen. I met a woman once at a teacher’s conference, and when we started talking about surfing (who doesn’t?), then she told me of her shark attack in South Carolina. She showed me the scar on her leg. She said that at the time she was walking in waist deep water and kicked a metal pole really hard while walking. She backed out of the water and went for help from the lifeguard. She said it hurt a lot and was bleeding a lot (but not dangerously). He took one look at it and told her, “that wasn’t a pole in the water. You were bit by a shark.”
Sure enough, when she showed me the scar, it was a cresent shape, perfect for the bite radius of a shark. The shark was a typical east coast shark about five feet long.
She had nice legs, so I can hardly blame the shark.
Maybe we can make decals that actually attract sharks, and give them out free at the contests to the kids. Tell them Cory Lopez uses them.
I have this idea that perhaps Skarks are like other predators and seek out the smallest, weakest looking member of a pack to attack. The outline of my 9’0" Harbour must look like a damn large seal and perhaps the sharks would prefer to snack on a boogie boarder or shortboarder instead? Hmm…
As far as the camo stuff goes, remember that the shark’s eyes are way more sensitive to light so what is a shadow to us, may be perfectly clear to them. However, not all species have the great eyesight they mention on the website and there is little penalty to a shark for just taking a bite to test something so that’s what they do.
Sharks don’t need to see you to find you. They have a sensory organ(lateral line) that senses water pressure changes. For example, a surfer paddling for a wave. All fish have it. Mike
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Sharks don't need to see you to find you. They have a sensory organ(lateral line) that senses water pressure changes. For example, a surfer paddling for a wave. All fish have it. Mike
Yeah, and I’ll bet five bucks that the lateral line can’t sense a zebra striped airbrush on the bottom of a surfboard! 
-Carl
Well, yeah,the xzebra pattern is prolly fine with sharks… but what about lions?
http://www.junglewalk.com/popup.asp?type=v&AnimalvideoID=7428
“But the bottom line is that sharks are really, really stupid animals that often bite before they think, and you might be one of them.”
um, what do you base your statement on? So little is known about great whites but any animal that can survive millions of years and still remain on the apex of the food pyramid doesn’t seem to be too stupid to me…
sharks don’t have hands to investigate foreign objects and shark bites might be a case of mistaken identity/ speculative hunting/ curious investigation, maybe a bit of each…, maybe something else…
I live in south africa and I know they’re underneath me when I paddle out. Maybe, that makes surfers really, really stupid?
I guess I used the wrong words in saying that sharks are stupid. They are very unintelligent. Are surfers stupid for surfing with Great Whites? Well, surfing is an addiction and, therefore, a disease, so it isn’t our fault 
But, back to the shark. Once I opened the head of a six foot thresher shark, and it’s brain was the exact size of a pencil eraser. This shark was about 2/3 my size, and it’s brain much, much smaller. So, they are less intelligent.
But we digress. The topic, I think, is design. How to make surfers totally unappealing to sharks. I think color has a little to do with it. Since most surfers and swimmers out there are dressed in the same color as sea lions (black), maybe it’s time to go retro to 1983 and go neon again. The boards, the wetsuits, the leashes, everything. Let’s do it.
We can get Danny Kwock to design everything. It’ll be great!
I personally think humans are much dumber than sharks. Point in case; the recent death by shark attack in Avila Beach. Here’s some trippy hippy broad swimming with the sea lions. Complete sea lion camo outfit; wetsuit and fins. Da! Whitey looks up and thinks “easy prey, a sickly sea lion draggin’ up the rear of the pack”. Instant lunch. I have learned one thing about Tigers though----NEVER and I mean NEVER go out in murky waters anywhere in the HI’s. The guy that got it at “S” Turns was a friend of mine and the water was murky. That mistake cost him his life. McDing
Here on the east coast Ive noticed shark attacks becoming more and more frequent the last few years. A fisherman I know blames it on the change in commercial fishing laws that let the boats come in much closer to shore, wiping out the food chain. He says that these days when you catch a fish and cut its belly open its empty, that the fish are starving, and thats what is driving the sharks in closer and making them more desparate for a meal. It seems to make sense to me. Im curious to hear the opinions of other watermen about this. Has anyone else noticed this kind of pattern here or elsewhere?
SHARK<EL TIBERON< MANO a convient scape goat? predator? hunted more than hunter… eaten more than eater of man …elevated to an Icon of blind fear …at best a random sampler of human flesh…maligned by the motion picture since The Wake of the Red Witch…with John Wayne and Duke Kahanamoku, the shark as an undersea deamon justified the drylanders excuses for avoiding baptisimal,steven Spielburg’s SWAJ an eastern european genetic fear trip passed on to all that wished to be infected with this unjustified blind fear…I would never go to kansas after watching the wizard of OZ or san Francisco after watching Clark Gable do the San Francisco Earthquake .the hawaiian culture,who we pay homage to at every paddle out, Diafied the shark as a god …this is respect…much like dogs they were fed regularly and cerimonially the feeding of the embilical cord implored the shark to spare and perhaps protect from harm the child which the cord fed as a embryo and fetus…the seer at the back of the canoe voyaging to Havaiki in the Mitchner Hawaii book communicated with the shark following the canoe for gudance… believe what you will… The Shark has a presence beyond men and we are the least of the concerns on their agenda…the ocean fauna husbandry practices in some regions encourage shark iradication some have found fault with these practices as it breeds greater numbers of juviniles more likely to venture outside the normal feeding prefrences…rogues aside the australian spearfishing champion attacks are simple territorial disputes and “the land lord collecting the rent” … WE as large unpredictable shark size shapes are as likely to be mistaken for a shark
to be run out of teritorial feeding zones in periods of food collecting…periodic disemination of shark information is an important camp/beach fire topic…the farther Inland the fire the more horific , dramatic and fantastic the stories become,shark repellant and shark cammo and shark beepie things are outsourced by a firm in the landlocked brains of frightened guilty conciousnesses… to be in awe of the senior member of the oceanic food chain is a respectable niche…an estimate of 55million years is not long enough i know ,somebody correct me, the water was clear when Bethany donated her arm right or wrong,hokus foot went when the water was dirty off poipu,I believe the water was clear when the Coots kid gave his foot and Joe the water at sealodge isn’t often dirty or am I not aware of the anini efluent please fill this in …with information and understanding the need for talismanic drivel is rendered pointless … love and understanding to your neighborhood shark is the primary imperitive…yes dress like the seal - feed the shark …splash like the distressed alert the shark… venture into a feeding zone become food … swim out into a mating pile’o tiberon take your chances…we are not the top of the heap in the ocean we are just players subject to the rules and the seniority is not ours…ambrose …respect the shark know them as enemy and understand them as an ally
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Here on the east coast Ive noticed shark attacks becoming more and more frequent the last few years. A fisherman I know blames it on the change in commercial fishing laws that let the boats come in much closer to shore, wiping out the food chain. He says that these days when you catch a fish and cut its belly open its empty, that the fish are starving, and thats what is driving the sharks in closer and making them more desparate for a meal. It seems to make sense to me. Im curious to hear the opinions of other watermen about this. Has anyone else noticed this kind of pattern here or elsewhere?
I’ll bet that wasn’t a commercial fisherman you were talking to. Sport fishing guys blame commercial fishermen for everything up to and including poison ivy. They actually have organisations with PR and lobbying departments to continue that scam. Not that it does fish populations any good, 'cos the species sport fishing types target like striped bass actually have benefitted from restrictions on sport fishing types ( who are incredibly wasteful, profligate destroyers of fish populations) and cleanup of the polluted areas where they breed, like the Hudson River.
Claims that a hooked fish doesn’t have anything in it’s stomach when caught and opened up. Well, sorry about that, but those fish inshore are eating baitfish, little guys who slip through the mesh of any commercial net - we’re talking minnows here. Which get digested pretty quick. And …let’s just call it ‘dumped’ when a fish is hooked. Think about it, if somebody was dragging you around via a hook in your jaw or upper palate, you’d s#it too. The only time you find fish with food in 'em ( with the exception of fish like tuna, who eat other fish of 20 lbs and better whole) are when you catch one close to shore in the middle of a school of baitfish, feeding wildly.
For that matter, the commercial fishing laws have indeed changed, but they are forcing the commercial boats to stay further off shore and restricting the number of days they can fish. Let me put it this way: y’know how it’s a bad idea to believe how big a fish was that a sport fishing guy caught? Here’s something else to add to that list of "Riight, sure it is’ statements.
Now, lets look at this a little more realisticly. Sharks, the big 'uns that are gonna look at a surfer as a potential entree, they’re opportunistic feeders. They want their food in big units. Say, a large striped bass or better yet, something warm-blooded that comes in 30 kg and up servings. Like Sammy the Seal. Now, Sammy is making one helluva comeback along both the US East and West coasts, with his cousins the sea lions. Given some wild wetlands ( those not covered by landfill and trophy houses with docks and sportfishing boats out front ) you often see year round seal colonies…and they are thriving.
That’s one…now, for the other reason. See http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/Statistics/Trends2.htm for the actual numbers on shark attacks worldwide and in the US. Funny thing - it’s been declining over the last few years, not increasing. But the media needs a feeding frenzy, so if anybody got bit, got scared, saw a shark or thought they saw a shark…well, it gets into the papers all over the place. One shark sighting can make the papers for a week:
Shark sighted
Shark not sighted but it’s probably still out there
Another day without a shark sighting, authorities remain vigilant
Shark still not seen, what is it doing?
Shark sightings over the last decade
Shark lurking off our coasts, beware
You know how it goes. Deaths from SUV rollovers and other car crashes which happen lots more often? Naah, those somehow don’t make the papers…sharks don’t advertise, car dealers do.
For the real deal, see http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/isaf/isaf.htm . Statisticly, the drive to the beach is more dangerous.
doc…
Rob.
Here’s something else to think about. In general, when you decrease the food supply of an organism, there will be a decrease in that organism. So if you decrease the food supply of sharks there will be a decrease in shark populations and fewer shark human encounters. Kind of the opposite effect doc described with an increase of seal/sea lions populations has resulted in an increase in shark populations. This is a simplistic ecologic cause and effect model because of all the other potential “players” in the ecosystem. Mike
As a surfer in south Florida, an area with one of the highest shark “attack” rates in the world, I’m not complaining at all about the media frenzy associated with these incidents. Although its tough to tell by the number of people in the line up on a good day, I’m sure that these headlines must limit the number of people that surf to some small extent. And if that means that I get one or two more waves, well, fine then. The way that I see it, even here, is that the likelihood of being bitten is miniscule and the vast majority of the “attacks” here result in some stiches and a nice scar.
I have made one concession though, I gave up eating shark of any kind about 10 years ago.
I can just hear myself as I get pulled under, “I thought we had a deal!! glug glug glug”
Anybody know anyone that has been attacked more than once? I’v never really heard any stories about a person that has been attacked on more than one seperate occasion. If that is the norm, then would’nt it make sense to get that one bite out of the way? say maybe a nip here or there on the hip or ass and then bang, you’d never have to worry again for the rest of your life.
Course this idea is as stupid as the SharkCammo idea, but something to think about nonetheless
Drew
I used to paint the bottoms of my boards sky blue. Cuz I like that color,but I used to tell people it was so I blended in with the sky when the Whiteys are under me. Of course, most of the time the sky is gray surfin in the Red Triangle. Look at most pelagic fishes and mammals and they are bicolored. Dark on the top, light underneath. If your worried about it copy that pattern. It must have some value.
There was a video clip on the net a while back of a South African surfer getting hit by two Whiteys at the same time. I didn’t need to see it. But, I always do check it out. Don’t you? It’s fun being kind of spooked. Mike
My friend went down to South Africa for a year, i asked him if he’s worried about getting chewed on. I liked his respose, he said “if you worry they already got you”. So paint your strips and do what makes you feel good, besides i heard that if a shark hit, you never see it coming, so at least its over quick. Me, if it ever happens i’m gonna try to pull out his damned eye so i can show it to my kids and grand kids.
In response to the intelligence of sharks, they are a system streamlined by eons, and an effiecent one at that. You can still be dumb as a post and effiecent. Supposedly you could ripp the guts out of a blue shark, throw it back in the water and that stupid thing will try to eat its own trailing intestines. Me i’d never do that, i dont believe in wasting life like that especially things as usefully as sharks…besides the oriental fishing fleet will clean the ocean of the them in the next 20 years.
Seals…too bad they are “cute” and warm blooded, PC animals like that do fine, they are sea dogs and breed like rats, no beatiful pealagic shark(mako,thresher0 could live in the dirty bays and docks, but those sea dog/rats do great. It’s frustrating that sharks are still open season reduced as they are but seal are off limits, of course this is a frustration of fishermen, not surfers. Seals are prolific vermin, yet they are protected, all the while sharks are left to the wolves so to speak. This is just an example of the mismanagement of ocean resources do to PC thuggery…if sharks could do tricks and had big brown eyes they’d be well protected…but no…hell the city of sandiego lets those seals infest the childrens cove, and why ohhh becuase they are cute. If that cove was full of Blue sharks people would have them cleared asap. Seals are dirty creatures…me i’d do alittle culling of the population with my 30-30. There and when ever they came to pester while i’m catching yellowtail. Seals have their place however…
…they feed the sharks…and when whitey is well fed on cute little seals he does’nt care about me.
And one more thing…sport fishing destructive well aint that a crock. The seasonal take of sportfishing is measured in tons perhaps, but the catch of one commercial boat is measured in tons, one boat jack. Commercial fishing takes volume beyond what sportfishing ever concievable could. Its not even fair to compare them. Besides sportfishing does not use gillnets, longlines, or drag the bottom with huge nets vaporizing everything in its way…bycatch anyone. But when you threaten a man’s way of life absurd comparisons are understandable