Northwest Dive Club

yummy yellow

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localn ... sure-point

deep diver wrote:yummy yellow

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localn ... sure-point

At the risk of violating a club rule , I will expose the newly found enviromentalist in me.

As a kid I grew up with a real fear of sharks, I mean I could hear the music from JAWS when I was in a swimming pool. I was one of those people that was irrationally afraid of sharks. But over my time diving I have been fascinated to see sharks. I have not seen the monsters portrayed in the movies or articles like this. I went on a recent trip that really changed my views about sharks. I read this article and thought it was interesting how many times the word "attack" was used. I had to squint to see the damage to the boat. You can find all kinds of stats to support any point of view. But, I bet that it would suprise some to find out that there were zero fatalaties in the US from shark attacks last year. Another stat that I find surprising is that worldwide there are between 30 and 70 million sharks killed for their fins each year. I have started to ask, who is hunting who? I think Paul Watson and the Sea Shepard group just might have it right.

On a side note, I have recently grown a ponytail and I now wear old Jerry Garcia t-shirts, I am looking for some pants made from Hemp. This short little rant may help explain my new appearance. For now, rant off.

blackwater wrote:On a side note, I have recently grown a ponytail and I now wear old Jerry Garcia t-shirts...

Photos please!

shark are great to see ,maybe not great whites attack of the world http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/isaf/geomaps.htm

blackwater wrote:I bet that it would suprise some to find out that there were zero fatalaties in the US from shark attacks last year. Another stat that I find surprising is that worldwide there are between 30 and 70 million sharks killed for their fins each year. I have started to ask, who is hunting who?

This.

Also, while they may seem like "attacks" to us, for the most part, they're just sharks doing what sharks do - biting stuff. I mean, according to the website that deep diver posted, there have been 44 fatal shark bites in the US in the last 341 years. That's barely statistically relevant. On average in the US, there are approximately 3 shark bites a year, and less than 1 is fatal. (Now, if you look at the last 100 years, as people have been spending more time in the ocean, it's a higher number, around 10 per year, but still less than 1 fatal shark bite per annum.)

On the news last night, they made sure to include pictures of a big, dead shark along with the photo of the white shark trailing the kayak in Massachusetts. Turned my stomach. I LOVED Jaws as a kid. I rooted for the shark! I wanted to dive because of that movie, and I wanted to see sharks when I did it.

As divers, we're de facto stewards of, and spokespeople for the underwater environment. It's up to us to educate our friends and family (and anyone else that will listen) about the fragility of that world.

/rant (sorry)

scottsax wrote:

blackwater wrote: /rant (sorry)

Well, I for one liked your rant.

The number of shark attacks is very low unless you are the one bitten