[CINC] shark attack statistics vs Halloween

[Donald Abbott]

OK, from a laymen's perspective here's my two cents.

In the final analysis I believe the experts will eventually conclude  
that sharks are opportunistic feeders — no different than other  
creatures in need of sustenance.

To say white sharks mistake people for seals seems to me more like PC  
(Political Correctness) than true science.  MISTAKING people is  
giving sharks more intelligence than they truly deserve.  Yes, white  
sharks USUALLY eat seals because there are a lot of seals in the  
water — thus seals ARE their natural prey.  However, if there were as  
many people as seals in the water where white sharks hunt, my guess  
is they'd be eating more people than seals.

Please, no harm/insults intended — these are just my simple thoughts.


My best,
Don

On Nov 2, 2010, at 8:22 PM, Debbie shelley wrote:

> Thanks for your insight for the great whites.  There are about 50%  
> more dog attacks in Ca. that have killed humans than sharks,.  I  
> was watching a show on great whites the day before.  It said that  
> they like a certain amount of blubber, as in seals and sea lions  
> and that most attacks on humans are mistaken identity's.   Debbie  
> shelley
>
> From: ppetrich39 at hotmail.com
> To: channel_islands_naturalist_corps at rain.org
> Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2010 07:12:00 -0700
> Subject: [CINC] shark attack statistics vs Halloween
>
> Ocean and beach enthusiasts,
>   Saturday night I witnessed a sick take on the recent tragic shark  
> attack on a UCSB student as a Halloween shark costume showed up at  
> a Halloween party I attended. Hopefully, such was not the case with  
> the trick or treat costumes that showed up at your doors? Last  
> week, Peter Howorth, in the Santa Barbara News Press, presented the  
> real statistics about shark attacks along the Ventura, Santa  
> Barbara, and San Luis Obispo coastline that should clarify the real  
> dangers swimmers face along our most common beaches.
>     Ventura County boasts only two shark attacks from 1900 to the  
> present. The first of these attacks was on a scuba diver on the  
> back side of San Nicolas Island in 1992, Another attack was on a  
> swimmer near Faria Beach in 2007. Both attacks resulted in minor  
> foot injuries. The identity of the type of sharks remains unknown.
>     In Santa Barbara County, no one has ever been attacked south of  
> Gaviota (really east of Gaviota) where Pacific Coast Highway turns  
> inland toward Buellton. Ten confirmed attacks in Santa Barbara  
> County since 1900 have occurred in more remote locations, where  
> pinnipeds are numerous. Pinnipeds are a favorite food for White  
> Sharks. Four of these attacks took place off Castle Rock at San  
> Miguel Island, the Channel Island farthest northwest. The other six  
> attacks, including this last tragic attack at Surf Beach, occurred  
> in an area stretching from near Point Conception north to Purisima  
> Point, inside Vandenberg Air Force Base. These northern beaches of  
> more remote Santa Barbara County are the only mainland shores in  
> the county where shark attacks have occurred.
>     San Luis Obispo County has recorded six confirmed shark  
> attacks, and maybe eight. All these attacks occurred from Pismo  
> Beach to Morro Rock in Morro Bay. Pinnipeds are very common in  
> these areas as well. As stated by Peter, "All in all, the coast of  
> the tricounties (for swimming) is pretty safe-certainly more so  
> than the freeway."  I might add, certainly safer for kids than  
> trick-or-treating on Halloween, when they become traffic accident  
> casualties at over twice their average rate.  Keeping myth at bay,  
> Paul.
>   P.S. The real danger of poisoned candy being given to kids on  
> Halloween by strangers is as bogus a myth as is the real danger to  
> them from sharks in our local beach waters. The two substantiated  
> deaths from such a deed, were later confirmed to be family cases of  
> murder. All others proved to be pranks that imaginative kids  
> perpetuated for the media, or hoaxes perpetuated by adults for the  
> same reason..
>
>
>
>
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