Abalone poacher eaten by GW in south Africa !

I wouldn't throw stones Matt.  We have all done things we are sorry for at one time or another in our lives.  I feel very badly for his family.  Have a little compassion.
Dave

We have all done things we are sorry for at one time or another in our lives.  I feel very badly for his family. 

+1

Sincerely,

Jim

Crazy...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/8024829/Poacher-killed-by-great-white-shark.html

that's some serious enforcement

My first thought was similar to Merv's - "got what he deserved" type feeling.  Then I read the story and it opened my eyes big time.  These guys swam 2 hours through sharky waters to reach the island 3 miles offshore - I thought of my kayaks - I have a fleet of kayaks, and these guys are swimming 2 hours in sharky waters.  There's no comparison between poaching a NorCal ab in your $200 wetsuit VS being dirt poor to where you'd swim 2 hours with sharks to make a buck.  It's a sad story.

He was doing it to feed his family.  What were you doing it for? 

Dang, 6 mile round trip swim, with gear?!?!  The reason that shark went after these guys is because they resemble SEALS!!! 

What the heck is "High Grading"? Im curious now?

Sad indeed, Im with Art, I do ANYTHING to feed my daughter if I had too.

What the heck is "High Grading"? Im curious now?

Picking an abalone then putting back in favor of a bigger one that you picked.  Abs are hemophiliacs and often die from small cuts caused by the ab iron.  High-grading is illegal and dishonorable.

Poverty is something not easily understood unless you have lived it. I have not and therefore it is often hard for me to understand, and still is even after a dad at a school where I was teaching 20 years ago came to school late to pick up his daughter with bloody arms. I asked him was he alright. He confessed he was poaching a deer to feed his family. This same single dad with a low IQ could barely take care of his son and daughter. She would come to school with dirty clothes and a often handful of dried rice or bread for breakfast. I would ask our kitchen manager always for food for her and the brother. Social services in the area did not care a rat's azz. The sad ending to the story is I attended her funeral the next year. She was struck by a car walking to school. Dam I loved that kid and yes poverty sucks! We never know unless you walk in someone's else shoes.

My first two years out of undergrad, I taught high school in a really sketchy part of East San Jo.  Your post brought me back.  Heartwrenching to see someone else's kids suffer.  But when they are your own . . . I can't even imagine that, and hopefully will never have to experience it. 

In another post, I made some crack about how they were swimming 6 miles round trip.  Damn good swimmers bearing an incredible risk, so you know their motivation was incredibly high.  These guys were not going for some leisurely stroke in the bay, that's for sure.  RIP. 

While I understand Matt's initial reaction (I think a lot of us do), I do feel bad for the guy, with his cowardly buddies abandoning him and bee-lining it for the beach.

I wonder if authorities will press charges against this group or if the emotional trauma will be considered punishment enough.

It's pretty easy to call somebody a coward and a thief while sitting in front of a computer screen half a world away.

Keyboard courage isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

So, I apologize if I seem holier than thou. It's not my place to tell you what's right and wrong. But here are MY thoughts:

25% unemployment in South Africa. Folks living on a dollar or two a day, some with families. They are not lazy- they undertook a long open water swim to pick some abs, to sell em so that some relatively rich folks can dine in a fine restaurant, in order to make a few bucks for... maybe food?

Second, they are swimming in open water, with nothing to fend off an attack from a shark. A shark blasts a guy out of the water, then takes him down. It's easy to sit here in computer land claiming that we would swim over and try to save the guy. That's "keyboard courage"  Truly, the man who has the balls to do that is pretty special. If that's you, kudos to you. But I'm not so quick to judge.

It's a big world. Try to see as much as you can.    

Lecture over.

I'm guessing only part of that was aimed at me...anyway, you're right. "Cowardly" was an unfair term, as I've never been in that situation (and truly hope I never will). But I still feel bad for the guy, being abandoned by his companions while a shark ate him. How's that?  

Did anyone happen to see the photo from Somalia with the guy walking down a street of rubble, carrying a big shark across his shoulders?
The headline read "world's most dangerous city...even for sharks".

There's some heavy, heavy S**t going down in the struggle to survive over there. Tragic, frightening, sobering.

yup

so that makes ok for him to break the law !

no it doesn't .....but to wish him death is kinda severe don't you think? I rather see this poacher get punished by the law.

I dont wish death on any one maybe I used to strong of a word and made a joke in bad taste ! but I do feel that it does not give him the excuse to break the law. that is the last I will say.