I don’t know why I torture myself. But whenever I see an article about sharks, I read it. And whenever I see video about sharks, I watch the whole thing.
And, of course, the next time I’m sitting on my board in the ocean, those stories pop up in my head, and I instinctively lift my legs a bit.
This week is Shark Week again on the Discovery Channel. Fellow surfer/Tribune photographer Joe Johnston was *nice* enough to send me a link to some previews. And, of course, they’re terrifying.
In one clip, you see actual video of a huge great white attacking a swimmer. The swimmer survived to tell about it, but she lost a leg in the ordeal. In another clip, there’s a dramatic recreation of wounds suffered by a surfer attacked by a great white.
Errrgh.
Personally? If I was attacked by a shark, I’d be pretty ticked off at sharks. Not just the one that bit me — but all of them. Even cartoon sharks.
But a couple of weeks ago, nine shark attack victims testified before Congress in an effort to protect sharks. And these victims weren’t just people who’d been nibbled on. We’re talking about people who lost limbs. So they’ve got serious shark cred.
The Shark Conservation Act, introduced by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass), seeks to strengthen the ban on shark finning.
Of course, we’ve had a few shark attacks in San Luis Obispo County. But it’s still pretty rare.
That’s what I tell myself when I’m in the water, thinking about Shark Week clips.
Posted on August 3rd, 2009 by Pat
Filed under: Surf stuff
Pat. You’ve got sharks on the brain! By writing about them as much as you do you’re setting yourself for a close encounter of the toothy kind.
A couple of people on those clips got what they deserved. Not the surfer guy of course. But that dude who kisses sharks on the mouth? He was *asking* for it. And those jerks who were fishing for blue sharks? It looks like the shark ultimately didn’t scare them enough.
When you go camping in the woods, there may be wild animals. When you go in the ocean, there may be wild animals. Be smart. Respect the wild. Luck is involved. You’ll probably never be attacked. But you take the risk.
When you go camping, almost no one says “Whoa, you go to Yellowstone with all them bears?” But when people find out you surf, they always talk about how scared they are of the sharks and how I should be scared too. Don’t get me wrong. If I ever saw a Great White while in the water, I would drop a big, smelly load in my wetsuit. But until then, I’m just not going to spend much time thinking about it.
Happy August Upwelling Everyone.
Keep an eye out for the landlord.
Have fun!
Dan