Official GWS Thread

bill, I had seen the salmon shark, mako and great white relation too.

so your salmon shark note combined with the short fin mako note makes
it at least plausible that the GWS is sort of warm blooded.

GWS certainly like salmon:

While sportfishing for king salmon near Ano Nuevo Island in 1991 we had a white shark following the boat and biting our fish off. We lost 1 1/2 salmon to the shark, this was our allowance of salmon that the shark left us with for the day.

maybe big GWS can only catch salmon already on sombody's fishing  lines,   

sure seems like it's a good chance they are warm blooded tho. extra fast. extra hungry,
extra fast at reproducing during a decade free from predation by humans,  .

p-spark, do you have a reference for us or are you a secret shark researcher? maybe you
just spent the whole week watching shark week? 

Did anyone hear about that NorCal surfer in Hawaii that was attacked yesterday?

hawaii, probably tiger. always tigers in hawaii.

here's video of two GWS hitting a surfer at the same time. south africa.

http://www.surfermag.com/av/

it was a swimmer in hawaii, 10 to 12 foot tiger shark.

not real applicable to us.

http://www.kfmb.com/stories/story.31797.html

hawaii, probably tiger. always tigers in hawaii.

here's video of two GWS hitting a surfer at the same time. south africa.

http://www.surfermag.com/av/

that's some scary footage 

The Teahupoo footage is scarier to be. That video sums up why I think it is going to be extremely hard to get killed by a GWS on a kayak. This surfer had 2 big GWS attack him on his surfboard, was swimming right next to them and paddles in with a bloody arm with no further action by the GWS. The guys arm is messed up for sure but he seems pretty alive to me.

cap'n hook never cast the same again tho.  .

but he was great with a gaff. 

Bill, I think GWS should be the last podium of posting. either that or human.
the top of the food chain is in dispute right now.

Dude that was hilarious!!! 

JMairmy my brother in law tells me that the studdies show that the GWS clear out when the orca come in.The killer whales must work as a team and the GWS know they're out matched. I thought that was kind of  interesting. With what happend to the GWS when mom and her two calf's had that encounter it makes sense

 I have heard GWS are warm blooded, that is of course in a fish sort of way.

can one see the surf footage without paying?

that footage is free owen. just click away. if you dare, it's scary,  .

It would be nice to have an orca 'detail'. When you get bodyguards,
they are called your 'detail'. My cousin is a guy they call 'lou' short for his
other nickname, lucifer, he's a bodyguard. Once I had some trouble with somebody at an event,
I had to fly lou and a partner out from new york, well it was a badass feeling to walk
in with those two guys (550lbs of muscle) flanking me.  cause I'm a lover not a fighter, 
But it was expensive.  . So I have a feeling
that an orca detail would leave you safe, but with no fish,  .

A so-cal dude came through with info on the 1989 fatality.

Two people died, tamara mcAllister and her friend roy stoddard. no remains of
stoddard were found, so his death was not recorded as an official shark attack.

tamara washed up bitten and not drowned apparently. looks like she was a USC distance
swimmer tho, so good chance she left the kayak and was swimming while hit.
man, that one really sounds like jaws! 

but it's interesting that there were two deaths, much less one. how'd that happen?
it doesn't fit the pattern.

no word on whether there was damage to the kayaks yet. kayaks were found drifting
together, nobody on them. would be good to know if there was any damage to
the kayaks.

I got more on confirmed shark attacks on kayaks tho,  :

http://www.baskers.org/ARTICLES/2jaws.html

rosemary johnson gets hit by 14 ft 1500lb shark while paddling an ocean kayak frenzy
(9 foot boat) @ goat rock south of jenner. october 10th 1993.

she didn't know what happened. thought she hit a rock. kayak was sinking. 
hoo-boy. . but the others saw her fly 10 feet in the air and the the shark
with the whole kayak in its mouth.

and ken kelton:

http://www.baskers.org/ARTICLES/1shark.html

Ken in his modified red Dancer (11.5' x 24") and I in my camo-blue deck whitehulled Rocketboat (16' x 21")

both attacks were pretty darn close to shore. both kayaks were effectively sunk. if they'd been way out there, it would
have been interesting. a vhf radio is starting to look like a good thing to have. 

some australians are interested in culling the GWS #'s.

looks like they are protected there too. wonder about SA?

http://www.surfersvillage.com/surfing/18650/news.htm

Five-fold rise in shark attacks sparks calls for cull of protected great whites


Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 7 October, 2005 : - - Jake Heron was preparing to catch the last wave of the day when the ocean’s most feared predator struck. Erupting from the water beside him, the great white shark bit deep into his right arm and leg. "Terror is the only word I can think of to describe it," Heron, a 40-year-old lobster fisherman, said. "I was punching and kicking and screaming for help. Its dorsal fin was right in front of my face."

The 12-foot shark was turning for another strike when a lucky wave propelled Heron and the remains of his mangled surfboard on to the shore. He was rushed to hospital and was given more than 60 stitches. Heron's ordeal, early last month, earned him membership of one of the world's most exclusive clubs – those who have been attacked by a great white and survived.

But it has also prompted an impassioned debate in Australia over whether the great white shark – Carcharodon carcharias – should be culled. There have been five shark attacks in Australia since December, two of them fatal – significantly more than the national average of one a year.

Surfers and fishermen claim that great white numbers have increased dramatically in the last decade after the species was granted protection from hunting. They also say the sharks are being lured closer to shore by a booming tuna fishing industry which has developed in the last decade and is now worth millions of pounds a year.

Tens of thousands of wild-caught tuna are fattened in offshore cages before being exported to Japan, where they are served in restaurants as premium quality sushi and sashimi. Critics say the raw pilchards tossed into the pens, and the blood and guts which spill into the water when the tuna are slaughtered, are an irresistible attraction for great whites, which can grow up to 20 feet and weigh 2.5 tonnes.

Nowhere is the controversy more acute than in Port Lincoln, the centre of the tuna industry, on the southern tip of South Australia's Eyre Peninsula.
Overlooking the deep blue waters of Boston Bay, Port Lincoln is the Antipodean equivalent of Amity Island, the fictional New England beach resort caught up in shark attack hysteria in the 1975 blockbuster Jaws.

Underwater footage of great whites used in the film was filmed at Dangerous Reef, a few miles up the coast.

Heron was attacked as he surfed a picturesque cove south of the town. In 2000, two surfers were killed within 48 hours at similar surf spots along South Australia's remote coast.

There was another near miss last weekend when surfer Josh Berris, 26, desperately fought for his life after being attacked off Kangaroo Island, southeast of Port Lincoln. He survived by ramming his surfboard into the shark's mouth. "Numbers are up five to seven-fold compared with 10 years ago," Heron, whose bite wounds are slowly healing, said. "The tuna industry is teaching sharks to interact with boats and people."

Anti-shark sentiment is running high in Port Lincoln, where swimming, surfing and boating are a way of life. "To have so many attacks in such a short period of time is unheard of," said Nick Porter, who runs a surf shop on the esplanade. "I would say 90% of surfers would be in favour of a cull."

The tuna industry denies that its offshore farms have increased the number of great whites or led indirectly to attacks. Port Lincoln's tuna barons, who have become millionaires from the prized fish, say the tuna pens act as a magnet for sharks which would be in the area anyway, rather than luring more animals from the open ocean.

"Shark sightings are up because there are so many more fishermen out on the water looking out for them," said Robbie Staunton, a tuna company manager whose office overlooks Port Lincoln's busy marina. The two sides are deadlocked because the great white's range is so vast that scientists have no idea whether their population has risen or dropped in the past decade.

"From our limited observations, there's no general trend either up or down," said Barry Bruce, a government scientist who is one of the country's foremost shark authorities.

Many Australians suspect the reason for the increase in shark attacks is because people are moving to the coast in search of a better lifestyle and are spending more time in the water. The number of attacks should be kept in perspective, said Peter Davis, Port Lincoln's mayor. "You're more likely to die of a bee sting or a lightning strike than a shark attack."

But such assurances fail to convince many in Port Lincoln, where the fear of great whites has bred something close to a siege mentality. "There are way too many of them," said Renee Smith, 18, a waitress at a café overlooking the inviting turquoise shallows of Boston Bay. "There'll be another fatal attack this [Australian] summer

here's a more concise argument that attacks have spiked.

also that divers are most at risk of a fatal attack.


http://www.surfersvillage.com/surfing/15179/news.htm


Great White Shark Attacks Triple During Last Four Years

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 13 December 2004: - - From 1926 to 1999, 108 shark attacks were reported from the Pacific Coast of North America according to the book "Shark Attacks of the Twentieth Century." The Great White shark, Carcharodon carcharias, was implicated in 94 (87%) of the attacks; an average of slightly more than one attack per year. What is alarming is that since 2000, there have been 16 shark attacks off the Pacific Coast, more than triple the Twentieth Century average, and all involved the Great White shark.

The most recent victim was Brian Kang, 38, of Arcata, California. On November 11, 2004 at 1:30 PM, he broke a record that had stood for 30 years. As the ninth person attacked by a Great White shark off the Pacific Coast this year, he made 2004 the most active year ever recorded for Great White shark attacks along this coast, or anywhere in the world.

Kang was the fifty-fifth surfer attacked by a Great White shark off the Pacific Coast since 1972. He was surfing with Jennifer Savage at 'Bunkers,’ a well-known surfing beach off the North Jetty at Humboldt Bay in Northern California. Without warning a Great White shark slammed into his surfboard and threw him into the water. Witnesses watched in horror as the huge shark, estimated to be 18 feet in length, clamped down on Kang’s legs. Kang fought back, striking the shark on the head with his fist. Within a few seconds the shark released its grip and Kang rode his board to the beach. Kang is the 124th person to be attacked by a shark off the Pacific Coast since 1926, with 110 of the attacks (89%) attributable to the Great White shark.

Distribution of the 108 Twentieth Century attacks is; 93 in California, 14 in Oregon, and 1 in Washington. There were 8 fatalities (7%), all from California. The most active months for Great White shark attacks were August through October, with more than 60% of the attacks from a ‘recurring location.’ Divers were the most numerous victims, with surfers a close second.

Since the year 2000 there have been 14 shark attacks reported from California, which includes 2 fatalities (13%), and 2 attacks from Oregon. Surfers accounted for 14 (88%) of the 16 attacks. In 2004, 6 of the 9 shark attacks reported (67%) were from a ‘recurring location’ and also occurred during the three month period of August to October. It is particularly distrubing that the first authenticated attack by a juvenile Great White shark (less than 4 feet in length) reported from any location world wide occurred at San Clemente, California in August. The number of adult and juvenile Great White sharks reported from the Pacific Coast this year suggests a possible increase in their population. In response to these compelling statistics, the Shark Research Committee will embark on an archival satellite tagging program in early spring 2005 to gather data on juvenile and adult Great White sharks in Southern California waters.

More information concerning the book "Shark Attacks of the Twentieth Century," published by Scientia Publishing and the Shark Attack Files of the Shark Research Committee, can be found at the website: http://www.sharkresearchcommittee.com   

There is nothing in the world that scares me.  But thanks, thanks for freaking me out!!!!!!!!!