GA wrote on Apr 5^th, 2014 at 2:41pm:


Are you talking about Loan Sharks?

I'll have to agree with you there.

Grappler Truth Teller Feller wrote on Apr 5^th, 2014 at 2:46pm:


Correct.

I've wondered about these Death Wish psychopaths ever since I was chased out of the water by a shark at Manly beach around 1964.

I'm convinced there's a chemical in their brain that simply blocks the fear gland ... amygdala.

It's not a normal healthy person who can float around beyond the breakers on a surfboard knowing that sharks view humans as being more delicious than Beef Wellingtons or Prime Rib roasted with crackling.

olde.sault wrote on Apr 5^th, 2014 at 10:57am:


I suspect that has actually played a significant role in reducing shark attacks. Sharks are hunted, either directly or indirectly. A shark that bites anything meaty it comes across does not last long. Sharks are very timid now. They investigate closely before biting. All fish are. If the protection of sharks works well and there is an increase in their numbers, expect to see more attacks. Not just because there are more of them, but because they are hungrier and not learning the tough lessons they were in past decades.

Quote:


I saw that happen at Newcastle once. The guy pretty much pood himself and kept running up the beach, even after he was out of the water. He felt safe once he reached his towel and was then prepared to turn around and look.

It was jut a seal.

Quote:


Crap. The ones that attack us most are the ones that live in the estuaries and beaches - eg bull sharks. There are sharks wherever there is salt water, even in some fresh water.

freediver wrote on Apr 6^th, 2014 at 1:04pm:


I was the second from last one onto the beach of a crowd of about 20.

I'd been swimming for around 40 minutes ~ and then the shark spotting cessna came around the headland and immediately the big bell at the club house started ringing like crazy.

My first thought was: "Sh!t! The shark's had a full 40 minutes at least to come in amongst us ... "

I was never a strong swimmer, but that day I realised for the first time my Olympic potential ...

There was me out on the beach, and that left a fat guy screaming in the surf as he knew he was the only meal left for Mr Sharky and his toothy grin ... I felt really embarrassed for him screaming like that in front of the whole beach, poor fellow.

Over the years I swam there many times again, but I had learnt an important lesson: Sit on the beach and wait for the shark-spotter patrol to fly over the beach again, and then swim for no more than 20 minutes or so.

But then as everyone knows, the biggest killer in the Sydney area is rock-fishing, followed by rip-tides, followed by scuba-diving accidents, followed by boat accidents, followed by drowning while drunk, followed by bull-sharks in the harbour and up the Parramatta river, followed by gangland killings and being dumped out at sea wrapped in chains or wearing concrete shoes, followed by ... (insert your own) 

**********

Quote:


freediver wrote on Apr 6^th, 2014 at 1:04pm:


Double crap. Sharks chase the shoals, and most shaols don't loiter in shallow waters but out in the channels around the reefs.

Where we swim among sharks ~ we get bitten and sometimes killed.

Bull-sharks -Yes. They like the rivers and are adaptable to both salt and fresh water.

freediver wrote on Apr 6^th, 2014 at 1:53pm:


What other lessons?

freediver wrote on Apr 6^th, 2014 at 1:53pm:


I rest my case ... which was: where sharks and people swim in the same waters, that's where the deaths happen.

And sharks being in the estuaries and up the rivers is often because they're ..

a) Old

b) Sick

c) Pregnant.

Gnads wrote on Apr 6^th, 2014 at 8:00pm:


Wow! Okay ...

Gnads wrote on Apr 6^th, 2014 at 8:00pm:


You said if it can't breathe under water then it's not supposed to be in the sea.

Another one's Salt Water crocodiles. The good old 'Saltie'. 

Lord Herbert wrote on Apr 6^th, 2014 at 9:09pm:


Salt Water crocodiles are one of the few creatures on earth that actually prey upon human beings.