Dear Individual,

I agree with you that animals will usually get the
upper-hand - its for that reason that you don't
put your hand into a lion's cage or poke a snake
with a stick or go swimming several kilometeres from
the shoreline et cetera.

Dear Banjo,

I've made a note of your story, "If its salty..."
Great story!

Since a surfer in a black wet suit looks like a crippled seal it could be worth trying yellow or blue wet suits. If sharks don’t mind a yellow wet suit and there is no difference in the attack rate we can try something else. I can remember the time when after a shark attack every hoon in town climbed into their tinnies with a carton of VB and set out to kill every shark they could lure, bait or attract. I would like to think we have progressed from that.

Sillier, I believe the color theory has been tried before without much, if any, success.

If you have ever dived before, most objects on the surface have more of a siloete type of appearance when looking from below.

It's more the surface activity that attracts sharks, among other things.

We notice, again while blue water fishing, that bait schools on the surface attract many speicies, including sharks.

My bet is these sharks are frequent visitors to this steady of beach and, so long a the food remains, so will they.

It seems ironic that the majority of shark attacks (from great whites) occur in seal populated areas.

My theory again is that these sharks think these surfers are either slow swimmers, injured, or both.

Oh...I've forgot one more important thing:).....going by yourself(on a surfboard or shark biscuit, is just asking to be eaten.

Take my advice....when you go into the sea.....take 6 for you:)

At least you will have a one in six chance of not being a hot lunch:)

I wonder why fish swim in schools?.....lol

cc

Plant, there would be literally thens of thousands of surfers in the surf, around the world at any given time.

The way many, like yourself carry on, any I'll informed person could be forgiven for thinking these sharks patrol every square inch of ocean beach awaiting for a surfer to jump in.

Thats simply not the case.

Attacks on surfers (by great whites) are generally site specific, which lends to the theory that sharks have learned where and when to hunt them.

If I were to advise anyone on what not to do when it comes to surfing, i would suggest the following.

Don't enter the water pre dawn or dusk.

Don't surf anywhere near where seals frequent

You see fishing, that's serious fishing, provides an insight to many habits of fish and sharks alike.

Water temp, the sun and the moon phases all play a crucial role in feeding patterns.

They all have one thing in common, they eat when they need to, not simply when food is available. However, just like killer whales have learned to hunt seals in certain parts of the world, by beaching themselves, I recon sharks are learning where an easy meal can be had.

Crocodiles were jumping long before humans reached Australia. As a way of reaching birds and possums on low branches hanging over rivers. Even specially trained animals are only generally taught to perform natural behaviours on demand. The exception being perhaps Dolphins who can execute original synchronous acts on demand. Those guys are smart!

Sharks get smarter as they get older and there was once an old white pointer in the Tasman Strait known as Barnacle Bill who was estimated to be around 6 tonnes. Local fishermen were terrified of him. The shark fishing world record holder caught him but the fish broke the line. This was an unusual case. The older sharks tend to live in much deeper water. Coastal sharks are usually young and prone to making mistakes like confusing surfers with seals.

Ofcourse thats not the only reason they attack people. Just like people each shark is different. Occasionally you do get Rogues that develop a taste for human flesh. Its rare. Humans aren't really fatty enough for their liking. Ofcourse if a shark is hungry enough he will eat anything. Since seal numbers have grown this hasn't been such a big problem but ofcourse the shark numbers have also grown. More sharks increase the chances of shark attack.

Sharks could be getting more interested in eating humans. Evolution dictates that a major food source will always create predators. Eventually. This is a major problem in biology. Vats of harmless microbes will often spontaneously evolve a predator microbe in their midst and the whole vat has to be thrown away.