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Shark! New Sonar Buoy Will Warn Beachgoers When Large Sharks Are Near
stephendavion writes: While the risk of being attacked by a shark is certainly low, it's one of those terrors that can weigh heavily on the mind of a beach-goer, particularly in higher-risk beaches such as those in Australia and South Africa. A new device is currently being developed to warn swimmers when a shark is detected in the water near a beach, and — no surprise — the Aussies are behind it. The Clever Buoy is being called the "world's first shark detection buoy" by its developers. The project is a collaboration between Australian telecommunications company Optus and marine safety company Shark Attack Mitigation Systems.
As a fellow Aussie I think this is fantastic. Anything has to be better than the inhumane slaughter of sharks in Western Australia this summer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W... I'm not a greenie or tree hugger but fucking with the apex predators of any ecosystem always ends with horrendous consequences.
Please please please tell me this device alerts swimmers by playing the "Jaws" theme over the water...
I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
Don't go into the water in the twlight hours of the day, when long shadows are cast into the water. If you are cut and bleeding get out of the water, people who don't attract sharks to where swimmers are. Don't let dogs in the water near people, they attract sharks with the way they swim and their fear. However possibly the worst thing I can see to do with sharks is when people get in one of those cages and diving gear to attract a shark to them with meat so they can get a thrill. It's a great way to teach them that we are a food source while there is so much pressure on the fishstocks.
I am a qualified lifesaver and a powerfull swimmer. I usually swim where it's deep enough to avoid other dangers, like white water (that suck you under) and shore dumps (that snap your spine like a twig). Surfers look for me because I can see *under* the waves to identify where the sandbars are and good waves will be generated. Unfortunately surfers get territorial about the waves and think they have some right to surf them, with their environmentally destructive little fibreglass boats that they lay on. I've actually had surfers drop in on a wave I caught and if my swim stroke doesn't smash into their board and hurt my hand then it hits them and they think I've punched them. So people don't look after each other because of that attitude.
Unfortunately so many people who go to a beach absolve all responsibility for theirs, and everybody elses, lives onto the life saving crew that are there. I have witnessed some stupid and bad things such as;
A obese woman, with an attitude, confusing her arrogance at thinking she was a powerful swimmer, for the rip that was taking her out to sea. I watched her, struggle for a minute or so as she realised she was in trouble and as the ocean to humbled her. I was off duty and pointed it out to one of my mates who had to take a rescue board out. I took him almost 10 minutes to get her fat ass on that board while the rest of us looked on in fits of laughter. Finally his face was less than 10 cm from her ass crack as he laboured, and I mean laboured, to get her into shore.
A bloke with his (reasonablly large) jet ski, too close to shore. The surf was pretty big. It picked up the jet ski like a toy right in front of me and flung it right at me. If I didn't dive under it, it would have killed me. After the wave I grabbed the JS to control it, he swam over to me and asked me to hold it while he got back on. I told him "fuck you mother fuckker, this is going in to shore, you are going to help me do it or you can fuck off". The crew held him till the police came and charged him with a few things.
A poor asian man, with his family, had waded in the shin deep water on a sand bar. A very beautiful day as the tide came in, totally unaware of the danger. Before anyone had realised it, the sandbank collapsed. His wife and daughter both drowned.
Still hurts, but, a mate who swam out to resue one of the said, selfish surfers who was out in a storm. He rescued the guy, but got taken himself. They found his body almost two weeks later trapped under a rock ledge.
If you come across a seal, penguin, or turtle swimming near you - get the fuck out, a shark is near. Another mate has had a shark come near him when he was surfing and discovered they will bump up against you to see how tough you are. Obviously he was terrified and got out quick.
People are just dumb when it comes to the ocean, they don't take responsibility for their own lives and a duped by beautiful weather into thinking they are ok. I love the ocean, it takes away all of your malice while restoring and humbling you. When I swim in the ocean I realise it can kill me whenever it wants in a variety of ways. Sharks are just one.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
Yes, the terror is in the minds of many beach goers, but not in reality. By putting this in place they're validating that fear. Of course this doesn't surprise me as Australia is currently in the middle of a shark cull. Sometimes I forget that the US doesn't have a monopoly on acting on unsubstantiated (and often dis-proven) fears; it's part of the human condition.
That was typed like someone who has never been sliding off the side of their surfboard and noticed a shark directly on the other side of it. Or who has never had their surfboard "bumped" as the shark decides if it is worthy of eating.
Shark attacks are infrequent, but they leave lifelong crippling injuries. If we can get a buoy to give us a heads up, I would be all for it.
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.”
They may be curious, but because they're not mindless killing machines
Actually, that's more or less what they are. They don't sit back and plan to eat people - but if they happen to be hungry, and there's a person nearby that looks edible, they may react and take a bite.
I fail to see how giving people more information, enabling them to make informed choices about getting in the water or not, is a waste of money.
I have swam with sharks on numerous occasions, and always look forward to doing it again
Completely irrelevant. An anecdote is not data, and I don't see anyone suggesting that every encounter with sharks - or even most - is going to result in human casualties.