A couple of tips for surfers who want to avoid getting attacked by sharks:
1.) Buy a longboard.
2.) Surf with a buddy who rides a shortboard.
That second one probably won’t help the buddy much, but it will help your own chances. According to the book “Surviving the Shark” by Jonathan Kathrein and his mother, Margaret Kathrein, longboards create the image of larger, less vulnerable prey. So you’re less likely to get attacked, the theory goes, if you’re on a bigger board.
And shark research seems to prove that sharks tend to confuse shortboarders and boogie boarders with sea lions more often, although a documented attack of a paddle boarder in Montana de Oro a few years ago proves that size doesn’t always matter.
I just recently got “Surviving the Shark” in the mail, so I haven’t read it yet. (I’m still working on “The Devil in the White City” — not about sharks, though there is a vicious predator in it.) But it sounds intriguing since it’s written by a surfer who was seriously wounded by a shark. Jonathan Kathrein, who was 16 when a great white attacked him in Northern California, eventually became a shark advocate, calling for protection of sharks.
Of course, when I got the book, I had to sneak a peek at the photos, and, sure enough, there are some pretty graphic ones of Kathrein’s injuries. I don’t recommend them for anyone who gets queasy easily — or anyone who plans to go surfing soon afterward.
Alas, Kathrein himself has returned to the water. So if he can sustain a great white bite and return to the lineup, you can probably endure his photos and story.
I’ll give a more detailed account of the book after I finish reading it. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to invite my friend Jay — a boogie boarder — to surf with me. For the conversations, of course.
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2 comments
mike
July 12, 2012 at 10:19 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Like most predators (lions, etc.), sharks tend to go after the easiest prey available. Bodyboarders and surfers basically looks like plump seals that can’t swim (especially the bodyboarder I would imagine). That being said, sharks have poor vision and no hands; ‘attacks’ are usually just the shark trying to figure out what the object floating around is (using his mouth unfortunately).
Man from Moqui
July 12, 2012 at 11:18 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Speaking of the unmentionable (sharks): Recently two SLO County residents completed the penultimate leg of a cross-country bicycle trip that is a fundraiser and public awareness campaign to end shark finning. Shark fin soup is considered a delicacy in many parts of the world — especially China. From reviews about the soup, it seems clear that ordering the dish, which is made from fins, is more of a status thing than an epicurean delight. Fishermen capture a shark, lop off all its fins and dump the still living animal — one of the ocean’s apex predators — overboard. The practice is decimating shark populations and raises international conservation issues. Anyway, Mark DiMaggio, a Paso Robles High School science teacher, and Devon Lambert, a former student now studying conservation at UC Davis, rode from Colorado to Kentucky as part of their quest to end the practice. They call their campaign Spinning to End Finning. Here’s the link to their blog site: http://spinningtoendfinning.wordpress.com. Moqui says check it out!