Shark attack at Bean Hollow - 7/21/07

"...it's not likely to dissuade die-hard surfers and kayakers..."

got that straight... 

james

Dan if you read the SF Chronicle story, sorry about this quote:

"Either he's having post-traumatic stress or his wife has taken away all his fishing stuff," he said. "What I think is interesting is everybody thinks the sharks are looking for food ... but maybe they are sending us a territorial message to get out of their backyard."

The reporter just emailed me that she wanted permission to use my photos.  I told her that I really didn't know any details because I wasn't there. She said she had talked to some other members and I didn't realize that she was going to quote me as a source.

Bill,
You were great and having the logo to show off was perfect for the occasion!  I am so glad that Eric and Brian made the effort to come up with such a great design.

Doh!  We don't get it up here.  Hopefully they'll put it up on their site.

Greetings from the Great White North's Kayak Fishing in Kanada forum. Been reading about the story and browsing the understandably long thread. We're glad it turned out well. Is that a picture of Dan on the main page of http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com? It looks like someone cut and paste the top half of his head on there. You sure the attack wasn't worse then you're letting on?

John Wade
http://www.johnwade.ca/KayakFishingInKanada

For those who missed the Channel 2 story, here's a video link. I had to watch the video too since my TV reception stinks whenever the computer is up and running.

http://www.ktvu.com/video/13741700/index.html

Dan glad to hear your O.K. Are you ready for some bass fishing now?

a different view of the damage.....

Hmmm- Bass, stripers, trout, crappies, walleye. I see alot of freshwater post in the near future.

I've been diving with a shark shield this year including last week at BH and for better or worse, I'm still here. I paid $450 for the Freedom 4; now they have Freedom 7. This is where I got mine:
http://handltackle.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=533

I emailed sharkshield yesterday asking about a single product that could be used for both kayak fishing and free diving and they wrote back the Freedom 7. For use on the kayak just stuff the antenna down a scupper or over the side and then put it on your ankle to freedive. It is a little expensive but I am putting some serious thought into this. In my 500-600 price range of gear I want/need I really only have a pair of EPIRB's, I think the Freedom 7 just moved to the top on my list as I am not exactly paddling anywhere lately that the EPIRB would actually benefit me.

Jeff

I was listening to KGO on the way to work and there was a brief mention of the attack on the ABC national feed.

Crazy!

I am emailing NBC11 to see if they are going to post the video online.

I just wrapped up an interview with Sean Van Sommeran, Executive Director of the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation. He had a lot of interesting things to say - I won't make you wait for the story, I'll summarize them in a separate post later.

In the meantime, Sommeran said he had tested electronic products designed to deter sharks. He likens them to car alarms. Just as we wouldn't enjoy lingering by a blaring alarm, most sharks will keep their distance. A shark determined on predation may ignore it. Another factor: like a car alarm might get a glance from everyone in the area, a continuously operated anti-shark device may actually attract sharks from a distance.

As used by successfully by kayakers in Hawaii to deter curious tiger sharks (something I've seen with my own eyes), when suddenly turned on the devices startle the animals like a sudden aggressive shout might spook a mountain lion.

Sommeran said he considers these devices are one item to have in your tool case, but shouldn't be considered failsafe. 

For those who missed the Channel 2 story, here's a video link. I had to watch the video too since my TV reception stinks whenever the computer is up and running.
http://www.ktvu.com/video/13741700/index.html

It never ceases to amaze me how the news can't state the facts but has to make it so dramatic. They didn't even interview any sources of the incident on camera. Irresponsible journalism.. makes you wonder what other stories they "connect the dots" by themselves for.

Good blurb about ncka.com though!

Z

Yeah the blurb of ABC radio news was pretty bad. Something like "Kayak shredded, man survives." Shredded? Please! You want to see shredded go watch Omar Hassan skate a pool 

They didn't even interview any sources of the incident on camera. Irresponsible journalism

I don't think it was necessarily for lack of trying.  I know I had four or five reporters contact me only because they wanted permission to use my pictures.  Each said they wanted to interview me but I told them that I was only peripherally involved and that they should try and contact Dan or others like SAL who could give first-hand accounts of what happened.  But they seemed to all be having trouble finding people to talk to and they all seemed to be working under pretty tight deadlines to get their stories out while it was still news worthy.