http://news.yahoo.com/shark-kills-woman-off-australian-east-coast-003709211.html
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Very sad and always a worry swimming in open water. Especially here in Australia.
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Can’t say I’m too happy about the portrayal of the stats. Doesn’t mention that there hadn’t been a death for ~75 years before 2001 (at least in wa anyway). I know 3 people who were friends or family of attack victims. Becoming all too common. Moments like these I’m glad I’m in Texas.
I live a good 500 miles from the nearest ocean but even if I were close to a coast you couldn’t pay me enough to OWS. I save those for lakes and rivers bro!!
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Very sad and always a worry swimming in open water. Especially here in Australia.
Isn’t everything trying to kill you in Australia?
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I live a good 500 miles from the nearest ocean but even if I were close to a coast you couldn’t pay me enough to OWS. I save those for lakes and rivers bro!!
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Lake attack http://swimswam.com/otter-attacks-swimmer/
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Well that sucks.
But it’s not going to effect me swimming in the ocean at all…
People die everyday…I’m not scared.
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Very sad and always a worry swimming in open water. Especially here in Australia.
Isn’t everything trying to kill you in Australia?
That’s what I’ve heard too…
I live a good 500 miles from the nearest ocean but even if I were close to a coast you couldn’t pay me enough to OWS. I save those for lakes and rivers bro!! .
Well, it’s not like there are any reported cases of bull sharks swimming more than 100 miles inland and killing swimmers.
Oh yeah, there are.
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Well that sucks.
But it’s not going to effect me swimming in the ocean at all…
People die everyday…I’m not scared.
I bet she wasn’t either until she realized what was about to happen.
Very sad indeed. Can’t think of a much worse way to go out.
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Well that sucks.
But it’s not going to effect me swimming in the ocean at all…
People die everyday…I’m not scared.
I bet she wasn’t either until she realized what was about to happen.
Very sad indeed. Can’t think of a much worse way to go out.
I can think of many.
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Sad, it happens but still very unlikely. This one hit close to home, SoCal, a few years ago.
Well that sucks.
But it’s not going to effect me swimming in the ocean at all…
People die everyday…I’m not scared.
I bet she wasn’t either until she realized what was about to happen.
Very sad indeed. Can’t think of a much worse way to go out.
I can think of many.
Like being stuffed into a tree chipper?
http://i59.tinypic.com/14jti6x.jpg
I live a good 500 miles from the nearest ocean but even if I were close to a coast you couldn’t pay me enough to OWS. I save those for lakes and rivers bro!! .
Well, it’s not like there are any reported cases of bull sharks swimming more than 100 miles inland and killing swimmers.
Oh yeah, there are.
Exactly, it is probably worse swimming in the canals on the Gold Coast in Oz than in the ocean due to bull sharks
Well that sucks.
But it’s not going to effect me swimming in the ocean at all…
People die everyday…I’m not scared.
I bet she wasn’t either until she realized what was about to happen.
Very sad indeed. Can’t think of a much worse way to go out.
Here is the weird thing though.
The group knew there was a shark about (quite a few sighting in the last few weeks and it had been stalking surfers as well) and they decided to still go out but swim very close together.
For some reason she decided to turn around half way through the swim, and thats when she was taken.
Very sad.
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I’ve been in the water at the same time that people have been attacked by Great Whites a mile or so away TWICE. I’ve seen whites a number of times surfing and while fishing.
I still swim in the ocean all the time.
The odds are extremely low that I or anyone else will ever be attacked.
But if you or I are that one person in a million, it would be disastrous.
Not much one can do about it. You can never swim in the ocean (or in a creek in New Jersey 1916?) or just go on with life.
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Dr Sylvia Earle was asked at a lecture once if she was afraid of being eaten by a shark. Her reply:- “I find it incredulous that someone is afraid of being eaten by a shark when so much of our life is determined by a thin white line and a mutual will to live.”
And if you think being eaten by a shark is bad then maybe have a look at autopsy photos of people who die from car accidents.
Our fear of sharks is highly psychological, and not based on probability.
I spent 10 days in Western Australia last week and I did swim in the ocean, which included snorkeling above a great coral reef near East Wallibi Island. A couple of years ago a swimmer was killed by a great white nearby this spot. The specific fear of being attacked (and/or killed) by a shark is very strong, but the statistics make that I’m not worried at all. Every single time someone is killed by a shark you will read about it, which doesn’t help I guess.
Then again, like the captain of our boat said, if you have to go, what a great way to do it fighting a shark. I think he meant it.
Here are some interesting statistics:
Alone in the USA and Canada approximately 40 people are killed each year by pigs – six times more than by sharks worldwide.In Australia the possibility of drowning is 20 times higher than being bitten by a shark.In the USA the probability is 16 times higher of being hit by lightning than being bitten by a shark.Around the world, considerably more people are killed by falling coconuts than are bitten by sharks.Alone in New York people are bitten 10 times more each year by other people than worldwide by sharks.
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I find these sorts of stats quite misleading.
Alone in the USA and Canada approximately 40 people are killed each year by pigs – six times more than by sharks worldwide.
I don’t go near pigs either - except when eating bacon.
In Australia the possibility of drowning is 20 times higher than being bitten by a shark.
I took a lot of swimming lessons when young, so this stat is inapplicable.
In the USA the probability is 16 times higher of being hit by lightning than being bitten by a shark.
I go inside when there is lightening.
Around the world, considerably more people are killed by falling coconuts than are bitten by sharks.
See above, I don’t hang out under coconut trees
Alone in New York people are bitten 10 times more each year by other people than worldwide by sharks.
What I do in the bedroom is none of your business.
All those stats about more likely to get struck by lightning, etc. applies to the whole population. Well a large portion of the population has never seen the ocean, and probably 90% of the population is in the ocean for no more than 7 hours a year. But for people who spend a lot of time in the water I bet the odds increase dramatically.