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#288855 - 05/02/18 01:18 PM Re: Defense against sharks, the bears of the sea! [Re: Bingley]
hikermor Offline
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Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
Bear attacks are dramatic,usually front page news. However, honey bees and domestic dogs kill more people every year, but just don't make the news.

With sharks, the measures are mainly passive and preventive. With bears, firearms are an option (aggressive and manly). A lot of the bear defense debate centers on firearms vs. bear spray and the debates are interesting. While neither is perfect, carrying a firearm appeals to many, bear spray less so. Research (mostly by Stephen Herrero) shows that bear spray is more likely to work.

I own firearms and occasionally carry. My feeling is that most often the weight and bulk of a firearm and ammo could be more effectively used for water, first aid items, extra clothing, etc.

Wild animal attacks are not the most likely form of trouble encountered outdoors - falls, drowning, and bad weather are more likely to cause difficulty.


Edited by hikermor (05/02/18 01:19 PM)
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#288856 - 05/02/18 02:34 PM Re: Defense against sharks, the bears of the sea! [Re: hikermor]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
We, like bears, are mammals and thus an argument could be made that we have just as much right to walk in the woods as the bear, so self-defense is okay if a mean old bear attacks us while we’re trying to play with her cubs.

Sharks OTOH are fish and we are not. The ocean is their home, not ours and if they decide to taste our feet while they so graciously allow us to trespass, that’s okay. If we tease them while out on a surfboard and they mistakenly take a bite thinking we really are a seal/sea lion, that’s the human’s own fault, not the shark’s so the shark gets a pass.

You may have guessed that I’m sorta on team shark when it comes to humans being attacked. I’ve seen the Shark Week video’s of humans touching sharks and the sharks being okay with it because those humans were polite. Ever notice how sharks attack shark cages? Sharks hate to be put in cages and they are instinctively trying to help the humans trapped inside to escape... okay that was a bit over the top, but you get my point. Sharks live in the sea and if we go there, the liability for damages is on us, no reason to make the shark pay for our bad deeds.

Meet Kimi Werner: The Woman Who Rode a Great White Shark

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#288867 - 05/04/18 01:44 PM Re: Defense against sharks, the bears of the sea! [Re: Bingley]
LCranston Offline
2
Enthusiast

Registered: 08/31/09
Posts: 201
Loc: Nebraska
Sharks are totally a myth- I have been swimming here in Nebraska for 45 years, and never even seen one....

Lets talk about dangerous animals, like deer, or mosquitoes...

(yes, I know that sharks are salt water only)

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#288868 - 05/04/18 02:36 PM Re: Defense against sharks, the bears of the sea! [Re: LCranston]
M_a_x Offline
Veteran

Registered: 08/16/02
Posts: 1203
Loc: Germany
Originally Posted By: LCranston

Lets talk about dangerous animals, like deer, or mosquitoes...

Those animals may well kill and injure much more people than sharks. Around here some people suffered severe abdominal wounds because they found it so cute that the deer rubbed against them.


Originally Posted By: LCranston
(yes, I know that sharks are salt water only)

Actually species like the bull shark roam freshwater too. Jeremy Wade did an episode about that. The episode also featured a horse that has been bitten and almost drowned by a shark well inland in a river.
It may be good to avoid splashing around and not wear anything in yum yum yellow in the water.
I personally prefer to carry small knives in potentially shark infested rivers. It´s much easier to escape to the banks when the blades does not get caught by your legs.
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#288869 - 05/04/18 03:09 PM Re: Defense against sharks, the bears of the sea! [Re: Bingley]
gonewiththewind Offline
Veteran

Registered: 10/14/08
Posts: 1517
Mosquitos kill more humans than any other creature.

Ticks are becoming a greater threat as well.

You are much more likely to encounter ticks and mosquitos than bears or sharks. If a tick or mosquito detects you, they will certainly attack, while most encounters between humans and bears or sharks are uneventful.

All threats can be prepared for and managed or avoided, even ticks and mosquitos.

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#288870 - 05/04/18 03:13 PM Re: Defense against sharks, the bears of the sea! [Re: M_a_x]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
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Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
Originally Posted By: M_a_x

It may be good to avoid splashing around and not wear anything in yum yum yellow in the water.


"yum yum yellow" brings back memories. when I was purchasing my first wet suit, I asked my instructor if color made any difference. He said "not in the slightest." Being essentially flamboyant, and not wanting a drab suit, I ordered a bright yellow suit, with blaze orange butt and knee patches.

Some months later, while diving near San Francisco, I first heard the phrase "yum yum yellow." New information on sharks reaction to color. I was a very alert diver for the rest of the project. And I learned to cherish a dark blue wet suit...
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#288871 - 05/04/18 05:09 PM Re: Defense against sharks, the bears of the sea! [Re: hikermor]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
I’ve seen a number of divers wearing what appear to be blue camouflage wetsuits. is that a shark defense thing or just a fashion statement.

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#288887 - 05/06/18 12:23 AM Re: Defense against sharks, the bears of the sea! [Re: Bingley]
Jeanette_Isabelle Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 11/13/06
Posts: 2946
Loc: Nacogdoches, Texas
Originally Posted By: Bingley
Why is it that there is no heated argument over shark defenses, but threads about bear defenses often degenerate into trading of insults? What is it about bears that bring out the nasty in people, whereas sharks cannot? Nor can a host of other much more likely killers: falling, drowning, inattentive driving, getting hit on the head by a falling object...

The heated bear arguments always start with the same old joke: You don't need to outrun the bear, you need to outrun your partner.

There are no heated arguments here because there are no shark jokes.

Jeanette Isabelle
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#288888 - 05/06/18 02:14 AM Re: Defense against sharks, the bears of the sea! [Re: Bingley]
gonewiththewind Offline
Veteran

Registered: 10/14/08
Posts: 1517
Why do SCUBA divers carry knives? To stab their buddy so the shark eats him instead.

It is an old one.

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#288892 - 05/06/18 03:45 AM Re: Defense against sharks, the bears of the sea! [Re: gonewiththewind]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
Actually, most of the time because it just looks cool - until you get entangled in something or another (line, kelp, etc).
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