The official NW GWS thread

Yes sir, I have spent a ridiculous amount of time in the water in Or.

As for # of reports and attacks, I wonder how the ratio changes when you factor in total man hours spent in the ocean?  Just 15 years ago, I knew pretty much every surfer on the north coast.  Of them, 3 had been assaulted by sharks.  Strikes me that if as many man hours were spent in the ocean in Oregon over the last 18years, that ratio would be much closer. 

Agreed. The number of people in the water skews it a lot. Kind of like Florida the shark attack capital of the world. Gobs and gobs of people in the water year round with some pretty docile sharks yet that still works out to a lot of attacks.

Z

No worries AMB!  Sharks don't eat plastic.  They just chew on it to get to the meat filling.  Lol!   Grin

Yeah, like unwrapping a candy bar.
I've never had any interactions with GWS, but the sharks I've seen in the water (blues & black tip reef sharks) are a little curious up until the time you become aware of their presence; they're gone in a flash with eye contact. Not sure this would be true with GWS & not willing to test the theory, but my theory is that all sharks are more interested in eating than fighting. If they can see that a potential prey looks like it is aware of them & could do serious damage, they're less likely to go into attack mode, depending on how hungry they are. I know they don't like getting whacked on the nose or around the eyes by the stories I've heard from surviving victims who've driven them off.

One thing I'm sure of: murky water is a bad thing for the prey species. Like jself said: If they want to eat you, they will. Their only usable tactile sense is in their snout & mouth. The obvious problem with the mouth is it's full of big bad teeth. They might spit you out for not tasting like a seal, but a test bite that severs an artery can quickly become fatal. They're extremely efficient stealth stalk hunters. Even if they can't get a visual on their warm blooded prey, they can identify location, size, speed, distance & who knows what else with their highly evolved sensory array. I'm pretty sure it's usually the one you don't see that will get you.

I don't know how realistic the odds are. I think it is about man hours in/on the water.

I've met someone who's been attacked by whitey. I've never met anyone who won the lottery or had been struck by lightning.

Hey amb!  Check out this video from the day after last year's contest in PC.....

 

talk about a KIller video....

Is that a shark's version of a "first person shooter" game?   Kind of funny, yet somewhat demented.

Is that a shark's version of a "first person shooter" game?   Kind of funny, yet somewhat demented.

It sure is.  One of my boys picked it up after Christmas.  When he came across a kayak fishing tournament he just had to record it for me......  I sure hope he's forgotten about it by the time I drag him out on the salt this spring.   

BTW:  It didn't take kayakangleronline long to pick this up.  Lol! 

     i think i really would have been disturbed about it if the yakkers the shark is grabbing started showin up with our names attached..      then, i think we would have reason to worry... 

Been thinking about my post regarding the fish whacker and the shark.  With my luck I'd land a freak knockout blow to an endangered species shark, and of course it all would be caught on video by some greenie meanie with a waterproof digital camera.  8 X 10 color glossy photos with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining how each one was to be used as evidence against us.  Yes sir.  A case of blind justice.

Good thing I don't have to register that fish whacker I don't have....

If it has teeth, and there coming out the water at me i'm whackin the thing...

I think about Sharks from time to time, since i fish on the ocean alot and i fish right on the seal highway from the Coos Bay to Simpson Reef. Actually when i first started to go out there alone i was pretty unnerved, but each time it just gets easier and more comfortable. I don't even hear the jaws theme in my head anymore....

It's worse when the fishing sucks cause you got alot more time to think about it...

I am totally new to Kayaking. In fact, I'm still in the process of picking out a kayak! But this is something that continues to make me nervous about going out in a seal-sized vessel, right in the middle of the seal highway around Simpson reef, as Coosbayyakker mentioned. I live in Coos Bay also. I realize that shark attacks around here (as far as I know) are very rare, although I remember reading about an attack or two at Bastendorf beach, involving surfers, a long time ago.

Would it be a bit safer in a larger yak? Say... maybe... a Hobie Pro Angler? It's wider and a bit longer than say... the Outback, which is what I've been leaning towards. Just wondering if a bigger, more stout kayak is less likely to be aggresively attacked. I realize that an elephant seal is a VERY large animal, and is on the GWS menu, but I don't think they attack full grown healthy elephant seals, do they? Maybe a cow or juvenile, but do they commonly attack a 13 and 1/2 foot object?

I know that the chance of being attacked are slim, but still... Not knowing what's coming up silently (and without warning) from below really unnerves me, and will likely take a lot of enjoyment out of fishing, with that in the back of my mind at all times. I don't really subscribe to the "when it's your time to go" way of looking at it. At least not when it comes to avoidable, gruesome, horrendously painful, and bloody death is concerned.

Like the other guy said... he's talked to someone who's been attacked by a GWS, but never met someone who's been struck by lightning, or won the lottery.

I don't think the size has that much to do with it. If whitey wants a sample, whitey will take a sample.

That being said, sharks key in on electrical signals that kayaks don't give off.

That being said, it does happen. Most of the time the shark comes up and nibbles for a sample, but that's about the extent of it. tooth in the hull and a soiled pair of trousers.

If you are leaving a chum/blood trail, then you'll be more likely to have an issue.

It's our fear of the unknown that is the most hair raising. Just gotta spend some time out there and realize that they aren't out to get you.

Big fish require BIG bait.  


All joking aside, the ocean is out to kill you.  You're far more likely to die from the ocean's blood-lust than a sharks curiosity.   

I agree. Gotta have a healthy respect for human limitation and the power of nature.

The drive to the ocean is more likely to be fatal that a day fishing

I don't think the size has that much to do with it. If whitey wants a sample, whitey will take a sample.

That being said, sharks key in on electrical signals that kayaks don't give off.

That being said, it does happen. Most of the time the shark comes up and nibbles for a sample, but that's about the extent of it. tooth in the hull and a soiled pair of trousers.

If you are leaving a chum/blood trail, then you'll be more likely to have an issue.

It's our fear of the unknown that is the most hair raising. Just gotta spend some time out there and realize that they aren't out to get you.

Quote: "tooth in the hull and a soiled pair of trousers."


LOL... Good way to put it!