Hi Mike,

I must take issue with your "guarantee" about not being bit by a shark. I have a good friend that was simply snorkeling / free diving for shells, not swimming with bait fish, not spear fishing, and not in a place where humans feed sharks, and he was viciously attacked by a Grey reef shark. He got his ass bit off - literally, as well as his abdomen ripped open. He his lucky to still be alive. Grey reef sharks are often territorial and aggressive in the uninhabited reefs of the Central and Western Pacific. I was personally attacked by a reef shark while snorkeling in shallow water. The shark was hunting in a pack with a bull shark, but fortunately I met the shark's lunge with two fists to the nose and I was not bitten, but I have no doubt the shark's intention was to taste me. I know, and know of, many people who have been bitten by a variety of sharks including a man in Tonga who nearly died after an unprovoked attack by a tiger shark. I have observed
 very different behaviors in sharks of the same species in different localities, but generally I have observed more timid behavior in populated areas than in uninhabited areas where sharks tend to be more aggressive. I also learned that one should be extra careful at dusk and dawn when sharks are in a feeding mode and prone to be more aggressive. Also, a falling tide is a much safer time to dive or snorkel a reef than the rising tide when the larger sharks come up from the open ocean onto the reef to feed.

Never trust a shark.

John Flynn



--- On Fri, 10/31/08, mike gray <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Sharks as a group, maybe. Individual species are very
> predictable. Here
> in Florida, for example: hammerheads will cruise up close
> and check you
> out, with one eye then the other, then cruise out of sight;
> bulls will
> keep a wide distance and satisfy their curiosity with a
> half-circle at
> the limit of visibility; nurses just lay there until you
> get too close,
> then bolt like scalded rats; reef sharks stay out of sight,
> and swim
> quickly away if they accidentally get too close. Most of
> the other
> species are rarely seen because they give divers a very
> wide berth.
>
> BTW, there was a very interesting article in National Geo a
> few month
> back that indicated that reduction in the number of sharks
> leads to a
> reduction in number of the predators we consider food.
>
> Sharks are magnificent creatures, and always a thrill to
> see in their
> wild state. Contrary to their bad press, they are rather
> timid around
> humans.
>
> Don't wade in waters where there are bait fish
> schooling, don't float
> around on the surface pretending to be a seal, don't
> refuse to give up
> that grouper you just speared, don't go where sharks
> are being - or have
> been - fed by humans, and you won't get bit by a shark.
> Guaranteed!
>
> m


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