two shark attacks in a week

[Craig.]

pretty amazing considering how few there are in a year in florida. something going on in the gulf that is annoying these creatures?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050627/ap_ ... ark_attack

[Hyperion2]

You mean other than people going into their "homes"?  lol

The media wants you to think this is much more of a problem than it is.

Every year, 188 people are killed when their car collides with a dear.  But how often do we hear about those cases?

Very rarely.  No one is scared of a deer.  But two people get snagged by a shark, with it's razor sharp teeth and the way it lives mysteriously in the shadows of the sea...now THAT is a news story.

Sucks for the people who got bitten, but it's not a big deal.

[ozzy72]

Alas ever since Jaws came out sharks are seen as evil, in fact they are the caretakers of the sea pruning out the weak and sick. Amazing creatures much maligned
Alas much of this sort of thing is our own fault as we wipe out their food stocks and force them into smaller and smaller areas. But journalists never let the facts get in the way of selling a story

[Hyperion2]

Sharks can be scared away if you blow bubbles.  How scary can they really be if BUBBLES scare them away?  LOL

[ozzy72]

So a large beans and cabbage lunch before swimming is a good idea? Not only can you scare away sharks but you'll be jet thrust from your bum to get away faster

[Craig.]

and the smell. If they can smell a drop of blood from a mile away. imagine what one of Mr Fozzers curries might do to the poor things.

[Hyperion2]

This could explain why Fozzer has not yet been consumed by a shark.

[ozzy72]

Fozzers Fab Food could have a whole new marketplace here I want to be Marketing Manager

[beaky]

I'm sure overfishing has nothing to do with it  ::).

[Paz]

 Seems like every year about this time people start getting bit by sharks, let's see, it's summer so lot's of dumbasses are jumping into shark infested waters, could that be why we don't hear about shark attacks in the winter?
 Maybe I am just overly cautious or just smarter than some people, but I would never swim in any body of water where so many strange, deadly, poisonous, pointy, hungry, aggressive, etc., creatures live. You don't have to do that much research on the oceans or Gulf of Mexico to know that there are a lot of things living in there that can really f**k you up.
 Therefore, I can not feel bad about someone who is attacked by a shark when they are trespassing in his domain, to a shark anything is fair game if it resembles food.

[Wing Nut]

Paz, I like you a lot man, but that is crap.  I am a PADI Certified Rescue Diver and have been on dives with all kinds of little nasties from Jellyfish to Barracuda to sharks and have yet to even SEE an incident where someone got hurt.  

Obviously, sharks do attack people, but it is so rare as to be of negligible concern.  In Scuba diving the first thing they teach you is that you are in their home and you need to act in their home the same way you would want them to act in yours.  In fact, the major source of animal injuries is not from being attacked, but because some moron does something stupid like grabbing a shark by the tail or holding food in your mouth for a Barracuda to grab from you.

These people that were attacked were probably not doing something stupid like that, but it's also not fair to categorize a whole species because of two incidents.

[H]

I expect that in the way that kids may be screaming and splashing about may sometimes appear as a wounded food source, anyway; sea life rarely does so except in distress.

I can't help from noticing your statements, Hype:
"Every year, 188 people are killed when their car collides with a dear." and then, "No one is scared of a deer."

Thus, we know you must know the spelling for each; a lot of dings, dents and vehicle pile-ups in your domestic disturbances?

[Paz]

 You are welcome to consider my opinion to be crap, but it is logical and true.

[commoner]

....not too sure about this "you are in his home" stuff when talking about predators.....if you put a Great White in my swimming pool with me or a Tiger in my bedroom just as I was slipping into my nightshirt.........well sure as hell they wouldn't respect my "home"..............commoner

[Hyperion2]

Holy crap.  I spelled a word wrong.  One word in three years.  That's about right for me.  (And to think, I made such a fatal error while AT WORK trying to run an ER and doing 11 things at once!)

More on topic, if I might.  Why is it that when a bear comes into our back yards, we expect it to be stopped, but when we venture into nature's back yard, we're surprised when it does the same?