Enjoy the summer surf... carefully
Enjoy the summer surf... Carefully
Ah, Florida! The land of sun, sand and surf. It’s that surf part that gets the most press since most of Florida’s visitors are here to enjoy the beach (and that mouse place we won’t mention).
It’s summer time and people are flocking to the beach. As beach activity increases, so does the possibility of an encounter with one of Florida’s sea creatures.
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| Sharks swimming just off shore at a Volusia County beach. |
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Shark hysteria came early this year with three attacks, two of them fatal, for swimmers on Mexican beaches in April and May. Within Florida, Volusia County continued its dubious distinction for the sixth year in a row as the world’s shark bite capital with 17 incidents last year. Already in 2008, there have been 11 attacks in Volusia County alone.
From 1882 to 2007, Volusia has had the most shark attacks with 210. Brevard County ranked a distant second with 90, followed by Palm Beach with 57. When it comes to fatal attacks, Pinellas and Duval are tied at the top of the list with two apiece.
There was also an upswing in attacks along the Florida coast, jumping from 23 in 2006 to 32 in 2007. There has been a gradual increase in human-shark skirmishes in the Sunshine State since they dropped from 37 in 2000 to an 11-year-low of 12 in 2004
In the first four months of this year, there were four fatal shark attacks worldwide, compared with one in the whole of 2007, according to the International Shark Attack File. ISAF is a comprehensive shark attack record jointly administered by the American Elasmobranch Society and the Florida Museum of Natural History on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville.
The latest Florida shark bite was reported just last week at Fernandina Beach. A Birmingham, Alabama woman was apparently bitten by a shark while wading in waist deep water. However, this was only the third shark bite reported in Fernandina Beach in more than 100 years.
"There is an inherent risk any time you enter a wilderness environment," said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File. "If you enter the sea, you stand the chance of stepping on a stingray, getting stung by a jelly fish or getting a rash from sea lice. You also might have an encounter with a shark."
The shark implicated in most Florida attacks is the bull. Spinners and blacktips, the bane of East Coast surfers, are tied for second place.
But how great is the risk? Pretty low, most shark-human encounters are cases of mistaken identity.
"Most of the attacks fall into the category of hit-and-run attacks in which the shark makes a quick grab and then releases the victim," Burgess reported. "The injuries are relatively minor, often comparable to what one would see in a dog bite."
Still, the chances of even a minor shark attack remain quite remote. In the United States, for example, ISAF calculates that the annual risk of death from lightning is some 30 times greater than that from shark attacks. At the beach itself, incidents such as drowning and cardiac arrest are statistically much more dangerous than sharks — as is the traffic you'll likely encounter on the way to the beach.
Some tips
While the risks are low possibility of an attack is real, and swimmers can take precautions. Experts at the Florida Museum of Natural History do have tips to reduce the risks:
~Always stay in groups since sharks are more likely to attack a solitary individual.
~Avoid being in the water during darkness or twilight hours when sharks are most active and have a competitive sensory advantage.
~Do not enter the water if bleeding from an open wound or if menstruating as a shark’s olfactory ability is acute.
~Wearing shiny jewelry is discouraged because the reflected light resembles the sheen of fish scales.
~Avoid waters with known effluents or sewage and those being used by sport or commercial fisherman.
~Use extra caution when waters are murky and avoid uneven tanning and bright colored clothing, sharks see contrast particularly well.
~Refrain from excess splashing and do not allow pets in the water because of their erratic movements.
~Do not enter the water if sharks are known to be present and evacuate the water if sharks are seen while there.
