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Sharks – Conversation Lesson

AJ: We just got back from Maui and while we were there, there was another shark attack and this time on the North Shore which I thought didn’t get shark attacks.

Kristin: So what happened?

AJ: Some guy was swimming, I think it said he was about, the report I read he was like 200 meters, 200 yards out from the shore, like some guy who does a regular swim all the time and the shark bit him on the leg. It didn’t bite his leg off but it kind of mangled his leg a bit.

Kristin: Do they know what kind of shark it was?

AJ: I don’t know, but it probably, in Maui it’s probably a tiger shark, I’m guessing. Because it seems like all the attacks I’ve heard about around Maui have been tiger sharks.

Kristin: And you guys were snorkeling, too, right?

AJ: Yeah, so it was on our mind because the spot where we snorkel all the time has had a shark attack within the last year and I think the person died actually, they were actually snorkeling around that area and again a tiger shark attacked them and bit off their arm or something.

Joe: Yikes. I remember when we went diving in Hawaii just a few years ago. As we were getting in the water, as our group was getting in the water, our divemaster said, “Oh, be careful when you’re going down. There’s a shark sleeping right under us.” But that was like a reef shark, so those are docile. So you don’t really have to worry about that. But, still, it just goes to show like right where we were diving there was a shark right there so if we saw one while we were diving, how many exist that we didn’t see?

Kristin: The, uh, the person that got attacked, AJ, on Maui, got their arm taken off, was that the girl from Germany or something? Like last…this happened like last year?

AJ: Yeah, I think so.

Kristin: Yeah, she ended up dying.

AJ: I know.

Kristin: Yeah, that was a pretty horrific story.

AJ: Yeah, so we, y’know, Tomoe and I started doing all this research about shark attacks then, especially, y’know, in Maui, and what to be careful of. And, so the general advice is that you shouldn’t go into these areas when the water is really murky…

Kristin: Yeah.

AJ: …when it’s not clear, and also to avoid, y’know, like dusk and dawn. So basically it’s low visibility where…’coz the sharks generally, the opinion seems to be that, the scientific opinion is that the sharks are not usually hunting people. So they’re make, what they believe is that they’re mistaking the people. They think the people are some other kind of animal that they usually eat. They think that people are a turtle or a seal.

Kristin: Yeah, I just hear so many mixed things and I’ve become a bit obsessed about shark attacks since I go diving. I mean, y’know, I was told at one point that sharks don’t go after divers and I’ve known of two incidences where great whites have eaten two divers.

AJ: Hm.

Kristin: So I wonder…I mean I wonder, I can understand if there’s people like swimming around on top of the…like on the surface of the water, like flailing around that they might think they’re some kind of other animal.

AJ: Mm-hm.

Kristin: But like when you’re down in the water, for a shark, it’s almost like the shark would be hunting you if you’re scuba diving.

AJ: Yeah. I know that, y’know, I think some of the diver attacks are related to people who are spear fishing or they’re collecting some kind of food which may attract them. So, I mean who knows, but I think there may be some where they do, generally, maybe acquire a taste for people, but I think generally…

Kristin: They don’t.

AJ: …the opinion is that it’s usually mistaken identity.

Kristin: Actually, one of the two incidences that I was thinking of, the guy was collecting mussels.

AJ: Mmm.

Joe: Well, remember, I was just talking about when we went diving in Hawaii a few years ago? I remember that one of the divemasters asked before we went in to the water, they asked if anyone was afraid of sharks. And I specifically remember that Kristin raised her hand. And she might have been the only one who raised her hand, y’know? But what’d the guy tell you?

Kristin: No, he didn’t ask that. I asked him if there were any aggressive sharks. I always ask when we…before we go diving. Are there any aggressive sharks in this area? Because I know there’s one particular area around one of the Hawaiian Islands where there’s hammerheads. I was like, “There aren’t going to be hammerheads on this dive, right?” And he’s like, “No, no, no, but are you afraid of sharks?” And I admitted to him, “Yeah, I am.”

Joe: Well, that’s what it was. See, I thought that he asked the group but he must have just asked you.

Kristin: Well, I brought it up but, yeah, it’s uh…y’know, in…AJ when we first got certified, I remember talking to our Thai divemaster and instructor and he said “No, no, no, we don’t get any aggressive sharks in tropical waters.”

AJ: Yeah, as we know now is BS.

Kristin: Yeah, because there, there have definitely been sightings of bull sharks around Koh Tao.

AJ: Right, which apparently bull sharks have the most documented cases of attacks on people, number one. So like bull sharks I think are number one and then, I don’t know, great whites and tigers are the other two that commonly are, y’know, implicated in shark attacks.

Joe: When we were diving on Bunaken Island or just off Bunaken Island in Indonesia, the divemaster was telling us that he used to be a dive instructor in Koh Tao and he said that they would all tell the divers there that, “Oh no, you don’t have to worry about sharks here. There are no sharks here.” While the whole time they knew that there were definitely sharks in those waters.

AJ: Mmm.

Joe: And I asked him, “Well, why would they say that?” And he said, “Well, think about it. Our job is tied to people coming here and diving so if people are afraid to come to Koh Tao to dive, y’know, we’re not going to be working anymore.”

Kristin: Well, you know how, AJ, you were talking about bull sharks a little while ago and actually the scary thing about bull sharks, they’re the most aggressive, probably have the most attacks like you said. But also, they can go in fresh water.

AJ: Uh-huh.

Kristin: So they’ve been found in rivers.

AJ: Yeah.

Kristin: And have attacked people in rivers even, so it’s kind of crazy to think they can go between saltwater and fresh water.

AJ: Yeah, y’know, but overall though I think we have to realize that it’s, I think the news media and kind of the more connected media that we have now, and then that damn movie Jaws that has made us all terrified. Because, y’know, the actual percentages of people who get attacked by sharks is really, really low. It’s not common, although, yeah, it has been quite a few in Maui for some reason. But, still generally you’re quite safe. Most people aren’t going to get chomped and eaten by a shark.

Joe: It’s not just Jaws though. Remember, wasn’t there a movie, what was it called, Open Water?

AJ: Oh, yeah, but that’s all speculation, that movie. I mean, it’s based on a true story in that two divers got left behind by a boat, y’know, and they were never found again. So what…

Joe: Oh, so they thought they got eaten by a shark.

AJ: …well, they never found them so, of course, it’s a movie so they…they add the whole shark element to it. But they might have just died of dehydration, y’know, who knows.

Joe: Yeah. But I think you’re right. I think the fact that the media plays such a big role in society. Y’know, we always hear about these shark attacks now and maybe there aren’t more of them. Maybe we’re just hearing about them more. Like I just sent you an e-mail about a story about a hammerhead shark being really close to the shore somewhere in Florida and someone actually had video footage of it.

AJ: Hmm.

Joe: I don’t know if you had seen it yet, but people are screaming at the people who are swimming in the area, “Get out of the water!” y’know? Because you can see, the water is so clear, you can see this hammerhead shark. But I guess the swimmers probably couldn’t see it because, y’know, they were just swimming. But the people who were far away on the boat, they could see it.

Kristin: Well, I…I hear what you’re saying about media creating a lot of fear. And I do have this fear because I go diving a lot. But, so as not to give sharks a bad rap, I mean realistically it’s a risk when you go into the ocean because, y’know, whether they mean to or not…I mean they’re just trying to find food. And so it’s…y’know, I don’t think that they’re these killing machines like media can hype them up to be but they’re animals trying to survive, so…

AJ: And still, think about how many people actually are swimming in the waters…

Kristin: Yeah.

AJ: …and how few attacks there actually are.

Kristin: Right.