Why are people still swimming in the water off North Carolina?

[MoonRiver]

Sixth shark attack in 3 weeks just reported.

[Romeo.lima333]

1. why do people not part of the 1% vote for republicans

[uppityperson]

2. Why do people still drive cars?

[Orrex]

5. Shark protection

Your chances of being eaten by a shark while driving a car are very close to zero.

[Glassunion]

16. Win!

[ProfessorGAC]

27. Just Great!!!!

Good chuckle from that!

[A HERETIC I AM]

35. While driving, yes. While standing outside it in a flood?

[Orrex]

96. Damn global warming!

[smirkymonkey]

104. LOL!

[dhill926]

51. you're discounting the vicious Land Shark....

(someone must have a video....right?)

[Gidney N Cloyd]

71. {knock-knock-knock}

Candygram.

[A HERETIC I AM]

76. ...

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/landshark/2832305

[Jamastiene]

88. ...

[mercuryblues]

103. you have oviously

never seen Sharknado!

[HassleCat]

3. pretty good odds

Two shark attacks a week for three weeks isn't much, when you consider the millions of people who swim there.

[B2G]

4. Because it's summer, vacation and the water is gorgeous

I'll take my chances too.

[MoonRiver]

6. I wouldn't, but that's just me.

[Travis_0004]

39. You are more likley to be killed driving to the beach then you are by shark attack?

Sure a few attacks make news. Are you going to stop driving if 3 fatal car accidents are reported in a short period of time?

[Fred Sanders]

7. Fear is a common everyday media commodity. Remember Ebola? Now they are moving on to sharks and the

Fourth of July Terror Alert!

Now if the fish were ISIS-supporter sharks massing for an attack...

If the media is resorting to shark attacks for their daily dose of fear, that is a good thing

[MoonRiver]

8. That's ridiculous. This is an inordinate number of shark attacks.

But everything has to be politics. I get it.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

21. Compared to what?

A massive percentage increase in a tiny risk is still a tiny risk. Far more people die of other things.

[MoonRiver]

22. Attacks are much higher than usual.

North Carolina has already seen six attacks this year, Burgess said. Two of the attacks occurred in the Outer Banks over the weekend. The state typically only sees one or two per year, Frank Schwartz, a shark biologist with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, told National Geographic.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/06/30/shark-attacks-east-coast/29519371/

[B2G]

28. 2 have been serious.

The others, not so much. Black Fin and smaller sharks routinely nip in the waters. The 2 that were more serious occurred off Oak Island within 90 minutes, most likely by the same shark. If I were guessing, I'd say a bull. And they were chumming the waters off a pier for a fishing contest at the time. Why the parents let her swim so close to a fishing pier is beyond my understanding.

You go into the wilderness, you take your chances.

[MoonRiver]

34. Bull sounds right to me. They tend to like human flesh more than other sharks.

I guess the parents didn't have a clue. Tourists perhaps?

[B2G]

41. Yep, all of them have been. nt

[zappaman]

36. I'd go with the bull shark as well.

Super aggressive and love those waters.

[Fred Sanders]

44. Not as ferocious as the Media-Bull shark, that one bites in all seasons. More than 6 in six months.

[Fred Sanders]

49. Ebola?

[snooper2]

9. sharks should be full at some point

[MoonRiver]

11. They constantly have to replenish.

Actually, I have heard the cause is an abundance of sea turtles in that area right now. But in absence of an available turtle, a human will do.

[Phentex]

10. The sharks heard about Sharknado...

and they were not amused.

[FLPanhandle]

12. The biggest danger is the drive to/from the beach

Not the sharks.

[mnhtnbb]

13. Well, I live in NC. We're all going to the beach--Emerald Isle--the middle of July.

Will we go in the water? I dunno. I'm 64, PADI certified, have seen sharks when snorkeling
in Florida. My husband is 72, PADI certified, has had the crap scared out of him when he
spotted a great white while snorkeling in Samoa many, many years ago, and probably a bull shark
when he and a friend were snorkeling early in the morning off Little Cayman some years ago. (They came back
with lobsters for breakfast, but when my husband came out of the water he was so white, I thought he'd seen a ghost,
but then I thought, no he saw a shark.) Our oldest son, also PADI certified, and my husband once did a shark observation dive
at Small Hope Bay in the Bahamas. They all sat on the ocean floor and the dive boat lowered some chum in the water
so everyone could observe the sharks being fed. They came home with a videotape. My son thought it was cool; I could
see my husband's eyes he didn't think it was so cool.

So. We all know not to swim near a pier. We know not to swim early in the morning or late afternoon or evening when
fish are feeding. We know not to swim near where any kind of fishing is going on--from the surf, a pier, a boat, or kayak.
We know not to wear bright colors or jewelry in the water. We know to avoid any spot where small fish seem to have congregated
or where birds are diving in the water.

Myself? I prefer not to swim in the ocean when there's not a lot of visibility--which usually there isn't at Emerald Isle--because
you can't tell if a school of fish is swimming away from any direction. Then there's the water temp. It's already 84 degrees
at Atlantic Beach (close to Emerald Isle) which is very, very warm for this time of year. It's usually late July or August before
you see it that warm there.

Fortunately, we rented a house with a pool!

[MoonRiver]

15. Thank you for those words of experience!

This really isn't a joking matter.

[zappaman]

37. All great advice.

I've seen many sharks while diving but no aggressive ones.
Still would like to do the great white cage dive though...

[cwydro]

54. I saw two hammerheads while diving off Key Largo

back in the late '80s.

Everyone told me how rare it was and how lucky I was to have seen them.

I didn't feel lucky.

[mnhtnbb]

98. We were surrounded by hammerheads on a boat in the Gulf of CA off Baja

back in the early 70's. There were other sharks swimming around the boat, too, but
of course the hammerheads were most identifiable.
My fiance's roommate had flown us in a little 4 seater plane down to Cabo--back in the day when Cabo was nothing more than a sleepy
fishing village--and gone out on a fishing boat. Coming back from the day fishing was when we were surrounded
by sharks following the boat. Scared the crap out of me!

The adult son of a physician we knew in CA disappeared diving off Baja in the early 80's. Body never found. I often
wondered if a shark got him.

[cwydro]

102. Scared the crap out of me,

but I kept diving.

[Jamastiene]

89. I'm pretty sure that

if you stick to the pool for swimming and just look at the ocean, you'll still get plenty of enjoyment out of your vacation. Even following all the rules, remember, sharks that are feeding at the moment don't follow our rules. The only one they seem to follow is stay out of the pools. That's where I would do my swimming right about now.

[GreatGazoo]

14. The media distorts everything. Sharks are really cool -- check out this one...

[mnhtnbb]

24. You can follow the great white shark--Mary Lee on fb--and some of her other friends

who've been tagged by ocean researchers

Great place for getting info on shark behavior. In fact, this was recently posted there:

Why North Carolina Is Facing a 'Perfect Storm' for Shark Attacks
by ELIZABETH PALERMO

Two people were bitten by sharks off the coast of North Carolina this weekend, bringing the number of shark attacks in the state over the past three weeks to five. While some have speculated that shark fishing in the area is responsible for this uptick in the number of bloody encounters, others say the reasons for the attacks are probably a bit more complicated than that.

"It's not a certain thing that makes this happen," said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida's Florida Museum of Natural History. "It's a perfect storm of factors."

Both shark attacks this weekend occurred off North Carolina's Outer Banks, a 200-mile-long (320 kilometers) string of barrier islands that hugs the state's coast. Three attacks that occurred earlier this month took place just south of the Outer Banks, off the shores of Oak Island and Ocean Isle Beach. All of the victims have survived, though with injuries.

Many of the reports describing two attacks that occurred off Oak Island on June 14 mention that the victims were swimming near fishing piers where fishermen were chumming, or baiting, the water to attract fish. "Fishing off a beach where there are swimmers and surfers makes for a really bad mix," Burgess told LiveScience.

But there are other factors as well, Burgess said:

Parts of North Carolina have been abnormally dry or have experienced moderate drought conditions for several weeks. This means the salinity, or salt content, of ocean water close to shore is higher than usual. "With the exception of bull sharks, most all sharks prefer higher-salinity waters," Burgess said. The increased salt content could be bringing sharks closer to shore in greater numbers.
Large schools of herring have been spotted close to the North Carolina coast in recent weeks, Burgess said. This oily fish is a rich source of nutrients for sharks. "If you see fishes, seabirds diving, people fishing — these are all no-brainers. Get out of the water," Burgess said.
Other prey animals, such as baby sea turtles, can also encourage sharks to come close to shore. Many sea turtles have hatched along certain North Carolina beaches in recent weeks, and as they journey into the Atlantic waters, hungry sharks (particularly tiger sharks) are waiting just offshore, Burgess said.
The calendar and the weather also play big roles, in North Carolina and other coastal areas. Summer is in full swing, school's out, and folks are flocking to the beaches. "You put all these things together, and you've got a mix of humans and sharks in abundance," Burgess said

https://www.facebook.com/Maryleeshark?fref=ts

[mnhtnbb]

17. Actually, 7th attack according to this report.

http://www.wral.com/seventh-shark-attack-reported-off-nc-coast/14749241/

What bothers me most about the last two attacks is that they are mid-day. That's scary, because
not related to early morning or late afternoon fish feeding behavior. Both the boy and girl
who lost arms were swimming near piers and late afternoon early evening.

[MoonRiver]

19. Yikes!

[B2G]

48. Blackfin will bite at any time

They're always out there.

Don't know about today, but the rest seem to be incidental bites by these smaller sharks. Hear about them every year. The Oak Island ones were an exception.

[Glassunion]

20. It happens. However odds are that you'd be fine.

You're more likely to die in a fireworks accident over the weekend, than swimming in the ocean
Or struck by lightning
Or drowning
Or driving to the beach

I prefer not to live by what might happen, especially considering the odds are greater that I'd drown before the sharks killed me.

Odds of dying from a shark attack - 1 : 3,748,067
Odds of drowning - 1 : 1,134

Rather significant.

[alarimer]

23. There are a number of animals more likely to kill you than sharks.

Now this is a list of fatalities, not injuries, but I expect the proportions are similar.

250 people were killed by dogs between 1999 and 2007, averaging 30-35 per year. This article doesn't talk about injuries, but I imagine injuries from dogs alone are in the thousands per yer.

Sharks killed an average of <1 person per year.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1080603212000865

[Cleita]

26. As a Californian who is familiar with sharks coming in close to swimmers, it's best not to take your

chances. In the woods, you probably won't be attacked by a bear, but keeping your distance is a good idea.

[mnhtnbb]

50. There's a DU'er here--denbot-- who surfs around Manhattan Beach? or Huntington Beach?

and has seen juvenile great whites while surfing there. Apparently, it's quite a common occurrence.
I guess the babies are born near there?

I don't remember hearing about it when I lived in southern CA from 1965-88. I wonder if that's due
to the increased popularity of surfing, or a change in ocean temps?

denbot put me on to this website for Pacific Coast shark sightings.

http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com/pacific_coast_shark_news.htm

[Cleita]

55. It has a lot to do with changes in the temperature I believe.

I was working in a hospital in Santa Monica in the late fifties and we got a spate of shark attack victims at one time one summer. But often years would pass and not a one. There is something I believe that spurs them. I supposed shark specialists would know why. I was out in the ocean beyond the breakers once a long time ago and I saw a fin pass by me. I turned and made it into shore so fast, I could have broken a record. My friends said it was a dolphin. I didn't want to find out and I never went beyond the breakers again.

[mnhtnbb]

58. St. John's?

My husband had a house in Rustic Canyon-- which is where we lived after we were married
in 1985-- until we left CA in 1988. He went to med school at UCLA. I did my BS and MPH
at UCLA and worked at Children's in Hollywood for 10 years.

[Cleita]

59. Yes. It was my summer job when I was in college. eom

[mnhtnbb]

61. LOL. My summer job was at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla after high school

and when I came home summers until the year I was a senior in college.

[Cleita]

65. They did help us get an education. I thank them. eom

[B2G]

29. The folks who were bitten weren't locals

but vacationers from other areas.

Swimming during feeding hour and near a pier that was being chummed for a fishing contest.

Now...who's not so bright?

[Cleita]

32. Definitely not you. You are as smart as they come. There were videos posted

of locals saying the flag wasn't racist and one girl even saying slavery was a choice while waving a flag. I'm not making shit up. So maybe you guys should put signs out when "chumming" to warn your guests? It would seem like the southern hospitality thing to do for vacationers from other areas.

[B2G]

40. I am discussing sharks, not the flag

Maybe you stumbled upon the wrong thread.

I grew up in the Midwest and regularly visited the southern coast as a kid. We had rules, 2 of which you didn't swim near fishing piers or swim after 5.

Sometimes, shit just happens. But for you to blame the people of NC for this says a lot more about you than it does about me.

The southern hate, it burns doesn't it?

[Cleita]

45. Considering most of my relatives originated in Arkansas and Louisiana

I'm just full of southern hate. For chrissakes, we can criticize when people are wrong. Otherwise we are living in a police state where nobody dares offer an opinion.

[B2G]

53. Sure we can, but you went a tich beyond that in your now deleted post. nt

[Cleita]

56. I apologize and sorry. What else can I do?

[B2G]

57. Thank you and nothing else is needed.

[mnhtnbb]

33. Uninformed does not equal racist.

I'm not going to alert, but really, this is not an appropriate comment, IMO.

[Cleita]

38. Well, I get it. I'll take it down.

[mnhtnbb]

43. Thank you.

[Historic NY]

30. "Is it shark week yet"

[Fred Sanders]

47. Soon enough, "convicts on the loose week" looks like it is winding down.

[mnhtnbb]

31. Another great article with info on sharks, attacks, how to avoid them

also found on the MaryLee fb page.

http://eatsleepplaybeaufort.com/shark-facts-be-cautious-but-not-worried/

[Go Vols]

42. Maybe the sharks

figured out who fucked up their environment,and are taking revenge.

[MoonRiver]

46. That would be the existential answer.

And who knows?

[Jamastiene]

91. Well, 15k honey bees did swarm the capitol a couple weekends ago.

My first thought was they are forming their own protests now. Good for them. Go bees. w00t! Luckily, they were safely taken to a bee enthusiasts house where they will be taken care and kept safe. That was really interesting to me. I loved it.

[MoonRiver]

97. Awesome story! I love it too!

I do wish animals would rise up in rebellion against the human reign of terror. I'd be there with them, lol.

[Jamastiene]

99. Me too!

I would not be the least bit surprised to find out they are doing some of these things for that very reason.

[Logical]

52. Odds! Read ,ore about it! Nt

[Oilwellian]

60. A friend just posted this pic to Facebook

Just taken in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

[shanti]

62. if the attacks and that pic

don't keep people out of the water, what would?

[Oilwellian]

66. I know, right?

My husband's kids take the grandchildren to the beaches in North Carolina every summer. Not this year. I'm sure there are many others thinking the same way. I guess there will always be those who don't believe a shark attack could happen to them.

[B2G]

68. It. Is. A. Hoax. nt

[MoonRiver]

63. Yowser! They are close to shore!

[B2G]

64. Hoax

Pic is from Cape Canaveral, FL from last year.

http://www.wect.com/story/29454466/photo-with-false-information-on-sharks-in-myrtle-beach-swarms-social-media

[Oilwellian]

69. LOL...well damn...but still

[mnhtnbb]

67. That looks like soupfin sharks...which are usually feasts for great whites

There are great whites being tracked in the Atlantic (see the Mary Lee fb page)
and maybe this school came ashore because something bigger is out there?

[B2G]

70. They are lemon sharks and this was taken in FL last year.

[mnhtnbb]

72. Huh. I suppose the marine guys who identified would know...but they don't have that

yellowish cast--at least in the photo--that lemon sharks have, which is why they are named lemon
sharks! They don't look as stocky as lemon sharks, either. Still, I wouldn't have been wading
that day at the beach.

[underpants]

73. Another shark bite today. Ocracoke Island NC -serious condition

Can't post the link.

[MoonRiver]

74. See, that's the thing. There are just far more than average attacks

in this one small area. If I wanted to swim in the ocean, I sure wouldn't do it there.

[Xyzse]

75. This almost sounds like they are having a hard time with food.

Is this common or is this a new development?

[B2G]

78. Actually, there is MORE food this year

An abundance of sea turtle and offshore fishing restrictions have increased their food supply.

"Shark expert Paul Barrington at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher says there are a number of reasons for the attacks. The biggest reason, he says, is that more people than ever are going into the water.

"People are enjoying the space where sharks want to be," Barrington said.

An increase in the bait fish and turtle populations has lured the sharks closer to shore. Those - and not people - are some of the sharks' favorite foods.

"We are not on their menu," said Barrington.

One other factor has been stricter regulations on fishing along the coastal regions of the Eastern U.S. That has resulted in a rebuilding of many fish species, creating greater numbers of all of them - including sharks."

http://www.wbtv.com/story/29445753/shark-expert-we-could-see-more-sharks-along-us-coast

[Xyzse]

80. Interesting, thanks for clarifying.

[MoonRiver]

81. "We are not on their menu,"

But we will do in a pinch.

[B2G]

82. No one has been eaten

Scary to be bitten, but it's a mistake on the shark's part. They have plenty to eat...that's part of what's happening.

[MoonRiver]

84. Not yet!

Edit: I have read that Bulls and Tigers actually like human flesh.

[B2G]

85. Lol, well I'll give you that. nt

[MoonRiver]

86. I edited my post. Your reply doesn't reflect that. Sorry.

[Jamastiene]

93. Well, where are the arms and legs, and other bits and pieces of

the people who have been bitten, going? Are they just biting and spitting them out? That seems kind of wasteful of human extremities. I would think, being part of Nature any all, they would go ahead and eat their "catches."

[B2G]

94. Typically, yes

If a bull wanted you eat you there wouldn't be much left.

[raccoon]

77. SC, too. Just saw a news report about a boy bitten by a shark at Isle of Palms, SC.

Isle of Palms http://www.wyff4.com/news/isle-of-palms-county-park-confirms-boy-bitten-by-shark/33925710

What is it with all these sharks at the beaches on the eastern seacoast? What are they doing there?

Has some environmental factor changed?

[B2G]

79. Yes, more food.

See my post above.

[valerief]

83. They all want a Darwin Award. nt

[Jamastiene]

87. That is what I have been asking too.

If I was down near the beach or going to the beach, even for a long planned vacation, I think hearing that so many others have been bitten right now would make me decide, "Hmm, many others have been bitten. The thing they all have in common is that they went into the water. Maybe, that's the secret to the whole thing. Don't go in the water and don't get bitten. Eureka! I've found the solution to our shark biting epidemic in NC. I wonder who I can get to listen to me." *crickets* Idiots are still going in the water. They don't seem smart enough to put two and two together. For the kids, their parents aren't smart enough to put two and two together. It's not the kids' fault, at least not the younger ones. It's their parents' faults. The older kids and adults, though? Darwin awards waiting to happen.

Meanwhile, the sharks are happy as clams, waiting for some more of that Stupid People Soup that the idiots are making for them in the water. I'm surprised restaurants haven't received calls, "Send more humans. Could we have an extra ranch dipping sauce with the older ones? They are a little tough."

[MoonRiver]

90. I heard some guy on CNN say that he'll go back in the NC water,

just not above his head!

[Jamastiene]

92. I take it he feels he can sacrifice his dangly bits below his head?

It's up to him, but even without dangly bits, I wouldn't go in right now. It's just not worth it. People are talking about their odds in this thread, but if you turn out to be the 1 in whatever numbers they are using, losing an arm or leg or even dangly bits doesn't sound like something I would want to risk. All that lottery luck I never have might catch up to me all at once in whatever the odds are with the sharks. That is at least how I look at it.

[MoonRiver]

95. All I need to know is they can see us and we can't see them.

[brooklynite]

100. What a stupid question...

...the sharks can't come up on the beach...