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posted by cmn32480 on Sunday July 05 2015, @08:34AM   Printer-friendly
from the i-think-we're-gonna-need-a-bigger-boat dept.

The Washington Post reports that this is becoming another Summer of the Shark as there have been seven recent shark attacks in North Carolina and scientists are looking for what might be luring the usually shy sharks so close to shore and among the swimmers they usually avoid. North Carolina's seven shark attacks is an unusual number for a state that recorded 25 attacks between 2005 and 2014. Even with the recent incidents, researchers emphasize that sharks are a very low-level threat to humans, compared with other forms of wildlife. Bees, for example, are much more dangerous. And swimming itself is hazardous even without sharks around.

George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida's Florida Museum of Natural History, speculates that several environmental factors could be pushing sharks to congregate in the Outer Banks. It is a warm year, and the water has a higher level of salinity because of a low-level drought in the area. Also, a common species of forage fish — menhaden — has been abundant this year and might have attracted more sharks to the area. Burgess also says some fishermen put bait in the water near piers, which could lure the predators closer to shore; two of the encounters took place within 100 yards of a pier. "That's a formula for shark attacks," Burgess says of these conditions, taken together. "Now, does that explain seven attacks in three weeks? No, it doesn't."

Burgess says not to swim near seals, where fishing is occurring, or near other things that sharks find tasty. Sharks can sniff out blood, so don't swim with open wounds. And leave your bling on the beach -- sharks are curious about bright, shiny objects, so don't lure them with baubles. Also avoid swimming at dawn and dusk, when sharks tend to feed. Stick together in groups and stay out of the water during and after storms. Aside from dangerous surf and rip currents, decreased water visibility can confuse sharks, prompting mistaken-identity bites. "Always remember," concludes Burgess. "They have bigger teeth, but we have bigger brains."


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  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2015, @08:46AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2015, @08:46AM (#205233)

    that Americans had jumped the shark by electing a genuine nigga to the white house. Sharks have small brains, see, they're slow to sniff the tasty gossip.

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Sunday July 05 2015, @09:39AM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday July 05 2015, @09:39AM (#205240) Journal

    When the number of attacks was still at 6, I theorized that only two sharks were responsible for all the attacks. One of the web sites published a map, with dates on it for each attack. One migrating male, headed out into the northern Atlantic could have performed all of the attacks in North Carolina. He was in no great hurry, he found something tasty, and lingered, while still moving northward.

    Attack in S. Carolina would have to be a different shark, of course, unless that first shark were a fast, powerful swimmer.

    Two more attacks since then don't seem to support my theory a whole lot. Ehhh - Why do sharks bite? Because they need to eat. They don't see people routinely, and pretty much anything in the water is food, if the shark can just catch it. An apex predator doesn't need a reason to attack something that it considers to be prey. Nor does it need a reason to investigate potential prey.

    Stay out of the shark's dining room, and chances are, you won't be dined on!

  • (Score: 2) by No Respect on Sunday July 05 2015, @10:41AM

    by No Respect (991) on Sunday July 05 2015, @10:41AM (#205249)

    The threat to humans is real and demonstrated over the last few weeks. If closing the beaches saves just one life, maybe a child's life, then the beaches absolutely should be closed.

    Note: Sarcasm present, those without a sense of humor should mind the gap.

    • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2015, @11:23AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 05 2015, @11:23AM (#205255)

      I'm curious...in your research, did you find any correlation between calls to remove the Confederate flag and the increase in shark attacks?

  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday July 05 2015, @11:40AM

    at least we can take comfort in the fact that sharks are usually shy.

    Some shark species are quite friendly; I once swam with the nurse sharks in Belize, they enjoy being scratched under their chins.

    One day in capitola I started shouting "SHARK SHARK SHARK" at the surfers, overcome with horror that the surfers weren't even paying attention. Eventually one paddled over and said those particular sharks were friendly to people.

    However, there are occasional great white attacks there. Back in the day a computer programmer made headlines by punching one in the nose. While he was injured he was able to paddle his board back to shore and survived.

    Monterey Bay was formed mostly by the Pajaro River just south of Watsonville on the eastern shore. If you look at an undersea topographical map, you can see that the central part of the bay gets quite deep, and quite suddenly so.

    From time to time a great white will be cruising around, minding his own business when all of a sudden he bumps into the seafloor so he ascends a little bit, not being to bright this pattern rinses and repeats then suddenly he finds tasty swimmers at the beach in montery.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by deadstick on Sunday July 05 2015, @06:59PM

    by deadstick (5110) on Sunday July 05 2015, @06:59PM (#205346)

    Every shark attack seems to be followed by "Only X people are bitten by sharks per year, and >>X people are hit by lightning." It might be instructive to find out the ratio of people outdoors to people immersed in salt water on any given day...

  • (Score: 1) by Bogsnoticus on Monday July 06 2015, @03:51AM

    by Bogsnoticus (3982) on Monday July 06 2015, @03:51AM (#205475)

    The sharks are just enforcing the castle doctrine. Come into my domain, I kill you.

    --
    Genius by birth. Evil by choice.