at California beaches: link to news.
"Lucas Ransom, a 19-year-old student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was bodyboarding with friend Matthew Garcia off Surf Beach some 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles on Friday when the shark pulled him under the water. He resurfaced with his leg nearly severed amid what Garcia told The Associated Press was a wave of pure red."
Horrible.
Still in shock at the death of Fran Crippen.
Yeah, another tragic incident. I saw this on the news shortly after learning about Fran's untimely passing, which really made for a crappy Saturday to say the least. Two families are mourning a heart-breaking loss of life.
Every time I hear of a shark attack like this, I cringe. I grew up swimming in the waters between Long Beach and San Diego. In all those years (I swam for hours almost daily between 1972 and 1976), I never saw any sharks, but I always wonder whether any saw me.
In Southern California it is quite rare to see a shark that will eat you (or a part of you). I am confident that they have seen me. They are pretty stealthy.
Northern California is a different story.
How true! I spent 20 years living in the Bay area and usually swam south of Santa Cruz. Sharks were (and are) an ever-present danger in these waters.
In Southern California it is quite rare to see a shark that will eat you (or a part of you). I am confident that they have seen me. They are pretty stealthy.
Northern California is a different story.
Even in shark "infested" waters, the chances of being killed in an attack are miniscule compared with drowning, heart attack, or hypothermia.
www.terradaily.com/.../Human_Deaths_From_Shark_Attacks_Hit_20_Year_Low_Last_Year_999.html
Worldwide there are usually less than 10 people die per year.
A public health professor told me that every day there are a dozen healthy people who get out of bed, trip, fall, hit their heads and die. Every day.
Even in young, healthy people the danger of heart attack while swimming is much higher.
Still, those are SCARY critters.
I know what articles say, but I tend to disagree with that logic. It just makes sense to me that if If I choose to swim in shark-infested waters, I have a much greater chance of being bitten (or killed by a shark). It's kind of like winning the lottery. The chances of it happening to me are slim-to-none, but someone wins eventually.
Here's a funny twist on the subject: www.thedivingblog.com/.../
Then there's the old saying of "it's more likely you'll be hit by lightning than be attacked by a shark". I find this amusing, since I now live in Arizona, where we get incredible electrical storms during the summer monsoon months.
I guess when I moved from California to Arizona, I swapped one potential danger for another. :D
Even in shark "infested" waters, the chances of being killed in an attack are miniscule compared with drowning, heart attack, or hypothermia.
www.terradaily.com/.../Human_Deaths_From_Shark_Attacks_Hit_20_Year_Low_Last_Year_999.html
Worldwide there are usually less than 10 people die per year.
A public health professor told me that every day there are a dozen healthy people who get out of bed, trip, fall, hit their heads and die. Every day.
Even in young, healthy people the danger of heart attack while swimming is much higher.
Still, those are SCARY critters.
Okay I'm going to start sleeping on the floor, quit driving my car, take sponge baths only (no tub or shower, and NEVER SWIM IN SHARK INFESTED WATER! Am I safe now?
I feel really bad for this kid and his family... shark attack is no way to go...
This is the second one we've had on the central coast in the last 7 years. This attack happened about 30 miles away from my beach which is home to the last local fatal shark attack back in 2003. Despite this tragedy I've been in the water twice since this went down. The ocean is a dangerous place but I think it provides more good than bad so I'm willing to put myself out there. I'm almost certain I've swam closer to sharks than I want to know about, but I try to trust them to know the difference between a swimmer and a fatty pinniped of some sort. I always try to keep in mind that a shark attack on top of being incredibly rare tends to be an accident. We're not sufficiently delicious and no self respecting shark would eat us on purpose... but unfortunately in the right light at the right angle a guy on a boogie board with finned feet hanging off it looks pretty tasty.
I think the odds are swayed and look almost non-exsistant due to the fact that really only a small portion of society swims in shark infested water.
On the other hand almost everybody gets out of bed in the morning.
Think about it.:bed:
US figures:
one death-by-shark per 75 thousand hours ocean swim training
one traffic death per 2.5 million hours driving
M = 2974 billion vehicle miles driven per year
N = 37423 traffic fatalies per year
S = 30 mph average speed estimate
2974000000000 / 37423 / 30 = 2648994
similarly,
M = 50 thousand ocean training miles swum per year
N = 0.33 = 3 OW ocean swimming fatalities every 10 years
S = 2 mph typical speed
50000 / 0.3333 / 2
LOL
However you look at it, you are far more likely to get killed in an auto accident on your way to the beach than by a shark while swimming in the water. And keep in mind, you may make it to the beach safely, and you may survive a swim in the shark infested waters, but you still have to survive the drive home before you can feel "safe" again. Just make sure to stand under a hose outside to get the sand off. You wouldn't want to slip and fall in the tub and break your neck. (I think there are far more deaths resulting from a fall in a tub than there are from shark attacks) :-)
