You might become the first, Mr Paranoid.

I have a mate that was working under a hullpack and it got hit buy lightening .the doc said that if he was on it at the time it would have killed him instantly .Now what are the odds
I think you have more chance of getting hit by a bus than getting attacked by a shark . Come to think of it i also now a guy that got hit by a bus .

I know it sounds like asking for trouble...but I read somewhere that sharks don't like artificial smells like suntan oil and perfume etc, so I wear both suncream and perfume. This might be crap but at least I'll die pretty! Helps the wettie smell nice too. Which brings me to my next point: I know this is pretty well known but peeing in your wettie is also a bad idea cos the sharks think it is liquid fear. I actually followed up on this and there does seem to be some substance to it, the theory, that is, not the piss (you got substance in that you have bigger problems than the shark)

Hi Paranoid Peeps,

Stinky Goat, I think, is partly correct. Peeing in your wetty will attrack sharks but not because of the fear, although uric acid is released into the cells during times of fear. Peeing is the bodys way of removing the crap from your system, there are also minute traces of blood in urine which is what the sharks probably pick up on. They smell, I think it is 3 parts per million, of blood to water ratio and can follow that ratio of dilution from 3 k's away.

Mind you 3 parts per million of blood in water over a 3km path of say a path width of approximately (allowing for fanning from the source and a strong current and calm seas) 10m x 10m or 100sqm x 3000m gives 300,000 cubic metres or roughly 300,000 tonnes of water at 3 parts per million that would be approximately 1 tonne of blood or 1 cubic metre assuming that the specific gravity of sea water is 1.

I think i read somewhere that the adult male human body has around 5-6 litres of blood, that means you would have to drain the entire blood contents from 166 male adults to attract a shark from 3 kms away or only 83 males from 1.5km away, 41 adult males and a boy at 750m, 21 adult males from 375m away, roughly 10 fully grown adult males from 180m away or 5 fully grown adult males at 90m away or almost the entire blood volume of 2 fully grown medium sized adult males at 30 metres away.

It's been a while since I was at the beach and noticed corpses completely drained of blood every 30m so you would probably be OK kiting around even with a vein cut and leaking moderate quantities of blood into the water.

Gees I'm bored! Don't ask me what possessed me to write this stuff. This is of course all hypothetical and purely based on abstract thinking and probably bad math and maybe a bit of myth thrown in to spice it up and a lack of personal time on the water.

I say, pee in your wetty as often as you like especially in winter, it does more good than harm. Unless of course the shark is only 3 feet away from your groin and you copped a cricket ball in the liver the night before.

Just food for thought. By the way, statistically, you are more likely to die in Australia from lightening strike or Bee sting than from Shark attack..... Just to put things into prospective.

Kite on!

go kiting in gero.... that will "toughen" you up when you think your starting to see things in the water!!!

It makes sense cos you live on top of a mountain. Lots of lightening, not a lot of sharks.

But this highlights my point....I hate these statistics that don't adjust for the number of people in the water.

I heard the other day (a paranoid friends sent the article) that New Zealand has the most great whites of anywhere, but their attack rate is very low, because the water in the great white areas ranges from about 15C to 8C....bigger danger of freezing to death than being attacked by a shark. Of course once you're frozen...Humansicles...every shark's favorite treat.

The sharks could be out there, stacked up on top of each other and baying for blood, but if no-one goes in the water.....

Thats enough exposure for one day. Back in the closet you go. Your feinds are calling you!![}:)]

Statistically speaking you have more chance of being killed by eating shark in a fish & chip shop on top of a hill in South Africa on a stormy night than you do of being eaten by a shark off Perth. And explain to me about people who kite in the Crocodile infested waters around Darwin. The waters edge of the Darwin water ski club has had dogs taken from the shallows by crocs... and its a water ski club?????
I think I will lay in a bath tub full of oily 30+ sunscreen and 28 bottles of Chanel No5 before I tie a large raw leg of cow to my board and drag that back and forwards off the coast of Scarborough on a busy public holiday whilst pissing (after a hard night drinking VB) in my wetsuit and emptying a 'camel-back' of goats blood behind me. I will do this all in the name of science. Or otherwise I could just dress up like a seal and cover myself in fish sauce and swim in a 3km radius of the outskirts of seal Island.
My point is:
I am more afraid of dying not having lived than dying through course of living

hey Harrokrew

If your getting chomped just think to yourself.. there arent' many humans these days who have the priveledge of becoming part of the food chain

Dan landed on shark at Woodies last summer. He did endless kite loops to try to stay airborne. He regained his respect of the ocean again.

I hit a shark kiting at Hawks Nest last summer (Hammerhead 1.5m). 150m from the beach. So what? Scared him more that me I reckon. Been a big one behind the break at Narrabeen several times. 2 5m Tigers at Long Reef in late Nov. They're out there.

Hi Guys,

I too have seen loads of sharks in my 25 years of water sports. Kited over two 7 foot Hammerheads in Hawaii which like Robbo said, freaked them more than me. Sailed past a BIG fin way out back of Woodies last year(that one freaked me), have seen multiple Grey nurses and Bronzies at Cronulla, Palmy, Shoalhaven Heads, and many other spots around the coast.

Fact of the matter is, THEY ARE OUT THERE! It is where they live, more often than not you will have been watched by passing sharks which have decided you are not food and have moved on without you even knowing it.

Most sharks will not bother you and the few that will, have to be hungry, sick or just pissed off and these tend to be in short supply as there is an abundant supply of food in the oceans for them. why would they eat your bony arse, when there are lovely fat blubbery soft seals to munch?

Forget the shark thing, especially on a kite. The best week I have ever had of surfing was the week beginning two days after the fatal attack at Lefties near Cowaramup last year. Beaches were closed, the sharks had bugged out, no wind, uncrowded breaks and perfect often glassy 2-2.5 m waves all week.

Just enjoy the sport and let it be!

I have a new statistic for all you statistitions ( if thats what you call them )... I have more chance of being struck by lightening / crashing a car than being attacked by a shark... and yet i haven't crashed my car, or been in a crash, and havn't been hit by lightening but have been bitten by a shark..... so i'd better go get a lotto ticket!

This is for all the shark lovers on the forum,

I had a look and found you some nice stats on shark attacks............ Now who's paranoid???

Attack Statistics
According to the International Shark Attack File, between 1580 and 2003 there were 1,909 confirmed shark attacks around the world.
Region Confirmed Attacks Deaths
United States 737 38
Hawaii 96 14
Australia 282 132
Africa 255 67
Asia 114 53
Europe 39 1
South America 89 21
Antilles and the Bahamas 57 19
Bermuda 4 0
Mexico and Central America 57 31
Pacific Islands, Oceania 115 48
New Zealand 44 9
Other 20 6
World 1909 456

Data from www.infoplease.com/math-science/biology/plants-animals/sharks

Yep Good ol' Oz rings the bell and comes up a big winner in Fatals! We were only outdone by USA and in particular Florida, home of the bull shark bump and bite specialist.

Have a nice day!

FACT:

Sharks live in ocean waters.