Return-Path: <Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis> Received: from opus.labs.agilent.com (root@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis [130.29.244.179]) by jr.labs.agilent.com (8.9.3 (PHNE_18979)/8.9.3 AgilentLabs Workstation) with ESMTP id IAA21220 for <wind_talk_ls@jr.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis>; Fri, 18 Aug 2000 08:18:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis Received: from msgbas1tx.cos.agilent.com (msgbas1t.cos.agilent.com [130.29.152.59]) by opus.labs.agilent.com (8.9.3 (PHNE_18979)/8.9.3 AgilentLabs Workstation) with ESMTP id IAA00174 for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis>; Fri, 18 Aug 2000 08:18:47 -0700 (PDT) Received: from imo-r09.mx.aol.com (imo-r09.mx.aol.com [152.163.225.9]) by msgbas1tx.cos.agilent.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 85B2A12F for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis>; Fri, 18 Aug 2000 09:18:46 -0600 (MDT) Received: from Eyes4Hire@aol.com-DeleteThis by imo-r09.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v27.12.) id v.9d.99e6709 (10011) for <wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis>; Fri, 18 Aug 2000 11:18:11 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <9d.99e6709.26ceadb3@aol.com-DeleteThis> Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 11:18:11 EDT Subject: Re: Conditions/Sharks To: wind_talk@opus.labs.agilent.com-DeleteThis Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 5.0 for Windows sub 119
In a message dated 8/18/00 12:46:51 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
edscott@best.com-DeleteThis writes:
> Anyone know how many confirmed shark on windsurfer attacks
> have occurred? My understanding is it's 3, including the recent one.
I think I know of five -
1. Kanaha 8/16/00
2. Australia last year. German tourist eaten but may have been unconcious
first
3. Davenport/Santa cruz Area, board bitten
4. Mediterranean... foot lost during race to Great White
5. Florida... calf injury to smaller shark (I saw the bite mark)
In this group are a couple of interesting patterns:
A. White & Tiger Sharks seem to prefer Europeans Victim 1 was French, Victim
2 was German, Victim 4 was presumably European as well. Victim 3 was not
tasted... only his board was tasted.
B. Sharks can get you on your board. From the tellings I've heard, Victim 3
and Victim 4 where on their boards sailing when attacked.
The best defence is numbers. As much as wave sailors don't like crowds, they
improve your odds of not being the one. When Zeev drags one sucker like me
out to Tuba, then we each have a 50-50 chance of not being The One if Whitey
is cranky. If we can get two more suckers to come along, then the odds go
down to 25%... assuming Whitey doesn't pull a Goldilocks and do some
comparison taste testing. If we can con some rank beginners who flail around
in the water a lot, then the odds in our favor get even better. Up until you
hit 5 or six sailors, each added sailor is really improving your odds quite a
bit. Of course with so few attacks, it is just an insurance policy. It also
increases the odds that someone will be there to tow you in or get help.
Most attacks are taste and spit out, so odds are you will survive initially
and the danger will be blood loss... good reason to carry a radio. The guy at
Kanaha apparantly spent 1/2 an hour bleeding before he was able to flag help.
No wonder he was listed as critical. If anyone got hit on the Coast and there
was a marine radio to go direct to Coast Guard on Channel 16, I bet they'd
get the helicopter enroute pretty damn fast. It will still take a while to
get there, but at least it won't be stuck in traffic. Even if you stay pretty
close to shore, 200 yards is a damn long way if your achilles tendon and calf
or thigh muscles have been severed.
Peter
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