Oceanic odonto-overplay...

With the news that an Australian lass has died after a shark attack can we expect the usual hysteria?
This attack was fairly close in shore and in unclear water; given that the most common type of attack is called a "hit and run" i.e. the shark bites and then quickly releases the person and disappears; given also that said attacks are probably most often cases of mistaken identity as they usually happen near the surface and in poor visibility (breaking surf, heavy currents, murky water…), also including the 'fact' that humans are usually considered too bony to be a good meal for a shark, plus she had 3 very bad injuries (one bite each?) but was alive when she was pulled free, I'm reading this as a case of mistaken identity.

Bull sharks, the ones thought to be responsible in this incident, may possibly be the most frequent attackers of humans (or not…see below), as the wounds they inflict are often attributed to great whites. They are less selective feeders than great whites and occur closer inshore and in freshwater.

…a few facts may clear the water (and hence make attack less likely!)

According to the International Shark Attack File, between 1580 and 2004 there were 1,969 confirmed shark attacks around the world...I guess we can assume that this figure could be tripled/ quadrupled/ whatever to get a real figure including those incidents not reported, not known, remote island attacks no one knows of etc but still, we're still talking about practically nothing in a global context.

Seven fatalities occurred in 2004, a total similar to the four in 2003, three in 2002 and four in 2001, but lower than the 11 fatalities recorded in 2000. The number of serious attacks in 2000-2004, as measured by fatality rate (8.9%), has been lower than that of the decade of the 1990's (12.7%), continuing a century-long trend reflective of advances in beach safety practices and medical treatment, and increased public awareness of avoiding potentially dangerous situations.

Sharks have evolved over 450 million years to be among the ocean's top predators. They can take many years to reach sexual maturity, almost 30 years in the case of the sand bank shark. Larger sharks may only produce two young in a breeding cycle and only one of those is likely to survive. Shark species often only breed every other year and some have a long gestation period (up to two years). This low reproductive rate means that depleted shark populations can take a very long time to recover, if they recover at all.

Conservationists estimate that about 100 million sharks are caught each year, many of them purely for use in shark fin soup. Hong Kong alone imported the fins of more than 28 million sharks in 1999. The sharks are caught, their fins are cut off and they are then thrown back into the sea where they either bleed to death or drown. This really pees me off...I've seen it happen and it is sickening and it's only one of the things that would induce me to happily kill a fellow human; I know that sounds completely LOONY...but, well maybe I am!

Moving on quickly (gulps), as I hinted above there are more than one type of shark that is believed to be the worst 'maneater'; despite it being an aggressive fish which dominates feeding frenzies, and is said to attack more humans than all other shark species combined, a favorite of mine is the Oceanic WhiteTip, mainly because of its ferocious beauty (see image copyright/copyleft Wikipedia) but I guess I SHOULD also have a soft spot for Orectolobus ornatus more commonly known as Ornate wobbegong…wobbegong! Well that does seem appropriate, lots of O's but he does look a right wimp, not like the lovely white tip, below above.

To be honest most potential shark fatalities are easily avoided with a good punch on the snout …that's not the only reported incidence but it's the most recent I could find; of course if it was me it would be the smell of me shitting myself that put the shark off!

The main point of this post is that I used to be obssessed with sharks, before another, more dangerous maneater attracted my attention (I know I do NOT need to elaborate!), having the 70’s as my impressionable years made the film Jaws a big memory…and it really did stop people going in the water! …and by sheer coincidence I may have starred in Jaws 2 as a boy sailor…don’t believe me? ;-)

S.O.