Got Wacked, updated 1st post

My Hobie got singled out.  2 paddle kayaks were left alone.  I was slowly pedaling when I got hit.

unless you can ask the shark i think there is no way to know if you were singled out. ideally don't think it matters, but there really is not enough data to support it either way.

Guess this is a topic for Mythbusters ....  SERIOUSLY!  I'm e-mailing them now!

Glad you are ok, that looks gnarly big.

I remember a surfer and a boogie boarder where attacked, bled out and ultimately died around that same spot about a year or two ago. Good insight on this first link, it does well to define the frequency at location-every two years (think Pigeon Point/Bean Hollow here), and northern migration of the white shark for this time of year.

http://ktla.com/2014/10/03/great-white-shark-attack-prompts-beach-closures-in-santa-barbara-county/

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/23/california-surfer-killed-in-shark-attack-off-vandenberg-air-force-base-beach/

http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/surfnews/non-fatal-great-white-attack-on-surfer-prompts-closure-of-vandenberg-area-beaches_118768/

From BWE, a mathematician's take on the attack data, specifically on the paddle vs. pedal question:

As someone with a stats background (Ph.D. in Sociology with a quantitative focus, M.A. in Demography), I would agree that there is nothing here that suggests any conclusive "statistically significant" differences by propulsion method.

The OP is correct that you would really need to know how many people are out there in these types of kayaks at risk of getting attacked to do the analysis correctly.

In fact, you would ideally need to know not only what kind of kayaks are out there in consumers' hands, but how much they use them. In other words, if you had 1000 people with Hobie mirage kayaks and 1000 people with paddle kayaks, and the mirage drive kayakers spend twice as much time on the water as people with paddle kayaks, you would expect them to experience twice as the number of shark attacks even if the rate of shark attacks was exactly the same.

My Hobie got singled out.  2 paddle kayaks were left alone.  I was slowly pedaling when I got hit.

unless you can ask the shark i think there is no way to know if you were singled out. ideally don't think it matters, but there really is not enough data to support it either way.

Really.  So how do you exactly ask a shark?

You replicate the situation (without people) in a particularly "sharky area" and see if the results are consistant enough to call this plausible. 

You replicate the situation (without people) in a particularly "sharky area" and see if the results are consistant enough to call this plausible.

Yeah, like the Mythbusters did with differently colored bags of chum and some smaller sharks (there's a link to the video in my latest story). Now all we need is a mature great white to volunteer.

I also broke the kayak attacks down by color. They span the spectrum. I'm sticking with bright colors such as orange and yellow. Boaters are the greater danger.

Lame chart attached below. If sharks are color blind as one researcher discovered (I'm not sure about great whites), then contrast could be the crux of the matter. If that's the case and we're really looking at lighter colored kayaks vs. darker the chart could be read as 7 light vs. 4 dark, although I'm not sure of the actual shade of some of those reported colors.
 
http://www.kayakfishmag.com/features/great-white-color-question/

Each day, there are hundreds of people paddling rental kayaks inside Monterey Bay. Those people should be taken into account too.

And those paddling rental kayaks from HMBK, and sea kayakers also.

Perhaps it is time we updated this:

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=36621.0

http://www.keyt.com/news/shark-attack-survivor-describes-his-lucky-escape/29001514

It's deemed sharktober officially for me.

If sharks are color blind as one researcher discovered (I'm not sure about great whites), then contrast could be the crux of the matter. If that's the case and we're really looking at lighter colored kayaks vs. darker the chart could be read as 7 light vs. 4 dark, although I'm not sure of the actual shade of some of those reported colors.
 
http://www.kayakfishmag.com/features/great-white-color-question/

I don't have any idea what a shark sees but I would imagine that from below everything is a dark shape against a bright surface.  At least that's what it looks like to me when I'm diving.

So glad to hear that another two kayakers managed to make it back without any injuries.

As to the statistics of pedal vs paddle when it comes to GWS attacks: I'd make an adjustment to instances cited, in that I'd not include anything prior to the wide spread adoption of Mirage Hobies. I don't think it's logical to include stats comparing pedal vs paddle, when there weren't any pedal boats being used in the blue. So, get rid of the first three instances and start from there. But as noted, a sample size this small really doesn't mean anything, especially with so many other factors not taken into consideration.

Scott

My Hobie got singled out.  2 paddle kayaks were left alone.  I was slowly pedaling when I got hit.

unless you can ask the shark i think there is no way to know if you were singled out. ideally don't think it matters, but there really is not enough data to support it either way.

Really.  So how do you exactly ask a shark?

I meant nothing mean by this Mel.

My Hobie got singled out.  2 paddle kayaks were left alone.  I was slowly pedaling when I got hit.

unless you can ask the shark i think there is no way to know if you were singled out. ideally don't think it matters, but there really is not enough data to support it either way.

Really.  So how do you exactly ask a shark?

I meant nothing mean by this Mel.

Rob I like you buddy!  No offense taken.