Yes, especially as they appear in the series of films shown on SyFy. Those scare the shit out of me. Tornado with a shark filling. I’m in Kansas, Dorothy. Do the math. Frightening, huh???
“I’m afraid of sharks, but only in a water situation. Like, if I saw a shark on the street, I’d be like, ‘WHAT?! F**K YOU!’ That’s the opposite of how I am with lions.”
To me, sharks are exactly like heights- I do not fear them, but I do respect them. I respect that I am clumsy and am not particularly suited to underwater biting contests, as the case may be.
Having spent a nice chunk of my life at the beach and in the ocean, I’ve paid attention to a lot of tips about sharks to avoid getting bitten. Things like:
Stay out of the water within a few hours of sunrise and sunset, when the sun is still low in the sky
Never swim by yourself; always be with a group of people
Keep away from piers or people fishing from the shore, as well as schools of fish
But then there was that weird summer a couple years ago when an astonishing number of people were bit by sharks at our beaches, and all those guidelines seemed to go out the window. People were getting bit in the middle of the day, with a crowd around them, and no fishermen in sight. I decided to skip riding the waves that summer. It was a little more boring, but I also didn’t get bit.
@anemones Interesting article. I blew it off just for the shark behavior. Big predators have large caloric needs and in a prey-rich environment they aren’t going to waste a lot of time in a siege. In order to create an edge of the seat situation movies almost always grossly distort animal behavior. Generally to the detriment of their real life counterparts. After the success of Jaws, sharks were butchered wholesale worldwide. Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws, went on a press tour asking people to stop killing them. In researching sharks for the book he’d developed considerable respect and appreciation for sharks, and was horrified to have triggered their senseless slaughter.
Someone came to my kids’ school to talk about sharks and convince them they’re not dangerous. He asked how many of the kids actually knew someone who had been bitten by a shark. Every kid raised a hand. One of their classmates lost part of a foot at the Outer Banks. Poor speaker.
I went SCUBA diving in the Bahamas with sharks. I was a little worried, because sharks, but the only thing that happened was that I got cold, because at 50’ it’s cold without a wet suit. Wear your wet suit.
Yes, especially as they appear in the series of films shown on SyFy. Those scare the shit out of me. Tornado with a shark filling. I’m in Kansas, Dorothy. Do the math. Frightening, huh???
“I’m afraid of sharks, but only in a water situation. Like, if I saw a shark on the street, I’d be like, ‘WHAT?! F**K YOU!’ That’s the opposite of how I am with lions.”
To me, sharks are exactly like heights- I do not fear them, but I do respect them. I respect that I am clumsy and am not particularly suited to underwater biting contests, as the case may be.
Nah, I’m not scared of them. I’ve had several over the years. Like their vacuums particularly.
But I do try to keep my distance from loan sharks and Mark Cuban.
Having spent a nice chunk of my life at the beach and in the ocean, I’ve paid attention to a lot of tips about sharks to avoid getting bitten. Things like:
But then there was that weird summer a couple years ago when an astonishing number of people were bit by sharks at our beaches, and all those guidelines seemed to go out the window. People were getting bit in the middle of the day, with a crowd around them, and no fishermen in sight. I decided to skip riding the waves that summer. It was a little more boring, but I also didn’t get bit.
@jqubed I wonder if the bacon-scented suntan lotion had something to do with it?
I’m not afraid of sharks, but then again I live in a place where it’s too cold (and full of rocks) to just go and swim swam about in the ocean.
Though talk of sharks does remind me of an article I just read: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/2017/06/23/47-meters-down-fails-dive-science/
@anemones Interesting article. I blew it off just for the shark behavior. Big predators have large caloric needs and in a prey-rich environment they aren’t going to waste a lot of time in a siege. In order to create an edge of the seat situation movies almost always grossly distort animal behavior. Generally to the detriment of their real life counterparts. After the success of Jaws, sharks were butchered wholesale worldwide. Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws, went on a press tour asking people to stop killing them. In researching sharks for the book he’d developed considerable respect and appreciation for sharks, and was horrified to have triggered their senseless slaughter.
I’m going to need a bigger boat
I swam with the sharks at Disney. They were already well-fed. Also, there were several divers there fatter than I.
Always carry weapons when you swim. Bat-shark repellant, and maybe a trident. Safety first.
I’m not afraid because I live thirty miles from the beach and we have a swimming pool.
No sharks. No fear.
Someone came to my kids’ school to talk about sharks and convince them they’re not dangerous. He asked how many of the kids actually knew someone who had been bitten by a shark. Every kid raised a hand. One of their classmates lost part of a foot at the Outer Banks. Poor speaker.
I went SCUBA diving in the Bahamas with sharks. I was a little worried, because sharks, but the only thing that happened was that I got cold, because at 50’ it’s cold without a wet suit. Wear your wet suit.
http://www.skin-diver.com/departments/DiveTheWorld/CarribeanAndBermuda/Bahamas/sharkshow_sept99.asp?theID=951
http://www.xanadudive.com/
I swam with them, fed them and held one in Punta Cana…it was pretty cool, but I do NOT need to do it again :p