Saint in Paradise Posted 21 August, 2011 Share Posted 21 August, 2011 We all know the chances of getting attacked by a shark are pretty slim. But if you want to be doubly safe, here's some hot spots you may want to avoid... http://nz.totaltravel.yahoo.com/news-opinions/galleries/g/-/10071745/1/shark-infested-beaches-to-be-wary-of/ This warning doesn't apply to all posters on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbal Posted 21 August, 2011 Share Posted 21 August, 2011 I'm assuming - or hoping - picture number 1 was taken from a cage. Viewed from there at least, they are truly spectacular beasts. I hope the attacks don't lead people back to thinking that sharks need yet more culling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Saint Posted 22 August, 2011 Share Posted 22 August, 2011 How many people are killed each year on holiday in road traffic accidents? They are never reported on the news. Sharks attacks are widely reported because they are uncommon enough to be news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
This Charming Man Posted 22 August, 2011 Share Posted 22 August, 2011 I've swam or dived in about half those beaches listed there! I even got up at 5am when I was in Indonesia, purely so I could dive whilst they were hunting. A great site to behold. The only injury I've suffered whilst diving with sharks is that I stung myself on some poisonous coral as I was watching them and not paying attention to what I was doing. Hurt like mad and had a stingy nettle type rash for around 4 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sambosa75 Posted 22 August, 2011 Share Posted 22 August, 2011 SO basically if you want to go somewhere nice for holiday, don't bother as you'll get eaten by a shark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibden Purlieu Saint Posted 22 August, 2011 Share Posted 22 August, 2011 I was in Sharm last November, and got back just before the attacks started. Considering I spent THE WHOLE HOLIDAY snorkelling, I was a little bit spooked by this, especially considering I know I'm going to die by getting eaten by a shark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohio Saint Posted 22 August, 2011 Share Posted 22 August, 2011 I've swam several times at Fish Hoek Beach, Cape Town, South Africa. I still have all my bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Saint Posted 22 August, 2011 Share Posted 22 August, 2011 I was in Sharm last November, and got back just before the attacks started. Considering I spent THE WHOLE HOLIDAY snorkelling, I was a little bit spooked by this, especially considering I know I'm going to die by getting eaten by a shark. So was I. In fact just three weeks before the Geman woman got munched, I was snorkeling and diving off the same jetty at the same hotel. Still going again this year though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai_phil Posted 22 August, 2011 Share Posted 22 August, 2011 An expat lost his leg to a Bull Shark here about 12 or so years ago swimming off Jumeirah Beach. Never made the papers, they just got him out the country fast. Growing up as a kid and being terrified by the movie Jaws, I was well impressed on my arrival in these weird lands many years ago to allow myself to be talked into learning to Dive. (OK she was a fit blonde) Went to the Musandam (Straights of Hormuz to you lot) and at about 20 metres was confronted by a lone shark heading straight at us, he was filmed by other divers and measured at 4 metres. He swam round us slowly about 4 feet away, being watched by something that big while being so close. For the first 30 seconds or so the thoughts going through my brain were "why the feck did I buy such a small dive knife?" and "how do I get the poo out of a wet suit without anyone noticing?" followed by OMG how amazing what a stunning animal to have seen up close. Only found out after we saw the video that it was an exceptionally large Black Tip Reef Shark so would have had to have really hissed it off to have got in trouble, but the head doesn't know that when you see the shape coming towards you through the gloom and you have no rocks or bottom in range to try & hide behind. My brain was screaming at me (from my training) that I was supposed to do something. I think at the same time I realised it was an amazing thing the body went oh hell eyah I know I'm supposed to breath. I've dived and snorkelled with them many times since, would NEVER cage dive (claustrophobia). No idea whether there is a secret other than perhaps be aware that you are in their territory and BE AWARE and watch to see what all the other fish are doing. If they all feck off in a hurry, time to walk on water. While holiday attacks from Rogues are horrific, if it comes up, the chance to swim with them in the wild is something that should be taken and changes you whole attitude to life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skintsaint Posted 22 August, 2011 Share Posted 22 August, 2011 too many sighted just off the beach here in recent summers for me to get in the water. Would rather just sunbathe and check out the blondes on the beach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verbal Posted 22 August, 2011 Share Posted 22 August, 2011 I've swam several times at Fish Hoek Beach, Cape Town, South Africa. I still have all my bits. Are you sure? You're very lucky. That's the only place in the world where Great Whites have learned to leap out of the water - as a whale would - to snatch their prey (seals mostly, rather than beardy blokes, but they're not fussy.) As long as you can see it from safety, the sight of a Great White breaching is staggering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnyboy Posted 22 August, 2011 Share Posted 22 August, 2011 All shark horror stories p*ss me off - they are rapidly being driven to extinction for ****** shark fin soup, and such stories reduce any sympathy the public might have for this situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
View From The Top Posted 22 August, 2011 Share Posted 22 August, 2011 Are you sure? You're very lucky. That's the only place in the world where Great Whites have learned to leap out of the water - as a whale would - to snatch their prey (seals mostly, rather than beardy blokes, but they're not fussy.) As long as you can see it from safety, the sight of a Great White breaching is staggering. I've seen that, where they speed up vertically to hit the seals on the surface and, well, just keep going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenevaSaint Posted 22 August, 2011 Share Posted 22 August, 2011 You've got more chance of being killed by a falling coconut than you are of being killed by a shark attack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sambosa75 Posted 23 August, 2011 Share Posted 23 August, 2011 You've got more chance of being killed by a falling coconut than you are of being killed by a shark attack. Apart from the fact coconuts have the statistical advantage of being where we are (land) almost all the time, whereas sharks don't. Call me old fasioned but I'd rather get in to a fight with a coconut than a bloody great big shark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
This Charming Man Posted 23 August, 2011 Share Posted 23 August, 2011 Apart from the fact coconuts have the statistical advantage of being where we are (land) almost all the time, whereas sharks don't. Call me old fasioned but I'd rather get in to a fight with a coconut than a bloody great big shark. But turning up at the pub back home after your holidays, with a leg missing due to a fight with a shark is a much better story than having concussion due to a coconut falling on you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eurosaint Posted 23 August, 2011 Share Posted 23 August, 2011 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-23/surfer-dies-after-shark-attack-off-south-africa-s-plettenberg-bay-coast.html My son-in-law regularly surfs in this bay ! I have advised him to ensure that his insurance is well up to date ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohio Saint Posted 23 August, 2011 Share Posted 23 August, 2011 Are you sure? You're very lucky. That's the only place in the world where Great Whites have learned to leap out of the water - as a whale would - to snatch their prey (seals mostly, rather than beardy blokes, but they're not fussy.) As long as you can see it from safety, the sight of a Great White breaching is staggering. Yeah. Fish Hoek is on the peninsula. I have also swam off the shore in the north of False Bay where the aptly named Seal Island is closest to the shore. That is their primary feeding place. It seemed OK to me at the time because others were doing it. We even waded out there with a fishing net. I am older and wiser now though!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eurosaint Posted 24 August, 2011 Share Posted 24 August, 2011 Yeah. Fish Hoek is on the peninsula. I have also swam off the shore in the north of False Bay where the aptly named Seal Island is closest to the shore. That is their primary feeding place. It seemed OK to me at the time because others were doing it. We even waded out there with a fishing net. I am older and wiser now though!! The problem there and in nearby Muizenburg beach is that there are shelves in the sea where the level drops from one or two metres to very deep ! The great whites can come up suddenly from the deep and attack in the shallower part ! This is what happened last February with a Zimbabwean guy ! Apparently it is not natural aggression, more opportunism or mistaken identity (for a seal!) but pretty f#cking deadly nonetheless ! Personally I tend towards paddling rather than surfing on my regular visits there !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hutch Posted 24 August, 2011 Share Posted 24 August, 2011 First fatal attack in Plett for 15 years! For a bit of perspective: "South Africa has one of the highest lightning ground strike densities in the world. Figures from the South African weather service show that 28 people died after being struck by lightning between January and November last year. This was more than double the 12 killed in 2009, while nine died in 2008. However, it still trailed behind the peak years of 2005 (44 deaths), 1999 (32 deaths) and 2004 (31 deaths)." I regularly swim at Lookout beach at Plettenberg, and his won't stop me. Conversely I never swim in False Bay or around Cape Town, but that's because the water's too bl00dy cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spudders Posted 24 August, 2011 Share Posted 24 August, 2011 I kept to the shallow water in Bournemouth the other day, just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skintsaint Posted 4 September, 2011 Share Posted 4 September, 2011 http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8294071/young-boadyboarder-cut-in-half-by-shark I was on holiday there in the summer...didnt venture to deep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dig Dig Posted 5 September, 2011 Share Posted 5 September, 2011 Sad though it is, I don't know how to react to such stories. I'm not angry at the shark, it was just swimming around being sharky. Given the numbers of people swimming in the sea, a few will get eaten. Wish they'd always print the stats in these stories though, as many people are a bit dim and will jump to the conclusion that 'shark attacks are on the rise and the sea is too dangerous'. I'd imagine shark attacks are on the rise simply because we can record them more accurately now. Or are they not on the rise at all? Still such a tiny chance anyway, you're far more likely to just drown and be ignored by the media. I can't remember the official stats but the last 2 decades has seen a monumental increase in the number of people who go into the sea for recreational activities. This is increasing the frequency of shark and human enconters so attacks are on the rise as a result. Sharks are also coming in closer to shore to look for food due to depleted food stocks in deeper oceans. But you're right about the reporting. A shark attack is still rare enough to be considered news worthy and with a world network of news coverage, you pretty much hear about every incident these days. I'm a surfer and have surfed many a sharky beach in my time and it's not something I'm worried about. If sharks considered humans as food then we really couldn't be easier prey for them. There would be attacks daily. Most of the time its a case of mistaken identity buy by the time the shark realises that, you've usually lost a limb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skintsaint Posted 28 September, 2011 Share Posted 28 September, 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15097734 What a plonker...jumping in with a big feck off shark just off the beach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpbury Posted 28 September, 2011 Share Posted 28 September, 2011 I wonder if he thought - 'Why is no one else swimming?'. I almost passed out in the sea at the weekend - due to the cold (and to think I grew up swimming on the beach at Paignton!). I'm sure this a more common way for middle age men to go.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 29 September, 2011 Share Posted 29 September, 2011 How can a beach be shark infested? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai_phil Posted 30 September, 2011 Share Posted 30 September, 2011 http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16080142 Pictures & Video. Respect to the two guys who went in to get the guy as the Shark came back and also a wow to the Seal that tried to help - amazing (and horrific) story, better have not eaten before you read this & see the pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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