Dude, no softening needed! ... Uh, anyway. Yes, beer's on me, with wheatgrass chasers. Send me a note when you know the dates. So, Cohen, I hear you. So we have carte blanche right to frolic in our not-natural habitat, free from risk? That just sounds weird to me. We're land animals. Just my sense of it. As for shark behavior, if anybody tells you they understand great whites, they are not leveling with you. There are all kinds of theories about what they hit, when they hit it, and why. We only just recently figured out that they move great distances across the Pacific (with some little tracking devices). That migration type behavior really shocked people. Before I seem too cold and lifeless (like the eyes of a great white!), I feel horribly for the kid, his family, and friends.
Predators don't usually kill humans? What's stopping them? Is it because we're intelligent? Tigers, brown bears, great white sharks, Nile and saltwater crocodiles, lions, Komodo dragons, polar bears, etc are all known as alpha predators and they are all man-eaters. They don't seek out humans though. They don't come roaming into our cities looking for man flesh. Letting a predatory animal come into our domain and kill humans without retaliaton, that is carte blanch.
Originally posted by B-Bob Dude, no softening needed! ... Uh, anyway. Yes, beer's on me, with wheatgrass chasers. .. Hey, what's with the warm sensation in your esophogus when you down a shot of wheatgrass? ... it's like everclear. So, Cohen, I hear you. So we have carte blanche right to frolic in our not-natural habitat, free from risk? That just sounds weird to me. We're land animals. Just my sense of it. .. I never said we had carte blanche to kill everything we want to, or even everything we want to eat. I also don't believe humans should kill any whales or dolphins... so I don't think it's sounds inconsistent to say that human-hunting sharks are also unacceptable. But I hear your argument also, and think it's a viable position. I just place human lives over the lives of a few human-killing sharks.
The way I see this is this guy made a commotion when he fell off the board. He just happened to land smack dab near two great white sharks who probably thought the commotion was an injured fish or something. So, this person fell at the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't blame the sharks one bit. To kill them for feeding is stupid. You think they know their eating a human? They just know their eating some animal and they were probably hungry. I personally think surfing in Australia is asking for trouble regardless of the odds. I would never do it....especially 250 yards off-shore. I doubt these surfers would paddle out there and, if your going to get pulled by a power boat, then it's a good idea to stay on the board until you drop into the wave for the ride. Maybe these sharks were tailing the surfer as he was pulled and then let him have it when he fell? I dunno...surfers know the risks even if they don't think it can happen to them.
B-Bob, Sorry about the previous post. I guess I was a little upset because I had been jonesing for some "In a Silent Way" and was listening to that when I read your post and then found myself not able to concentrate on it. (it is best not to ask!) But basically the last couple of posts that Cohen has made is what I was trying to say. As always, he did his usual outstanding job of articulating his point which I struggle with sometimes. So, I appreciate the apology (which you didn't have to do) - you are still the tops on this board in my book.
In Bill Bryson's book about Australia--which by the way is a great read; you can trust me, I'm an English major--he states that Australia has more things per capita that can kill you than anywhere else in the world.
thanks for the concern Codell damn it is well over a 100F here today and tomorrow and i live 2 minutes walk from the beach (off to the pub i guess hopefully i don't explode my stomach) I live about a 15 minutes drive from where this happened theré's been this shark doing laps up the coast in the last few weeks, suspect it was probably him, anyone know how common it is for second shark to join in on an attack?? this is the first shark related human death in 19 years in Adelaide..... plenty more chance i will die driving today, so are we banning cars seems weird people calling to wipe out sharks from residents of country that allows people to carry guns and has a legal system that allows you to find a way out of drinking driving by refusing breath-tests........ I swim a bit, but do so knowing that it is Sharks home ground and realisitically we have killed thousands of sharks over the years (some species are near extinction), compared to not very many people killed by sharks
"Contrary to what most people say, the most dangerous animal in the world is not the lion or the tiger or even the elephant. It's a shark riding on an elephant's back, just trampling and eating everything they see."
"If it means wiping them out, so be it." _________________ "In this instance, that doesn't sound like what happened. These 2 sharks sound like human-killers." _________________ While we’re at it we should kill all the Bees ~ they’re baddies as well…
Originally posted by KingCheetah "If it means wiping them out, so be it." If you read the thread carefully, you will see that the person who said this retracted it. "In this instance, that doesn't sound like what happened. These 2 sharks sound like human-killers." While we’re at it we should kill all the Bees ~ they’re baddies as well… In fact, killer bees from hives that kill people are not relocated, they're destroyed.
I don't think you can get a murder charge and the death penalty to stick in this case. There was no premeditation and I'm pretty sure this shark didn't know right from wrong. I think Man 2 at best... more likely not guilty by reason of insanity and he'll spend the rest of his shark life in a mental institution.
I am severely disappointed by this post. As Cohen pointed out, I retracted that comment. So what is the point of you bringing it up this late in the thread, Cheetah? Can people not admit when they are wrong about something or is it zero tolerance with you?
Hmm...I imagine that Cheetah did what I often do and did not read the entire thread...so he prob missed your clarification.
