Hi, Selena,
I caught the shark attack report only out of the corner of my eye, but they
showed the area as being whatever the residential equivalent to a quay or
marina would be. Very unsettling.
When I lived in Pensacola it was common for sharks to be seen and caught
from shore on the Gulf side, so virtually no one swam in that area. I saw
swimmers and divers only in the bay.
Forgive me if the following advice is familiar, but having lived on all of
our coasts at various times here are a few safety suggestions:
1. Sharks can smell blood a long way off. Menstruating women should stay
out of the water entirely, even wading. Personally, I wouldn't go in the
water if I had so much as a cut or scab.
2. If baitfish are schooling, stay out. In Florida that means mullet,
primarily.
3. If there are fishermen nearby, particularly upstream (yup, seashores have
definite stream patterns that change regularly), put plenty of distance
between yourself and them. If they're chumming from shore (tossing in
buckets of blood, guts and similar offal) I'd find another beach - they're
deliberately trying to attract sharks.
4. If you see porpoises, enjoy your swim. They hate sharks and will attack
them. (Some dispute this, but I've seen it.)
Sorry to sound so dire, but I've noticed an increase in reports of shark
attacks. Don't know whether there's an increase in actual attacks or just
in the reports.
One other thing - if bluefish are schooling, don't swim. They can't really
injure you, but they're aggressive and sure have sharp little teeth.
Regarding disposable cameras, I've been disappointed in those I've tried
(several years ago), but my mom recently saw some pix taken with disposables
that she said compared very favorably with those taken using her Oly iS-2.
So perhaps the disposables have improved.
Lex
===
From: "~$elena Goth ~" <selena_38c@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [OM] Underwater photography/ Shark Attacks FL
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 09:27:51 CDT
This morning I heard a brief news report about someone being
fatally attacked by a shark down in the St. Petersburg area. Do any of you
down there have more information on the attack? I am specifically
interested to know if this happened on the Gulf of Mexico side or the Tampa
Bay side.
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