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The Drifter DVD

Rob Moachado in The Drifter: Info and Reviews on the Way!

Endless Summer DVD

Two surfers travel the equator for a never-ending summer surf trip: Info and Reviews on the Way!

Step Into Liquid DVD

Step into Liquid: Info and Reviews on the Way!

Surprising Shark Attack Statistics

Found in Shark Attacks, Surfing — Tags: , — Texas Surfer

Watchout for those collapsing sand holes!

Here are a few shark attack statistics you’ll enjoy.

  • A person is more likely to be killed by a dog attack, lightening, a falling coconut, or by being buried by a collapsing sand hole than by being attacked by a shark.
  • In 2008, there were only 59 shark attacks reported world wide. Only 4 reported attacks were fatal.
  • Generally, shark attacks result in 5-15 deaths world wide each year. This is an estimate as some attacks are not reported.
  • Despite the fact that more people are venturing into the water, the trend over the past century from 1990-1999 has revealed the world wide fatality rate from shark attacks has gone down.
  • It is estimated that humans kill up to 100 million sharks per year.
  • World shark populations have declined approximately 90% in the past 3 decades.

The collapsing sand hole thing is new to me, but how often could that happen. Maybe more often than you’d think – people get to digging tunnels at the beach, and before you know it, the sand has collapsed on them. If you see feet sticking out of the sand, give them a yank.

Clever Shark Attack

Source.

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U.S. Recession Leads to Fewer Shark Attacks

Found in Shark Attacks, Surf News, Surfing — Tags: , , — Texas Surfer

"Could the lousy economy be keeping you from being mauled by a Great White? According to one researcher, the answer is yes. "

During a recession, less people are in the water because less people are going on vacations. This means sharks see a lot less people and attack a lot fewer people. But the idea that sharks are eating us less because we don’t have as much money is a little ridiculous.

shark attacks during recession

It's all fun and games until someone gets bit!

Source.

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Shark FAQ

Found in Safety, Shark Attacks, Surfing — Tags: , , , — Texas Surfer

These are questions that people are actually typing into Google, Yahoo!, and Bing, and ending up at TexasSurfers.com. Some of these are questions they search for using the search box you see at the top of this web page. I figured I'd share them with you and answer what I can.

First I’d like to point out that sharks aren’t “mean.” They’re just hungry and if you’re in the water they just might taste you. A shark might decide you don’t taste good, and only eat your leg or arm; sometimes a shark will be so hungry it doesn’t care how you taste, and it’ll throw you around and eat you up.

Can you survive a shark eating you?

Probably not, but it really depends on how much of you it eats, what parts, and how much blood you lose before you get to the hospital. If it eats 1/2 of you, you probably won’t make it. If it eats your head, you’re doomed. If you lose 1/2 your blood before you get to the hospital, you probably won’t even need to go to the hospital.

Are you more likely to be kicked to death by a donkey than bitten by a shark?

I don’t know, man. I looked for info on this, ended up at Snopes.com, and they don’t know either.

Are you more likely to survive a shark or lion attack?

I don’t know. But one time when I was little I put a tarantula and a scorpion in a jar, and the spider won.

Is there a shark repellant for surfers?

They best thing I’ve found is Shark Shield, but I haven’t tested it out. If they’ll send me a free setup to test it for you, I’ll let you know how it goes.

What colors attract sharks?

Bright colors. Shiny things. So the wetsuit I have that has yellow and blue and red all over it is not a good thing to wear in the water, and jewelry isn’t a good thing to wear in the ocean either.

You also shouldn’t skinny dip in the ocean… the one time I got bumped by a shark, I had just slipped on my shorts under the water.

What do you do if a shark is near you?

Get back to shore quickly but without splashing and screaming. Splashing and screaming could excite the shark and cause it to attack you. But I’ll admit that the one time I was bumped by a shark, I got out as fast as I could and I did quite a bit of splashing.

Are there a lot of sharks in Galveston surf?

I’ve been told sharks like to hang out between the second and third sand bars. This sucks because the best waves are right in front of the second bar. I’ve never had any trouble with sharks in Galveston though, and I used to surf it nearly every day. This includes San Luis Pass, which people tell me is infested with sharks and has crazy rip tides. Never had any trouble there, it was just a great place to surf.

Do sharks attack people alone or in groups?

Sharks mostly attack people when people are alone, but they’ll attack people in a group also. It’s best to surf in a group. You probably won’t get attacked, but if you do, you have people to help you. And it’s more fun in a group anyway.

Do sharks come out in the rain?

Rain stirs up the water, and fish are known to bite more during or just after a rain. It seems likely that sharks are more prone to “attack”, or feed, during and just after a rain.

How fast do sea lions escape shark attack?

Hmm. I’d say sometimes it isn’t fast enough.

If a shark is involved in a fight and loses a limb will that limb grow back?

No.

Can you surf during menstruation?

I wouldn’t recommend it. Blood and even urine attract sharks.

Sharks attack surfers because they think they are:

Turtles. You look like a turtle from under the water when you’re on your surfboard and your legs and arms are hanging off the sides.

Staying calm around a shark…

I don’t think I could stay very calm around a shark, so I don’t have any mind tricks to share.

Will a shark leave if you hit them in their sensitive spots?

It might, and that’s what you should do. But the spot you should hit is their nose. I’m thinking it’ll be easy to see their nose in order to hit it because it’s right above the teeth they’re trying to eat you with.

Texas Shark

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Humans Send Firm Message to Sharks

Found in Shark Attacks, Surf News — Tags: , — Texas Surfer

Humans to Sharks: We don’t have to put up with your shark bites. In fact, if you bite one of our people, we will hunt you down, shoot you in the head, and saw apart your spinal cord.

Well I hope this works, because they’ve been biting us for years. It has got to stop. Humans are supreme, not to be mistaken for shark food, and we have to get this message across in a firm, clear way.  A move this dramatic should provide the shock and awe needed in the shark community to make them stop this unnecessary human biting.

I hope the sharks are reading the news this morning. Of course, if not, I’m sure they’ll get the message about this once they see it happen. When their own shark friends turn up missing, out of the blue, or they see their buddies spine getting severed while they watch from below. They’ll put it on the Shark News Channel and all sharks will realize that their thoughtless human biting days are a thing of the past.

And I hope they don’t retaliate by strapping bombs to little sharks, and then training those little sharks to bite people.

And just wait until sharks evolve legs, illegally infiltrate our country and protest equal rights and free hospitalization on our streets. But that one’s actually hard to imagine … creatures swimming across the gulf and into America? Yea right.

Somehow I don’t think this one’s going to be as easy as we think.

Real Shark News Headlines

ROGUE sharks that attack beach goers this summer will be hunted down, shot in the head and sawed apart until their spines are severed.

Source

Man-Eater Shark Spines ‘To Be Severed’

Source

Killer sharks to get spines severed

Source

shark in bar 206x300 Humans Send Firm Message to Sharks

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Introducing Up-to-Date Shark Attack News

Found in Safety, Shark Attacks, Surf News — Tags: , — Texas Surfer

shark attack Introducing Up to Date Shark Attack News

Texas Surfers Brings You the Most Current Shark Attack News.

Checkout the Shark Attack News Feed.

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The Famous Picture of a Shark Swimming Under a Surfer

Found in Shark Attacks, Surfing, Surfing Pictures — Tags: — Texas Surfer

We’ve had a lot of visits lately from people looking for this picture of a shark swimming under a surfer.

shark behind wave surfer The Famous Picture of a Shark Swimming Under a Surfer

A few of the search terms being used to find this picture are:

  • Picture surfer with shark under him
  • Shark swimming under surfer
  • Sharks seen under surfer in wave
  • What’s that picture with the shark behind the wave and a surfer surfing?

If you know anything about this picture, such as where it was taken, who the surfer is, if that’s even a shark, or who took the picture, send me an email.

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Shark Repellent for Shark Attacks

Found in Safety, Shark Attacks, Surf News, Surfing — Tags: , — Texas Surfer

Finally, A Shark Repellent that Works

I’ve looked high and low for a shark repellent and finally found one worth mentioning. It’s a product called Shark Shield, which repels sharks with an electric field that induces spasms in the shark’s snouts. It’s used to repel sharks while participating in numerous water sports: “surfing, bodyboarding, longboarding, snorkelling, scuba
diving, free diving, spear fishing, commercial diving, kayaking, ocean swimming and boating or fishing.”

Shark Shield is provided by an Australian based company, of the same name, that specializes in manufacturing products that protect people from sharks. According to their website, Shark Shield is used by the Australian Elite Army, the South African Navy, the US Coast Guard, and is approved by NATO. It provides protection against all predatory shark species. Tiger sharks, Great Whites, Bull sharks, Makos, Bronze Whalers, and more are deterred by this product.

How Shark Shield Works

Here’s an illustration of how Shark Shield works for surfboards.

surfer shark shield Shark Repellent for Shark Attacks

“The Surf unit is compact and lightweight and produces up to an eight meter shark safe zone. The unit can attach to all surfboards and weighs around 350 grams, and the less once in the water. The unit comes compete with mounting plate, deck grip and electrode tail. If you have more than one surfboard, mounting plates can be attached to numerous craft and the unit is then detached, using an Allen key, and reattached to another mounting plate. This Shark Shield Surf has a 7 hour rechargeable lithium battery.”

shark shield grip deck Shark Repellent for Shark Attacks
shark shield surfboard mounting plate Shark Repellent for Shark Attacks

I talked with the head of the surf unit at the company, who told me a shark shield device for a surfboard would cost
$499. That’s not cheap, but it’s worth it, especially if you plan to surf in waters known to have shark attacks.

Here’s a video that provides more information about Shark Shield.

YouTube Preview Image
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Send a Sandcastle

Found in Comedy, Shark Attacks, Surf News — Tags: — Texas Surfer

sand castle shark attack Send a Sandcastle

Everyone likes to see sandcastles and everyone likes making them. And to be honest it’s been a little non-eventful in the water and we all need something to do at the beach.

If you send in a cool picture of a sandcastle that you made, I’ll put it on this website for people to see.

…Maybe it should be called a sand sculpture? It doesn’t have to be a castle.  Just make something.

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Shark Swims Near Surfer

shark sighting cornwall Shark Swims Near Surfer

(UK)  Just last July (2008), a Great White shark was allegedly spotted off the coast of Cornwall but turned out to be a hoax. In 2005 there were even sightings of a Mako shark near Cornwall; the Mako or Maori is known to be a man-eater.

This year a 34 year old experienced surfer named Don Harding snapped a picture at Praa Sands of what appears to be a shark swimming very close to a surfer, but many are speculating that the dark shape in the water here is just a dolphin.

Who knows. Dolphin sightings this early in the year are said to be a sign of a good summer. I hope they have a blast.

Source.

Update!

While exchanging website links with another surfer/blogger, I found myself talking to a guy named Andrew (check out his surf art blog) who actually was at Praa Sands the day this picture was taken and actually saw this happen. Read what he has to say about this sea creature:

Oddly enough, your latest blog post about a shark sighting in Cornwall… I was actually there at Praa Sands that day!  And I know the surfer in the picture!  His name is Spencer, and I can tell you as a fact that it was not a shark, it was actually a pod of dolphins.  Spence had seen them going for the wave so he paddled for the same wave, he said there were 3 or 4 of them, and they ended up passing under him on the wave, he could see them clearly… Although he was so busy watching them that he wiped out pretty horrendously moments after that photo was taken!

Cornwall has had a few ’shark sightings’ over the years, but they’ve all been hoax. One fisherman made up seeing a great white and ended up damaging tourism in the area as tourists were afraid to swim… he was not popular! haha. I’m no expert, but Cornwall’s waters are perhaps the safest in the world, we have Basking Sharks… that are terrifyingly large, but harmless, and they are sighted quited regularly, but most shark sightings are taken with a pinch of salt by surfers over here… The water is just too cold for them.

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Man with No Limbs Surfs

Found in Shark Attacks, Surf News, Surfing Pictures — Tags: , , — Texas Surfer

man with no arms or legs surfing Man with No Limbs Surfs

Bethany Hamilton, a surfer who lost one of her arms during a shark attack in 2003, took Nick Vujicic surfing last August (2008). Nick was born without arms or legs. I found this story on Coastal Surfing, which is one of my favorite surfing blogs. Check it out to get more info on this story.

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