How do I deal with sharks when going overboard?

I'm taking a three hour boat ride through shark infested waters in December. I'll be near shore in a populated area. If I have to abandon the boat I'll most likely be swimming to shore. There are lots of sharks in the area. I need help preparing for this trip. Any ideas would be welcome.

I guess I should mention it will be warm in December.

Rule number one with any wildlife.

DON'T PANIC!!


May sound like a flip smart-alek response but panicking makes everything worse and predators take advantage of prey panic.

What size boat? What survival gear is on board. The best way to deal with sharks is to not get wet. Get into the life-raft or life-boat and don't look like something that needs to be tasted.

That's what Gilligan thought too.

There isn't any way to "deal" with sharks. If you're in water that sharks inhabit and they are of the sort to take a bite out of people, you're fair game.

I've never seen or heard of any shark repellents that actually worked.

Best thing to do is stay in the boat.

The number of people who traverse "shark infested waters" without being eaten are huge, the number of people who are eaten or even attacked by sharks is infinitesimal.

Take comfort in statistics.

John E

If you do go in the water, make sure a lot of others are in the water with you. this way your chances are better. If you are with 7-people, you have a 1 in 8 chance of becoming dinner rather then a 100% chance when by yourself….

Poor sharks, like Grizzly Bears, Wolves, Lions and Himalayan Leopards their numbers are grossly depleted to near extinction from shark fin soup and lazy Elk Hunters who feel outmatched with only a Weatherby .300 mag." Sometimes you get the bear.Sometimes the bear gets you."Our losses are infintesimal.

Here is trick a diver devised that goes strangely ignored. What is the one creature sharks don't mess with smaller than they are? It is the sea snake. And what does a sea snake look like? It is black and white banded. This diver painted his wetsuit with white bands and reported every shark within visual range sudenly broke off when he appeared.

A third survival trick, one I've ascribed to since my own service separation was coined by a young JFK writing to a friend who had just been commisioned- " Don't go near the water."

"... diver painted his wetsuit with white bands..."

So he looked like a jailbird in the water, right???

If you happen to be the one who gets lost, then it's HUGE.

Go for the eyes.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/survival-guide/shark.html

I have read/seen/heard/something to the effect that sharks seem to prefer moving targets, as in swimmers/dogpaddlers. So maybe just float, and wait for the Coasties to come fish you out of the water???

During a recent show on the Discovery Channel during Shark Week, they found that sharks preferred the test dummy that was just floating and doing nothing compared to the one thrashing about or swimming. They explored a lot of common myths such as whether to float in groups or alone and whether sharks were attracted to a swimmer versus a floater.

Can't say I remember much more though about the results. I probably wasn't that focused since I live far from the ocean.

"...sharks preferred the test dummy that was just floating..."

Great, just great. Another theory shot in the butt...

Well, what would you do if a 300 pound guy with braces tried to eat you?

Sharks are people, too.

Didn't know there were any left.



Anyway if you do get bitten in half by a Great White Shark which has attacked you from vertically below there is not much you can really do about it. You can only hope for a reasonably quick death. Hopefully this happens before having your head seperated from your torso by the those rows of giant serated knife like teeth whilst still conscious.

Unlike this poor fellow;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_W1JcRDCVg&feature=related

Sharks can also swim faster than people, so there's no point in swimming in a vein attempt to get away.

Hope this helps.

Some stuff I have read over the years...

Sharks attacked shipwreck survivors that had lost their pants and (shoes?) compared to fully clothed survivors.

The shark bag may work.. you are basically in a black garbage bag. Helps to contain any blood or scent you may be giving off in the water and masks your flailing limbs.

I would pack a large black garbage bag and keep my pants on.

back in WW2 life jackets had an attached packet of, according to the official label, what was called "life jacket repellent". Which may be a hint as to its effectiveness in repelling sharks. It was, as I remember, a mix of a ferric sulphate and a dye that produced a dense cloud that was intended to provide a visual barrier. Testing showed that sharks freely swam into and through the cloud of dissolved repellent. Evidently the sulphate wasn't sufficiently distasteful to sharks and they don't mind swimming into water they can't see through.

Might have something to do with sharks primarily hunting by smell and, in part, by sensing electrical fields closer in.

The repellent was not tested for its ability to keep life jackets away. One has to assume, with typical governmental literalism and humor, the wording of the label wasn't any accident.

Bottom line is when you abandon ship you either retreat into a boat or you take your chances. The good news is that most shark encounters are not hostile.

Aerial observation of surf lines shows that among the lines of surfers are sharks. Often large ones. And yet attacks on surfers are few and far between. Lots of surfers have tales of being rubbed up against or 'sniffed'. But he number of actual attacks are small. The speculation is that sharks generally only tend to bite surfers when the humans kick them or land on them or when the sharks are feeding on fish in disturbed water and the humans put themselves in the middle.

This accounts for the attacks tending to be a quick nip, possibly an expression of annoyance for being kicked, or a quick bite, often just a taste, followed by release. More exploratory than feeding behavior.

If and when you have to abandon ship the biggest dangers will be drowning and hypothermia. Sharks, if they make the list at all, are pretty far down on the list.

Someone needs to invent a device that works similar to an air bag in a vehicle but in the form of a life jacket/vest. Add a shark detector thing-a-ma-jig and/or a manual trigger and watch it pop the shark in the snout right as it is ready to chomp. It could have the added benefit of carrying the swimmer to the surface.

Anyone care to guess what ocean creature kills more people per year? And no, it's not recreational boaters.

The fearful and mighty Herring. By choking on a kipper. (this is just a guess BTW)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWZ5ArYqjsw

Cats that fell off boats?

-Blast

Jellyfish?

So, would you bring along Mary Ann or Ginger?

Must be Creamed Herring. Slow death by high cholesterol?

Mary Ann, definitely.

Actually the mythbusters did a show on sharks. One thing they tested was moving verses staying still. This came from reports from survivors of the Indianapolis. With an interview with one of the survivors. They put Tory and and Grant in shark suits. One thrashed about the other stayed still. Then they reversed roles. As reported by the Indianapolis survivor staying still appeared to be the wiser decision. The sharks tended to go for the movement.

Don't bleed.

Fend off a shark from the worst case scenario handbook.

Jim

Well, according to the video I have posted above playing dead or splashing violently is not a good idea. They advise going for the eyes - well maybe it can have some effect but to me it sounds like last resort action. I wouldn´t count on it.

But other videos below how to survive attack of various animals (bear, gorilla, ...) are quite informative - check them out.



Very interesting trick.

The show I saw was not Mythbusters. I believe it was a segment done by a common anti-hero of this forum, Les Stroud, called Surviving Sharks. I can't find the video online but the link to the episode guides for the 2 shows is below. Stroud's segment was the one that used mechanical dummies (shown in the slide show) surrounded by chum to test their reaction to sharks. I think the reason I remember it is because the result ran contrary to accepted wisdom. The show did imply that staying in groups was better.


http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/sharkweek/episode-guide/episode-guide.html

Learn to walk on water.