Download this: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/witness/witness_20130730-0800a.mp3

A survivor of the USS Indianapolis tells the story. They made a movie of it and I think it was also mentioned in Jaws.

18th January 1955 my mates and I were swimming off the rocks at the end of Balmoral Beach in Sydney(everybody calls it Balmoral but I think it's actually Edwards Beach).
Later that day one of my mates arrives at my place with the news that a boy had been killed by a shark right where we were swimming. He'd stayed there all day and had seen it.
There were three sharks seen and there was a huge hunt for them in the next day or so. Guys from the Balmoral Naval Base apparently set off some handgrenades. Big game fishermen, including radio star Bob Dyer, joined in the hunt but of course they never caught them.
We didn't ever swim in that spot again.

Ahhh Robert Shaw’s awesome portrayal of Quint….

(pointing to a tattoo removed from his arm) “Mr Hooper, that’s the USS Indianapolis”

Jaws, still one of the best movies made.

Close Encounters of the Last Kind

I thought people would want to nibble at this topic.
Have you listened to that download? You should. It's a ripping good yarn.

What I find to be quite amazing is that even in this year of 2013 no scientist has yet come up with an effective deterrent against being attacked as a swimmer.

There's a Red Sea Sole that excretes a very effective toxin that instantly repels sharks, but no one has been able to make practicle use of this for humans.

Electricity has been tried, but is another failure. Soap works to repel sharks, but you have to literally smear it on the shark's face.

So ... people on the moon ... but no shark repellent.

Un...believable.




 

The electronic shark repellers are working, as a business as least. I suspect the real reason is that the market is not there for it.

freediver wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2013 at 6:18pm:

The electronic shark repellers are working, as a business as least. I suspect the real reason is that the market is not there for it.

Nope. Sorry.

Electrical fields to act as barriers to keep sharks out of small bays and beaches ~ yes.

But not as portable equipment for people who've fallen off a boat at sea.

You want something to put on a life buoy?

freediver wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2013 at 8:17pm:

You want something to put on a life buoy?

Nope.

Abalone divers.
Pearl divers.
Scuba divers.
Snorkelers.
People overboard wearing a life-jacket.
Surfers at beaches.

Some attachable device that can send out a sonic pulse that irritates sharks so they won't approach the diver. And another version with a solar panel rechargeable battery.

I've been on ships crossing the oceans on four occasions. The worst shark is the pelagic whitetip shark. These are the ones that will come for you if you fall overboard at sea.

They are selling a lot of shark shields to divers, and the odd surfer.

If you have enough time to attach one, you shouldn't be falling overboard.

Wow! So, if we are capable of putting man on the moon, we have to automatically dedicate resources towards finding out how to repel sharks -- on the condition that we decide to venture out into areas where sharks inhabit. Because getting into water that has man eaters is the intelligent thing to do, with mankind having an automatic right to conduct activity under water without the harassment of large fish hunting within their own habitat.

UnSubRocky wrote on Aug 4^th, 2013 at 2:49am:

Wow! .....  with mankind having an automatic right to conduct activity under water without the harassment of large fish hunting within their own habitat.

Correct! I'm giving you a passmark for that observation.

There isn't a species on Earth that doesn't have some sort of defence mechanism against being killed by a predator. Humans are no different ~ and the human species was made to enter all parts of this planet as his own domain.

When humans split from the apes, we went back into the water from whence we all originated.

From being covered in thick fur to becoming hairless was an evolutionary change that saw our mobility as 'water-apes' in rivers and shallow coastal waters greatly improved.

We lost our hair for the same reason as did all the other mammals that returned to the sea.

The sea is our domain.

I'm not saying we should kill sharks for a sport ~ just that we should develop an effective repellent against getting eaten by them. 

freediver wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2013 at 10:33pm:

They are selling a lot of shark shields to divers, and the odd surfer. If you have enough time to attach one, you shouldn't be falling overboard.

One idea is an inflatable packed fabric/plastic 'bag' that opens up in the water with you swimming within it. The sharks can't see you or smell you.

The large bag hangs down 10 feet or so into the water ~ filled with sea-water ~ like a flexible capsule, with you safely inside it.

*****

The tragedy of over 500 seamen getting killed by sharks during the war when their ship was sunk by a torpedo ~ brought back one of the survivors who each year would return to that same location in his own luxury yacht to spend days tossing in berly and shooting the sharks with a machine gun and whatever else he had.

He found it therapeutic.  8-)

freediver wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2013 at 6:18pm:

The electronic shark repellers are working, as a business as least. I suspect the real reason is that the market is not there for it.

I've been chased onto the Manly beach by a shark.

Just as one of millions of swimmers across the world I'd be happy to spend $50 or $100 on a waterproof gadget that I could attach to a belt around my waist.

What so often needs to happen first is that a millionaire's son or daughter dies tragically before funding becomes available for some serious research into preventive medicine, or a safety device, or life-saving equipment for ambulances, etc.

Lord Herbert wrote on Aug 4^th, 2013 at 8:15am:

freediver wrote on Aug 3rd, 2013 at 10:33pm: They are selling a lot of shark shields to divers, and the odd surfer. If you have enough time to attach one, you shouldn't be falling overboard. One idea is an inflatable packed fabric/plastic 'bag' that opens up in the water with you swimming within it. The sharks can't see you or smell you. The large bag hangs down 10 feet or so into the water ~ filled with sea-water ~ like a flexible capsule, with you safely inside it. ***** The tragedy of over 500 seamen getting killed by sharks during the war when their ship was sunk by a torpedo ~ brought back one of the survivors who each year would return to that same location in his own luxury yacht to spend days tossing in berly and shooting the sharks with a machine gun and whatever else he had. He found it therapeutic.  8-)

How about an inflatable raft? People usually die of hypothermia and drowning well before the sharks get to them.

Are you going to get yourself a shark shield?

freediver wrote on Aug 4^th, 2013 at 12:10pm:

How about an inflatable raft? People usually die of hypothermia and drowning well before the sharks get to them.

I'm talking about the individual who finds himself in the water for one reason or another... with the prospect of sharks coming to snack on him sooner or later.

At a little distance from Hong Kong, I used to swim in waters along the coast where the sharks were in abundance because of the Chinese fishermen's habit of throwing their new-born female babies into the water.

A simple device attached to a belt would give peace of mind as well as deter the sharks.


freediver wrote on Aug 4^th, 2013 at 12:10pm:

Are you going to get yourself a shark shield?

Yes. I'll be placing my order as soon as my Muslim Deterrent Shield arrives from eBay.

The Muslim Deterrent Shield works by squirting Christian Holy Water Blessed-by-the-Pope onto any Muslim who comes within 6 feet of me.

It's automatic and self-directional. It's worn as a hat.

The advertisement promises that upon contact with a Muslim this Holy Water hisses and fizzes and burns like acid ~ even though it really is water.  8-)

The tragedy of over 500 seamen getting killed by sharks during the war when their ship was sunk by a torpedo ~ brought back one of the survivors who each year would return to that same location in his own luxury yacht to spend days tossing in berly and shooting the sharks with a machine gun and whatever else he had.

He found it therapeutic. 

It sounds more like psychopathic to me. Sharks are just doing what they've done for millions of years.
Similarly I find it obnoxious the practice of cutting off shark fins and releasing them to die.

bogarde73 wrote on Aug 4^th, 2013 at 2:16pm:

The tragedy of over 500 seamen getting killed by sharks during the war when their ship was sunk by a torpedo ~ brought back one of the survivors who each year would return to that same location in his own luxury yacht to spend days tossing in berly and shooting the sharks with a machine gun and whatever else he had. He found it therapeutic.  It sounds more like psychopathic to me. Sharks are just doing what they've done for millions of years.

I agree.


bogarde73 wrote on Aug 4^th, 2013 at 2:16pm:

[highlight]Similarly I find it obnoxious the practice of cutting off shark fins and releasing them to die.

This is far worse than killing them quickly.

The South East Asian and Japanese foods and Oriental Medicines trades have a hell of a lot to answer for. African horns and tusks... musk deers ... tigers ... Sun Bears ... dogs and cats ... whales ... porpoises ... The butchery is genocidal.

But they're not white, Christian, or Anglo ... so ...