Kayaking in the ocean w/ a shark following you.

[ZooJunkie]

I thought this picture sums the fear of being tailed quite well.

Wow. Hold on to your pantyhose.

[viatierra]

Hope that guy has something a bit more satisfying than a bag of trail mix! Think he has a leg of lamb stashed in that kayak somewhere??

[pskhaat]

I'm no expert at all, but can someone chime in if that is indeed a Great White? Looks like a reef shark to me.

[kbellve]

It says a great white and appears to be true:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/sharkkayak.asp

[ZooJunkie]

Some more excellent photos from the research team in S.A.

http://www.whitesharktrust.org/pages/mediaarticle/media25.html

[ZooJunkie]

I'm no expert at all, but can someone chime in if that is indeed a Great White? Looks like a reef shark to me.
Reef sharks have a black tip and don't usually grow up to be 4 meters long.

[Spikepretorius]

Yup the sharks down here are getting very active.

Regardless of your opinion on sharks or what the various interest groups might say, my personal experience as a lifelong surfer is that the activity has increased alarmingly and I no longer surf!

Kayaks get chased or chomped fairly often and attacks on swimmers and surfers has increased. In season a helluva lot more sharks are sighted and their behavior is more curious and threatening than it used to be.

[Martyn]

Yup the sharks down here are getting very active.

Regardless of your opinion on sharks or what the various interest groups might say, my personal experience as a lifelong surfer is that the activity has increased alarmingly and I no longer surf!

Kayaks get chased or chomped fairly often and attacks on swimmers and surfers has increased. In season a helluva lot more sharks are sighted and their behavior is more curious and threatening than it used to be.

Spike

I would agree, and heard similar reports from surfing friends in Kommetjie.

It was interesting surfing at the Beach at Muizenberg and being in the water with the shark spotters up on Old Boys Drive scanning the sea for sharks, and the shark watch flags fluttering on the beach.

It seems a little foolish thinking about it now to have been in the water, but after catching the first wave it seemed to be worth while.

My 12 year old daughter leant too surf at Gary's Surf School. She is extremely Shark phobic but after she caught her first wave we couldn't get her out of the water. Must be genetic.

Phobias are very strange. The thought of walking through the bush in the Transkei seems insane when you think of all the Mambas that are about. But while you're actually doing it the fear is very subdued.

[Spikepretorius]

Martyn are you ex-Capetonian? I used to know a Martyn Davies in my school days. Brother of Callan.

[pskhaat]

Reef sharks have a black tip and don't usually grow up to be 4 meters long.

Granted reading the rest of the stuff is a Great White, but I'm pretty positive the reef sharks I've seen against our boat in the West Indies weren't exactly black tipped, and were pretty dark colored too. The locals definetely called them reef sharks.

My wife and I suprised a 12-14' tiger shark swimming in a reef and I had no idea how omnious that size of a shark could be when you're right in the water next to 'em, but it was an experience I'll never forget.

[Martyn]

Martyn are you ex-Capetonian? I used to know a Martyn Davies in my school days. Brother of Callan.

I think ex Capetownian would depend on your definition. I lived in Obs for a few years if that counts? Grew up in the UK and left as soon as I could! Have been on and off in South Africa since the 80's. Southern Africa as the only place I feel at home.

Sorry to disappoint you, brother of Gregory.

Next time I'm in country I'll drop you a line.

[ZooJunkie]

Granted reading the rest of the stuff is a Great White, but I'm pretty positive the reef sharks I've seen against our boat in the West Indies weren't exactly black tipped, and were pretty dark colored too. The locals definetely called them reef sharks.

My wife and I suprised a 12-14' tiger shark swimming in a reef and I had no idea how omnious that size of a shark could be when you're right in the water next to 'em, but it was an experience I'll never forget.
Another distinction between reef shark and great white is the noses. Great whites all have a more pointed nose, whereas reef sharks (black tip or not) have a more blunted nose. It's hard to tell in the pic I posted, but it's a bit sharper than a typical reef shark. Great whites could easily be confused with their cousins the mako.

[overlander]

My wife and I suprised a 12-14' tiger shark swimming in a reef and I had no idea how omnious that size of a shark could be when you're right in the water next to 'em, but it was an experience I'll never forget.

That thing you did there....don't do that again.

[pskhaat]

...don't do that again.

No doubt, at dusk no-less. Supposedly no sharks had been seen there in `years.' I've never seen my wife swim so fast, nor the couple from Oz who we were trying to signal once back in the dinghy.

[Halboo]

Some of the guys fishing off kayaks in the shark infested waters of No Cal/ OR are camouflaging the bottoms of their boats to break up the outline.

[ZooJunkie]

Some of the guys fishing off kayaks in the shark infested waters of No Cal/ OR are camouflaging the bottoms of their boats to break up the outline.
I would love to see a great white up close in a kayak, but don't need the added stress of them bumping me out of my kayak though.

[grahamfitter]

Yup the sharks down here are getting very active.

Regardless of your opinion on sharks or what the various interest groups might say, my personal experience as a lifelong surfer is that the activity has increased alarmingly and I no longer surf!

Kayaks get chased or chomped fairly often and attacks on swimmers and surfers has increased. In season a helluva lot more sharks are sighted and their behavior is more curious and threatening than it used to be.

I'm sure that hasn't been helped by the fruitcakes who throw carcasses into the water to attract the great whites and then go down in a shark cage to watch. The backpackers place in Capetown I was at back in the mid 90's was full of them.

Cheers,
Graham

[Spikepretorius]

Yup. But don't try that line of argument with anyone in the marine industry or politics. Shark diving and viewing is big bucks. they chum on a daily basis.

For the man in the street (person in the water) you can see the difference. And these days the sharks don't check you out, bump you nd maybe have a bite. No. Now they chomp you completely. No remains. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to notice that things have changed in recent years.

[grahamfitter]

Yup. But don't try that line of argument with anyone in the marine industry or politics. Shark diving and viewing is big bucks. they chum on a daily basis.

For the man in the street (person in the water) you can see the difference. And these days the sharks don't check you out, bump you nd maybe have a bite. No. Now they chomp you completely. No remains. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to notice that things have changed in recent years.

Isn't that endangering the sharks themselves? I read somewhere there aren't that many great whites swimming around out there and the increase in coastal attacks has caused more hunting and soon they'll be an endangered species.

Cheers,
Graham

[The BN Guy]

Maybe it's just me but that lil bugger looks longer than four meters!

[Spikepretorius]

Great Whites have been a protected species here for several years now.

Most things that happen around here are for $$$$$ reasons. If there's money in it they'll find a way to justify it scientifically or statistically. Protecting, lifting the protection, chumming, hunting them, whatever direction you want to take it. Doesn't take many people to slip a new law through while nobody's looking.

The main guys involved in getting them protected were the family that at the time were the household-name shark hunters. They then went on to form a shark institute to "study" them. Then they started shark diving with the chumming that's used for it. Then more guys came along and there was a free for all. Then the original guys got run out of town. Sabotaged boats etc.

Hollywood stuff.

[Halboo]

White Sharks are Federally protected here in the USA as well and fines for taking one are quite high.
I have several friends who are free divers and most have a shark story or two......
A year ago I was on a 5 day fishing trip to Guadalupe Island (SSW of San Diego) which is known as a white shark mecca. The island is a frequent destination for long range fishing trips and shark cage diving trips.
Discovery Channel's Shark Week recently ran a show about some crazy nut jobs getting out of the cage down there.
The tuna and yellowtail can get pretty big around there but you better crank hard 'cuz whitey is usually in the vicinity and always hungry.
At one point it got so bad we quit fishing and starting playing with the sharks..........
On the trip last year there were two sharks pestering us; I only got photos of the smaller shark which was about 14' .The larger of the two kept it's distance from the boat but I sh$t you not, this beast looked just like Bruce (the shark from Jaws)
I have no interest in swimming with these guys.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pb422905025a2900ba167838bf35b1626/e7efe872.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p64163a0954f1a34df7bad104d36501e8/e7efeb11.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/pfbd22e4c94070e0d82f089e5f01292b3/e7efeace.jpg


http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid225/p803fe0db2f0adc30c96d82262dd2c510/e7efe7d0.jpg
:yikes:

[Ursidae69]

Great pictures Hallboo. I've read accounts from researchers at the Farallon Islands that report the great whites can reach the size of a Ford Expedition in girth. They have been doing fantastic studies using GPS technology to see where these sharks go around the world. One interesting phenomenon I read about was when a pod of killer whales would come in and kill a great white, every tagged shark around the Farallone Islands would leave the islands immediately, either South to Guadalupe Island or across the Pacific. There was an obvious pecking order.