Very interesting and fascinating to watch.

If I were aware of one being around, I still would calmly get out of the water and not continue with my planned water activity.
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In general, every time you get in, you can count on them being there.

With clear and undisturbed water (watercraft etc.) and no prey around, there probably is little risk.
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But after all, it's their turf and they call the shots.
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I recently caught wind of this guys YouTube page. It has definitely made me scared to swim in Malibu area. I know the chances are greater that I get hit by a car than bit by a shark, but still. Maybe ill swim with a group if I'm not the guy off the back of the pack.

https://youtube.com/c/TheMalibuArtist

I wouldn't say that. I think it depends on many factors, age, sex, pregnancy, size, whether they are injured/sick, hungry etc A small female juvenile is a different kettle of fish to a 6m aggressive male. There is footage of people diving without cages with large Whites, but typically these will be pregnant and not looking to eat. I think it may be a little bit irresponsible for people to suggest they aren't particularly dangerous. If you see a large White, you show them the respect they deserve and get out the water.


"Unlike Police Chief Martin Brody in "Jaws," he does not run screaming up the beach at everyone to get out of the water"

That's just beyond dumb. We are talking about a timid 2m juvenile, not a 6m aggressive adult. If someone spots a 6m aggressive adult, they run screaming up the beach yelling at everyone to get out the water....

It actually pisses me off when I hear so called "experts" make these sweeping generalisations about Great Whites e.g they are just curious, humans are not on their menu, they don't like the taste of human meat and won't eat us etc etc 100% of all fatal shark attacks in Western Australia in the past 20 years have been from Great Whites and about 60% of those attacks, the victim was eaten. One guy was bitten in half, the shark ate his legs, then came back minutes later to eat the rest of him. Perhaps the experts could chat to the victims family about how Whites don't like the taste of humans.....

Sorry for your loss.
But your statement is equally irrational.
If great whites would really have a taste for humans, you guys in West Australia couldn't set foot into your waters.
And by now there would be thousands of deaths from shark attacks.

So there is further research needed when and how sharks attack. Sure, juveniles might just check us out. But with that, by now we should have 100's of man eaters in California waters munching away on beach-goers and swimmers.

We have some of it figured out (see my post about disturbances and prey). So let's keep going.
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Note to self: When visiting Western Australia enjoy the beautiful sights on land...stay out of the water!

haha nah it's not that bad, just be smart. I did a 20km OWS recently from Perth to Rottnest island and had no worries about sharks. Open water swims, we swim as a group. Some people have been unlucky, others have made choices that I would consider to be foolish e.g spear-fishing off a seal colony. I've encountered sharks before, but never a Great White, however had a few mates that have come across them and mates mates, stories in the press, on Facebook and every case the White has been extremely "inquisitive" (aggressive). I've not heard of one encounter of a White just cruising past a swimmer, diver etc ignoring them.

I'm not saying they do like the taste of humans, simply an adult Great White is dangerous, period. We have an annual open water race that takes us 20km off the coast with hundreds of swimmers and never had any dramas with sharks. So yeah I agree more research is needed, but it just irks me when "researchers" make these ill-informed generalisations about Great Whites.

This kind of shit is not real. It implies that large adult whites are actually not aggressive or dangerous. The reality is this shark had just spent hours feeding on a whale carcass and was in a post feed trance like state. Plus they had multiple divers with electrical shark prods in the water. Promoting that it’s safe and okay to swim with these animals is irresponsible. I would imagine most marine biologists would find this kind of behaviour abhorrent.

You're critical of sweeping generalisations, yet you're quite happy to dismiss and criticise "experts" and "researchers".

There's been an increasing body of knowledge on shark behaviour in recent years, much presenting data applicable to managing shark-human interaction. I'm not sure as to who you suggest should listen to regarding analysis and interpretation of the data.

Where did you get the stat that 60% of victims of fatal attacks are eaten? The following is from a paper published in 2014:

Large predatory sharks also has the ability to remove large pieces of flesh from its prey, however, the vast majority of bite wounds to humans are single lacerations where no flesh is actually removed. The injuries to humans range from minor teeth marks to slashing type wounds resulting in minor to severe lacerations, sometimes resulting in the death of a person. However, in these interactions it would seem that sharks are not intent on feeding on humans and may find human flesh unpalatable (Klimley, et al, 1996a). While they do bite people they rarely eat them.

Shark_Attack_Theories_Paper_2014.pdf (taronga.org.au)

For some perspective, there were 15 fatalities from shark attacks in Western Australia waters between Nov 2000 and June 2016, with none recorded in the 5 years prior to that period. I haven't tried to find the stats for the last 5 years.

Shark Attack Data: Australia

Yes, agreed, we as humans are fools.

But if we’re to better understand when, why and what sharks attack, we can reduce risk. And those not swimming around mating areas/times, around inlets with potential prey (as an example) are reducing that risk.

There’s no absolute safety in open water. Things can go wrong in a heart beat.

I read a similar thing a while ago ("while they do bite people, they rarely eat them) but that is not the case in Western Australia. The 60% was a guesstimate as I can't find any specific data, but all the fatal attacks are high profile and I can recall at least 7 where the victims were eaten. 2 incidents involved the shark taking the legs and coming back later for the torso. Other incidents the shark came back but the victim had been pulled into a boat or onto the beach. A typical Great White attack pattern involves them biting their prey, swimming off, letting it bleed out then coming back when it's weakened or dead. So I'm guessing it would be closer to 80% if the victims hadn't been pulled out of the water? There have also been numerous occassions where surfers, divers and swimmers have just disappeared. The verdict is always "presumed drowned"


MATTHEW Holmes was on his jet ski when he saw a surfer being mauled by a 4m great white shark just 50m in front of him.
He took a friend to shore and then went back to help Benjamin Charles Linden, 24, but found him floating face down in the water with one leg gone and part of his other leg also missing.
Mr Holmes tried to pull Mr Linden up, but the shark bumped the jet ski.
He then saw the shark take Mr Linden's body in its mouth and swim towards the shore.
About 10 seconds later, the shark came back past Mr Holmes with its mouth closed.

OK. So your self-proclaimed guestimates are more accurate, comprehensive and reliable than professional opinion.

I just assumed that whoever wrote "while they do bite people they rarely eat them" was not a professional and was just some journalist. I'm not sure of the exact percentage, but as you would probably be aware, many people are in fact eaten and as I said, the stat would probably be higher if victims hadn't been pulled to safety.

satanellus wrote:

OK. So your self-proclaimed guestimates are more accurate, comprehensive and reliable than professional opinion.

6 out of 15 since 2000 have been eaten

Geoff Brazier
Brian Guest
Bryn Martin
Ben Linden
Gary Johnson
Andrew Sharpe


So not 60%, but it's certainly contradictory to the professionals statement that rarely do they eat humans.

The quote isn't from a journalist.

It's from John West, who instigated the Australian Shark Attack File in 1980 and has been the curator of the project for most of the duration since then. Among other functions, the ASAF compiles and consolidates Aussie shark attack data.

Here's John's bio: Our Team | Taronga Conservation Society Australia

I'm going to send him an email. My colleague was killed by a White whilst diving in 2016 and my mates mate was killed last year in Esperance by a White. Surely as an expert on shark attacks he would be cognisant of the fact that people are in fact eaten. And in many cases the Great White would have eaten the victim if the body hadn't been recovered. The Abalone diver in Western Australia was attacked as he was getting into the boat, his mate had a tug of war with the shark, the shark intent on eating him, eventually his mate got the top half and shark got the bottom half and continued to circle the boat still hungry. I'm guessing because they recovered part of the body it doesn't technically count as a shark eating the victim.....

I think there is this trend amongst marine biologists, conservationist etc to try and dispel this jaws myth, that Great Whites are man eaters, so they come up with crap like they don't eat humans, Well they do. I'm not sure how he would explain that to the families of the victims that were eaten.

Perhaps he's referring to sharks in general. It's very rare for Tigers, Bulls, Bronze Whalers etc to eat humans. Great Whites are a different story.

As my Grandpop in Florida used to say when we'd go down to the beach [feel free to use a Quint accent, if you can]

"If you taste Salt in the Sea, then Sharks there will be"


It didn't occur to me until much later to think "He was from Michigan - what the fuck did he know about sharks?"

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

bingo.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

Corrected for accuracy

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Can you PM who the think the victim is? I have so many friend that swim from there but have not heard the name to see if we know them.