Today off our local California coast we had an unfortunate meeting
of apex predator versus man. You can imagine who came out ahead...
There are many misconceptions concerning the great white shark, and
a general attitude of fear that has been perpetuated by decades
of bad press. To set
the record straight, great whites are not man eaters as is so often
been reported. They rely on fish and pinnipeds (seals and sea lions)
as their primary food source. When humans are thrown into the mix it
is by accident.
Typical attacks on humans are surface related, where a human is
lying, paddling or swimming on the surface and the shark attacks
from beneath. The white shark, which typically attacks seals and sea
lions (pinnipeds) from below, mistakes the silhouette of the human
to be a seal or sea lion.
When a pinniped is attacked, the great white bites, spits and then
waits for the animal to bleed out substantially before coming back
to finish the job. This method is a self preserving tactic as most
of the animals eaten by the white shark have the ability to inflict
harm upon the attacker. Weaken the prey before coming back to finish
it off.
This bite and spit action also allows the shark to determine if the
prey is viable, high enough fatty tissue, or whether it should move
on to look for another prey target. But they do not attack
everything that looks like a seal or sea lion, as there is risk
involved in every attack that could be detrimental to the health of
the shark.
With this said, yes...the great white shark attacks humans. Based
upon science and the many studies that have involved the behavioral
patterns of the great white shark, the answer would be "No". White
sharks do not intentionally attack humans.
Today's incident was very unfortunate. Our hearts go out to the
family of the victim. But rest assured, you have a greater chance of
getting into a deadly car accident than getting bitten by any shark,
great white shark included, when venturing into the ocean.
The crew of Horizon
Charters Dive & Eco Adventures hopes that a whole scale shark
hunt is not undertaken. The shark was only doing as it has been
programmed to do for millions of years. We humans enter the food
chain, knowing or not, every time we venture into the ocean. This is
a fact, whether your snorkeling in Fiji or surfing California.
Please join us in shark education. Learn, listen and do your part to
protect not only the great white shark, but every shark in the
ocean.
Great White Sharks Need Your Help! The Guadalupe Island Conservation Fund, managed by
Marinebio.org,
a US 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, has been established by the members of the scuba diving and
eco-community to assist the government of Mexico protect the
endangered shark population of Isla Guadalupe.
Sea Watch.org, working with
Mexico's Conapesca,
introduced legislation banning fishing with compressors and
hookah in the continental and ocean waters of Mexico.
The destructive fishing methods,
that utilize hookah divers with nets and harpoons, that
has devastated the reefs of the Sea of Cortez over the
last 10 years are being banned by a new regulation
adopted in norma 064. This regulation, if enforced, will
stop the killing of over a 1000 tons of reef fish
yearly in the waters of BCS(Baja California South).
Letter dated 2/07/08 from Mexico's CONAPESCA;
I refer to your request for information on prohibiting
fishing underwater in any of its forms, with scuba equipment
and / or equipment hookah in the Regulation Mexican Official
NOM-064-CFSP-2006, about systems, methods and techniques
that are prohibited for catching fish in the waters under
federal jurisdiction of the United Mexican States, which was
published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación for public
consultation on May 8, 2007.
In this regard I wish to inform you that based on the
technical opinion of the National Fisheries Institute (INP),
as well as the recommendations contained in the Carta
Nacional Pesquera (Fisheries law), the application was
deemed appropriate, so the Norma Oficial Mexicana referenced
will be published in the (Diario Oficial de la Federación )
shortly and provides for the prohibition of fishing
underwater with scuba equipment and / or hookah equipment in
continental waters and in marine waters.
In conformity with the above, under the heading of NOM-064
grouping systems, methods, techniques and fishing gear that
are prohibited for commercial fishing, sports and
recreational fishing, didactic and household consumption,
including the method of fishing with harpoons and fítoras
from the shore or from boats using the technique of diving
with a compressor (hookah) in marine waters and in
continental bodies of water, except as authorized by the
Secretariat based on the technical opinion of the INP.
In regards to the steps to its publication, once approved at
the Third Meeting of the Consultative Committee for
Standardization of Responsible Fisheries, on August 23,
2007, a document entitled "Response to the comments and
changes made to the Draft Norma Oficial Mexicana
PROY-NOM-064-CFSP-2006, about systems, methods and
techniques prohibited for fishing in waters under federal
jurisdiction of the United Mexican States, published on May
8, 2007, "as well as the corresponding regulation, were
forwarded to the Coordinación General Jurídica de la SAGARPA
(legal) for their opinion, under the procedure established
by the same Coordination together with the Oficialía Mayor
de la SAGARPA. Once they have issued their opinion, both
documents will be sent the Comisión Federal de Mejora
Regulatoria (COFEMER) for the purpose of obtaining an
opinion referred to in section 69-L of the Federal Act on
Administrative Procedure, and then be able to publish them
in the Diario Oficial de la Federación.
Atte. Lic. Belinda Cedillo Tirado
Director of Legislative
General Directorate of Fisheries and Aquaculture Management
CONAPESCA-SAGARPA
of bad press. To set
the record straight, great whites are not man eaters as is so often
been reported. They rely on fish and pinnipeds (seals and sea lions)
as their primary food source. When humans are thrown into the mix it
is by accident.
