Sybarite: Modern research has shown that bites by sharks are often investigatory or defensive

I'm not okay with investigatory techniques that involve chewing on me.

This. I don't tolerate it with my cat or dog. They get yelled at and bopped on the nose.

I dont know about you guys but when I RTFA it sounded like by using "Shark Attack" it was hurting the sharks feelings. So for the whole article all I could think about is "Are sharks REALLY this damn sensitive?" Funny how my mind works somedays.

jboy: Sybarite: Modern research has shown that bites by sharks are often investigatory or defensive

I'm not okay with investigatory techniques that involve chewing on me.

This. I don't tolerate it with my cat or dog. They get yelled at and bopped on the nose.

There's a difference between scolding your pet and getting angry at a wild animal for behaving the way it does in its natural environment. You don't have to "tolerate" your pet getting nippy with you, but you should "tolerate" sharks behaving that way when you enter THEIR domain. It's not something to get angry about; it's just a fact of life.

Hey sharks! The jerk store called. They said they're running out of you!
/got nuthin

The guy seems to be assuming a lot about what kind of intent is implied by the use of the term "attack".

When a shark comes up and bites you, do you really care if the shark intended to eat you or just see what you are (and whether you're tasty)?

We all know that that's just sharks doing what they do. It doesn't mean it's not an attack, and calling it an attack doesn't mean we're demonizing them or that we have to go all Death Wish on them in a personal vendetta to kill them all either.

Christopher Neff is studying the politics of shark bites at the University of Sydney, Australia

Wait until he hits the real world and discovers that there are literally tens of thousands of other people with the same degree he has. Should've stuck with Poly Sci buddy...

Mnemia: jboy: Sybarite: Modern research has shown that bites by sharks are often investigatory or defensive

I'm not okay with investigatory techniques that involve chewing on me.

This. I don't tolerate it with my cat or dog. They get yelled at and bopped on the nose.

There's a difference between scolding your pet and getting angry at a wild animal for behaving the way it does in its natural environment. You don't have to "tolerate" your pet getting nippy with you, but you should "tolerate" sharks behaving that way when you enter THEIR domain. It's not something to get angry about; it's just a fact of life.

I am the dominant species. I don't have to put up with stupid animals biting me.



That's like saying it's your fault that you got raped because you cut through some rapists yard on the way to school.

Mr. Pokeylope: I am the dominant species. I don't have to put up with stupid animals biting me.

www.ohgizmo.com

That's like saying it's your fault that you got raped because you cut through some rapists yard on the way to school.

Whoever drew that cutaway diagram needs to pick one perspective and stick to it.

That's like saying it's your fault that you got raped because you cut through some rapists yard on the way to school.

This is so dumb. Just...wow.

Mr. Pokeylope , that is the knife that caused Brit newspapers to shart their pants. They were having a fit because "anyone could buy it". Including, I assume, divers, snorklers and yobs.

Mr. Pokeylope: Mnemia: jboy: Sybarite: Modern research has shown that bites by sharks are often investigatory or defensive

I'm not okay with investigatory techniques that involve chewing on me.

This. I don't tolerate it with my cat or dog. They get yelled at and bopped on the nose.

There's a difference between scolding your pet and getting angry at a wild animal for behaving the way it does in its natural environment. You don't have to "tolerate" your pet getting nippy with you, but you should "tolerate" sharks behaving that way when you enter THEIR domain. It's not something to get angry about; it's just a fact of life.

I am the dominant species. I don't have to put up with stupid animals biting me.

[www.ohgizmo.com image 500x197]

That's like saying it's your fault that you got raped because you cut through some rapists yard on the way to school.

What's the name of that knife?

/hot

Oh for Fark's sake. The article writer has his panties in a bunch over terminology? And not over the massive over hunting of sharks? How many species are going extinct due habitat loss as well? That shark that just got its' fins cut off is more hurt by the emotional abuse?

\Seriously, I did a GIS and found different numbers on shark extinction. Also, any opinions on wildlife charities to donate to? Good/bad?

Mr. Pokeylope: Mnemia: jboy: Sybarite: Modern research has shown that bites by sharks are often investigatory or defensive

I'm not okay with investigatory techniques that involve chewing on me.

This. I don't tolerate it with my cat or dog. They get yelled at and bopped on the nose.

There's a difference between scolding your pet and getting angry at a wild animal for behaving the way it does in its natural environment. You don't have to "tolerate" your pet getting nippy with you, but you should "tolerate" sharks behaving that way when you enter THEIR domain. It's not something to get angry about; it's just a fact of life.

I am the dominant species. I don't have to put up with stupid animals biting me.

[www.ohgizmo.com image 500x197]

That's like saying it's your fault that you got raped because you cut through some rapists yard on the way to school.

no its like going into the jungle wearing a bathing suit and suntan lotion, only to be attacked by a tiger and then complaining how tigers attack you.

The author has a point though. Most of the time, when a big shark bites a human, it's a one-and-done. They bite, then they spit you out. It's very, very different behaviour from when a shark is really trying to kill and eat something. You have to remember that a shark has very little cognitive capacity by any human measure. They are all instinct and reflex. Something behaves in a way that triggers a feeding response (like thrashing around in water like an injured creature) the shark will automatically bite, because that is the instinctive response. But when the thing they bite doesn't taste like food they expect (neoprene and lean human doesn't taste much like fatty seal), they spit it out again, because that's the instinctive response there too.

It's actually possible to be fairly safe around even a big shark, as long as you know how to avoid triggering their instinctive responses, or how to short-circuit that response. For example, if it's just one shark, you can stay almost completely safe just by always turning to face it, because shark's instincts program them to always circle around and come from behind. That works pretty good against a fish or other swimmer that can't rotate freely, but a human diver standing on the bottom can simply just keep turning to face the shark and the shark will just keep circling. Of course if you have multiple sharks, it's less effective, for obvious reasons.

moistD: Mr. Pokeylope: Mnemia: jboy: Sybarite: Modern research has shown that bites by sharks are often investigatory or defensive

I'm not okay with investigatory techniques that involve chewing on me.

This. I don't tolerate it with my cat or dog. They get yelled at and bopped on the nose.

There's a difference between scolding your pet and getting angry at a wild animal for behaving the way it does in its natural environment. You don't have to "tolerate" your pet getting nippy with you, but you should "tolerate" sharks behaving that way when you enter THEIR domain. It's not something to get angry about; it's just a fact of life.

I am the dominant species. I don't have to put up with stupid animals biting me.

[www.ohgizmo.com image 500x197]

That's like saying it's your fault that you got raped because you cut through some rapists yard on the way to school.

no its like going into the jungle wearing a bathing suit and suntan lotion, only to be attacked by a tiger and then complaining how tigers attack you.

But "attack" is a word of hate... how do you think that makes the tiger feel?

If you were smart enough to take a gun with you on your little trip to the jungle, would it infringe on the tigers rights if you shot it when it attacked you?

DesertEagle: Mr. Pokeylope: Mnemia: jboy: Sybarite: Modern research has shown that bites by sharks are often investigatory or defensive

I'm not okay with investigatory techniques that involve chewing on me.

This. I don't tolerate it with my cat or dog. They get yelled at and bopped on the nose.

There's a difference between scolding your pet and getting angry at a wild animal for behaving the way it does in its natural environment. You don't have to "tolerate" your pet getting nippy with you, but you should "tolerate" sharks behaving that way when you enter THEIR domain. It's not something to get angry about; it's just a fact of life.

I am the dominant species. I don't have to put up with stupid animals biting me.

[www.ohgizmo.com image 500x197]

That's like saying it's your fault that you got raped because you cut through some rapists yard on the way to school.

What's the name of that knife?

Wasp Injector Knife (new window).

Always thought it was kind of cool.

DROxINxTHExWIND: I get more irritated by the phrase "man-eater". We're all walking hunks of meat, you egotistical pricks. We don't need claws because we've volved to use our intelligence to protect us. You're slower than a zebra or a dolphin, you can't physically defend yourself from attack from most predators, and you're probably damn tasty. The wild animal isn't going rouge by trying to kill you.

Bah! Put that shark on land and I will kick it's ass.

DROxINxTHExWIND: you can't physically defend yourself from attack from most predators

Given a few rocks, and some sticks, and a little bit of time, yes I can.

Mr. Pokeylope: moistD: Mr. Pokeylope: Mnemia: jboy: Sybarite: Modern research has shown that bites by sharks are often investigatory or defensive

I'm not okay with investigatory techniques that involve chewing on me.

This. I don't tolerate it with my cat or dog. They get yelled at and bopped on the nose.

There's a difference between scolding your pet and getting angry at a wild animal for behaving the way it does in its natural environment. You don't have to "tolerate" your pet getting nippy with you, but you should "tolerate" sharks behaving that way when you enter THEIR domain. It's not something to get angry about; it's just a fact of life.

I am the dominant species. I don't have to put up with stupid animals biting me.

[www.ohgizmo.com image 500x197]

That's like saying it's your fault that you got raped because you cut through some rapists yard on the way to school.

no its like going into the jungle wearing a bathing suit and suntan lotion, only to be attacked by a tiger and then complaining how tigers attack you.

But "attack" is a word of hate... how do you think that makes the tiger feel?

If you were smart enough to take a gun with you on your little trip to the jungle, would it infringe on the tigers rights if you shot it when it attacked you?

possibly if it was endangered. And if you were smart enough to take a gun with you into the jungle, why not take something to protect you in the ocean?

But bad mouthing snarks that make themselves look dumb (which is most of the time) is still okay right?

Sapper_Topo: I dont know about you guys but when I RTFA it sounded like by using "Shark Attack" it was hurting the sharks feelings. So for the whole article all I could think about is "Are sharks REALLY this damn sensitive?"

Well, sharks have what's called a lateral line that runs the length of their body. They can detect behavioral changes and are quite perceptible to a large spectrum of subtle moods like those given off from a child who has just opened a present it's not happy with. For the latter there is at least one documented case of a shark wrapping and presenting a gift to a forlorn child on his birthday after being disappointed once again by his deadbeat dad. Albeit, the gift was wrapped in sargassum and the present consisted of little more than a regurgitated arm the child was none the less pleased with the tattoos, some of which depicted guns.

baggins2000: Yes, the USS Indianapolis was just a shark bite incident.

The USS Indianapolis and the 1910 New Jersey summer were Black Swans.

If you see something thrashing around in the water, bleeding, and screaming bloody murder, you think "prey". Survivors said that keeping still and calm saved their lives.

Also, sharks don't hunt people. Humans are bony and don't have that much fat on them. When people lose limbs from shark attacks, they often see the limbs wash up on the shore the next day. The shark spit it out.

Sharks investigate with their mouths like babies.

Often what also happens is they're swimming near other animals making the sharks go into predator mode.

After reading this article, I did some research on Wobbegong (that's really fun to say) sharks. An interesting tidbit about wobbegong sharks is that while they do not eat humans, wobbegong meat often finds its way into fish and chips served in Australia. Now I've eaten a few different kinds of shark and been pretty pleased each time, but I've never eaten wobbegong - it's described as flaky and delicious. This did get me thinking though about our general fear of sharks when it is in fact us that is generally the predator. Wobbegong.

DROxINxTHExWIND: I get more irritated by the phrase "man-eater". We're all walking hunks of meat, you egotistical pricks. We don't need claws because we've volved to use our intelligence to protect us. You're slower than a zebra or a dolphin, you can't physically defend yourself from attack from most predators, and you're probably damn tasty. The wild animal isn't going rouge by trying to kill you.

So true. We are too slow, no claws, no fangs, no wings, no night vision...
Which is why I'm glad we have these:

colithian: baggins2000: Yes, the USS Indianapolis was just a shark bite incident.

The USS Indianapolis and the 1910 New Jersey summer were Black Swans.

If you see something thrashing around in the water, bleeding, and screaming bloody murder, you think "prey". Survivors said that keeping still and calm saved their lives.

Also, sharks don't hunt people. Humans are bony and don't have that much fat on them. When people lose limbs from shark attacks, they often see the limbs wash up on the shore the next day. The shark spit it out.

Sharks investigate with their mouths like babies.

Often what also happens is they're swimming near other animals making the sharks go into predator mode.

And the point is?

I don't think anyone is judging the morality of the sharks motives. If a shark bites your arm off, it's still an attack whether it was hungry or just exploring.

DROxINxTHExWIND: I get more irritated by the phrase "man-eater". We're all walking hunks of meat...The wild animal isn't going rouge by trying to kill you.


/hotlinked

JesseL: I don't think anyone is judging the morality of the sharks motives. If a shark bites your arm off, it's still an attack whether it was hungry or just exploring.

The point is that people are stupid and therefore a greater threat to sharks than vice versa. A shark being a shark isn't evil, a human killing a shark for being a shark (or to make soup) is evil or intensely stupid. For every shark that has killed a human we've killed thousands upon thousands of sharks.

There are places humans don't belong. The absence of gills or a blowhole should be your first clue.

Also, when someone runs into a deer, it is NOT because the deer are wondering into town. It is because someone built a town on top of the deer's forest. We are the invasive species/plague. Agent Smith is right about us.

apeiron242: JesseL: I don't think anyone is judging the morality of the sharks motives. If a shark bites your arm off, it's still an attack whether it was hungry or just exploring.

The point is that people are stupid and therefore a greater threat to sharks than vice versa. A shark being a shark isn't evil, a human killing a shark for being a shark (or to make soup) is evil or intensely stupid. For every shark that has killed a human we've killed thousands upon thousands of sharks.

There are places humans don't belong. The absence of gills or a blowhole should be your first clue.

Also, when someone runs into a deer, it is NOT because the deer are wondering into town. It is because someone built a town on top of the deer's forest. We are the invasive species/plague. Agent Smith is right about us.

We don't belong in the water? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. If sharks could crawl up on land to bite our faces off they would.

We are smarter and better designed than fish. We go where we please.