Question: Wetsuit color & shark attack?

Nick Bown wrote:

> To put shark attacks in perspective with a quick, silly statistic...
> approximately 25 people are attacked globally every year but 250
> are killed annually by falling coconuts. This makes the humble
> coconut is 10 times more deadly than the average shark.

<pedant mode>

No it doesn't. It depends on the total numbers, for example if
only 1000 people ever get in the water near a shark then the
risk is 1 in 40. If 1 million people pass under coconut trees
then that risk is 1 in 4000. I have no idea of the actual
numbers in either case but I'd guess that a lot more people
spend time under coconut trees than swimming in shark-infested
waters.

</pedant mode>

- Keith

"Dom" <d.legros@NObtSPAMinternet.PLEASEcom> wrote in message
news:cfdvov4b4kf1kqm1j451h4hjgsiqgkpg18@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 22:18:03 +0100, ferret <ferret@cruelmail.com>
> scribbled:
>
<SNIP>
>
> Not that there's many sharks in Stoney - but the vrayfish are grumpy
> little buggers! :)

Are the vrayfish a new introduction? Never seen one meself... :)

Nic

On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 15:51:58 GMT, "chilly" <slarson@shaw.canada>
wrote:


>
>Maybe you should get a bright red one with green trim.
>
Maybe they like elves.

JF


"It's a damn poor mind that can only think
of one way to spell a word."
- Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)

"boatlover" <boatlover1971@yahoo.com.hk> wrote in message news:<bmm5n2$2aci$1@news.hgc.com.hk>...

> Hi everybody,
> I just wonder if there is any relation between wetsuit
> color & shark attacks? Somebody told me black is perfect while others said
> yellow is best cause sharks can't figure out what you are and wouldn't
> recognize you as a seal. Does anybody has any suggestion on this? I couldn't
> find any information on this. Thank you.
> Casey

Hi Casey, nice to meet you. Your question is one that comes up from
time to time. I've done a cut a paste of a previous thread with my
comments to another poster. Perhaps the sites posted there will help
you to understand more about what we know (fairly little) and what we
don't know to explain shark behavior.

Also, if helps any... my first wetsuit was entirely black since that
is pretty much all that was offered back then. My second wetsuit is
blue with bright yellow and aqua trim / stripes. My other wetsuit is
black and purple. I'm still here and haven't had to fend off any
aggressive sharks. <knocking on my wooden head> :)
~B~
> "OldSalt" <babz@fast.net> wrote in message
> news:edcb1a54.0209091245.1df295ab@posting.google.c om...
> > Ok... but.
> > I don't 'go over and check out' sharks. I know they are territorial

> This has been mentioned a number of times in this thread; in reality most
> sharks are not territorial. And only a few species have trouble with
> proximity. If uncomfortable they almost always move away on their own rather
> than striking an aggressive posture. It has been suggested that those sharks
> that do effect the aggressive posture (arched back, fins down) are old or
> sickly and unwilling to move far away from the one environment they can have
> hunting success.

"Australian shark biologist Ian Gordon has been getting into the water
off Florida beaches and deliberately agitating bull sharks to observe
their reaction. He says his research so far suggests that underwater
geography and a sense of territory can provoke an attack."

http://www.time.com/time/pacific/mag...30/cover2.html

"After a shark decides to attack, it "postures", swimming erratically
with elevated snout, arched back, pectoral fin depression, stiff
lateral bending of the body and rapid tail motion. In bursts of
motion, a shark can use its powerful caudal fin musculature and attain
speed in the water of up to 64 kilometers m per hour. As a shark
prepares to strike, it typically opens and closes its jaws (up to
three times each second), depresses the pectoral fins in a braking
action and elevates its head."
" It is very difficult to generalize about shark attacks on humans.
Current explanations favor aggression directed at the frightened
victim. Aggression may be aggravated by purely anomalous behavior,
violation of courtship patterns or territorial invasion."

http://www.istm.org/news_share/200203/shark.html

"Sharks may also attack from a territorial drive, with no intention to
feed. A characteristic swimming pattern called agonistic display
usually precedes attacks out of territoriality. The shark shakes its
head and swims erratically with a hunched back, pectoral fins pointing
down, and snout pointing up."

http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/sh.../behavior.html

"There may be a number of reasons why sharks attack humans in these
areas. Some attacks may be purely an inquisitive testing, some may be
territorial responses, some could be due to unintentional interference
by the victim in shark courtship activities, and some may be directly
associated with feeding behaviors."

http://www.mote.org/~rhueter/sharks/attacks.phtml

"Moore said sharks may develop territorial ties to these rigs, which
could pose conservation concerns in situations when platforms are
removed."

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/FISH/Sharks/InNews/OilRigs.htm

> > If you watch and don't touch, if you assume a
> > non-threatening posture instead of sticking your face into theirs,
> > then you're usually alright.

> Probably a correct assessment for small reef species, but when it comes to
> ocean hunters it is all up to their behavior and not yours/ours.

I said "marine life" in my previous post and was not speaking of just
sharks at this point. I wasn't clear apparently. However, IMHO, I
don't believe that sharks are 'friendly' when in the wild. There is no
sense in provoking them. I've seen divers approach resting nurse
sharks from the front and attempt to pet their head. This is simply
asking to get bit and this isn't even a behavior that many ppl would
try with a large dog they don't know.

> A shark
> that believes you look like a prospective fat source is going to come check
> you out....almost no matter what you do or don't do.

It may depend on the area you are in. Some suggest that sharks will
always attempt to keep an area open to flee. If it feels there is no
exit near you, then it just might pass you up and continue swimming
past you to seek out other 'food' instead.

> How you manage their
> approach will probably dictate whether or not you are harmed. But if you
> come face to face with a shark it will always be on it's terms, never
> yours.

Assuming that you even see it before it attacks.

In Palau a few years ago, I was wearing a grey and black skin in a group of
5 or 6 white tip reef sharks when a remora started "grooming" my face mask
and knocked it off. Made me plenty nervous - that remora resembled a
mini-shark at the time - but I believe he thought I was a shark...

Mickey
Fort Lauderdale, FL

"boatlover" <boatlover1971@yahoo.com.hk> wrote in message
news:bmm5n2$2aci$1@news.hgc.com.hk...
> Hi everybody,
>
> I just wonder if there is any relation between
wetsuit
> color & shark attacks? Somebody told me black is perfect while others said
> yellow is best cause sharks can't figure out what you are and wouldn't
> recognize you as a seal. Does anybody has any suggestion on this? I
couldn't
> find any information on this. Thank you.
>
> Casey
>
>

Jason O'Rourke wrote:

> boatlover <boatlover1971@yahoo.com.hk> wrote:
>
>> I just wonder if there is any relation between wetsuit
>>color & shark attacks? Somebody told me black is perfect while others said
>>yellow is best cause sharks can't figure out what you are and wouldn't
>>recognize you as a seal. Does anybody has any suggestion on this? I couldn't
>>find any information on this. Thank you.
>
>
> Someone never heard of "yumm yumm yellow," apparently.
>
> The worst color after black
>
> and blue, and pink, and green.
>
> (The most dangerous color is whatever is being worn by the newbie
> diver in front of you)
>

No! The purpose the the newbie diver is to divert the shark's
attention. That's why I carry a sharp knife instead of shears. If the
color doesn't divert the shark from me, the cut will.

"John Francis CID" <johnfrancis@sympatico.ca.remove> wrote in message
news:kf30pv4p8010fulslpald5ol5t81rc13vu@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 16 Oct 2003 15:51:58 GMT, "chilly" <slarson@shaw.canada>
> wrote:
>
>
> >
> >Maybe you should get a bright red one with green trim.
> >
> Maybe they like elves.

Exactly, soft and chewy on the outside, crunchy on the inside.

> Mickey
> Fort Lauderdale, FL

Mossman!!!!! SinJin!!!!!!

I want a restraining order put on this deadbeat to prevent the use of this
name until the lawsuit papers can be properly filed for theft of my name.
Time to treat this ass just like that rat in Orlando.


AirHog
--
"there's the wolf pack and the sled dogs, and you have a God given right to
have your nose up under a tail for as long as you want."

<snip>
> Well, actually, I've heard yellow referred to as "yummy, yummy yellow", as
> in shark's seem to be attracted to it.

I thought the yellow ones tasted like chicken?
JOhn

Hi oldsalt, . nice to meet you too.

Thank you for getting me all those links and let me understand more about
sharks, really appreciate it,
many thanks!

Casey