Bodyboarding, Surfing and Sharks

The water is dark, more so now because the sky has clouded over and a late afternoon storm is rolling in. Some fish jump. You glance over and ignore it. It always makes you a bit nervous when the bait fish are out, but the waves are really good today.

OK, not they're not that good, but they're a lot better than they have been lately and it's been weeks since you've had a good session. You've been out about two hours and managed to catch a handful of decent waves. You're glad you paddled out.

Out the corner of your eye you see a gray fin flash the surface.

You turn but it's gone. "Shark?" you think to yourself.  You look around nervously.  It could have been a dolphin, you've seen lone dolphins out before. You wait but no dolphins surface. "Was it really a fin?", you wonder. It was probably nothing... just your imagination.

Yeah, it was nothing.

You look around again just in case.

So here's the question...

Do you paddle in or do you stick it out?

And what are the risks anyway? You're more likely to get struck by lightning than bit by a shark. Everyone knows that... and you're fairly certain it's true.

But what are the risks?

For those who want to know the statistics there's tons of information available through the International Shark attack file which is "a compilation of all known shark attacks that is administered by the the American Elasmobranch Society and the Florida Museum of Natural History".

It's a little disorganized but I was able to confirm that among other things yes you are more likely to be struck by lightning or, surprisingly killed by a dog or an alligator,  than to be attacked by a shark. If you want to know the number of attacks in your area you can find that out too. For instance according to the stats for Florida my county has only had 19 shark attacks in the past 108 years and only 2 of them were fatal (the last fatal attack was over 30 years ago).

About 40% - 50% of attacks worldwide are on surfers (I assume they lump in bodyboarders with surfers). Divers and swimmers make up the rest of attacks.  I haven't found any numbers comparing the numbers of surfing vs bodyboarding attacks worldwide but from recent memory I'd say there are more attacks on surfers and that's probably because there are more surfers in the water.

Of course, just as walking around in a thunderstorm with a lightning rod increases your chances of being struck by lightning , there are things that can make a shark attack more likely.

Contributing Factors to Shark Attack:

• Low visibility in water (greater chance for mistaken attacks)
• Bait fish running (greater chance for mistaken attacks)
• Early morning and late evening sessions (sharks are more active)
• Inlets, sandbars and drop-offs (more sharks around / more shark food around)
• Shiny jewelry and watches (resembles shiny fish scales, greater chance for mistaken attacks)
• Bleeding / fresh open wounds (Duh! don't chum the water)
• Surfing alone (Less help, more of a target) 
• Splashing and horseplay (may attract sharks) 

Of course even if you play everything safe sometimes your number is just up. In 2003 Bethany Hamilton was surfing with friend in clear waters on a beautiful day at a break that had never before had a shark attack and lost her arm for it. Though she no longer surfs that break she still surfs professionally and is out-surfing some of the best women surfers in the world with just one arm. I'm not sure if the words like bad-ass and cahones can be politely applied to women, but those are definitely the words that come to mind. Bethany was able to look past the horror of her experience and see that attacks are not very likely and that while you should be careful you shouldn't let caution keep you from living your life.

It's been said that “Properly experienced, life is a very risky behavior”. I for one refuse to live life cowering in the shadows of what-ifs.

Stay Stoked,
DH