Although encounters with swimmers are frequent, fatalities are rare. Experts give tips on protecting yourself against these “ambush and assault” predators.
By Rosanna Mah /Special to the Malibu Times
With great white sharks in the news lately, including the recent fatal attack of a woman in Central California, beachgoers are wondering whether it’s safe to swim in ocean waters.
Deborah Franzman of Nipomo was swimming about 75 yards off Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo last week when she was attacked and killed by a great white shark. Five days later, a surfer videotaped a great white swimming near a popular surf destination, San Onofre State Beach, which was closed this week when a great white attacked a seal.
Closer to home, a female great white shark gained local notoriety earlier this month after it was captured off Ventura Harbor and then released four days later in Malibu waters by Monterey Bay Aquarium researchers. They were studying the juvenile predator as part of a three-year program.
Experts say that being educated about the conditions and areas when sharks are most likely to be found is their most important piece of advice.
“People who are swimming and diving can help make some choices to protect themselves,” said Carrie Wilson, marine biologist at the California Department of Fish and Game. “The best thing you can do is to try not be swimming, diving or surfing in areas that are known for white sharks or marine mammals.”
Known as the “red triangle,” fishermen and surfers refer to the area that runs from Monterey to Tomales Bay to the Farallon Islands as the hot spot for great white shark activity. More than half of great white shark attacks on humans have occurred along this 120-mile stretch of coast. Other areas of shark concentration include the Año Neuvo Islands and Guadalupe Islands, near Northern Mexico.
Besides avoiding these hot spots, shark experts recommend that divers and swimmers learn to read “bait fish” signals and avoid being in areas with feeding activity, or marine mammals that serve as shark bait. The presence of diving seabirds, seals, sea lions and dolphins are good indicators of feeding activity, and this often signals that larger predators such as sharks are potentially nearby.
For instance, experts believe the shark that killed Franzman, who was wearing a full wet suit, may have mistaken her for a sea lion, which are plentiful in that area.
“Be aware of your environment. If dolphins or sea lions come into the area, you might want to get out of the water or move into a different area,” said fellow marine biologist Christine Pattison.
Sharks are known for their ambush tactics, commonly known as “hit and run” when they rush at their prey to bite them and leave them to bleed to death before returning to feed on the carcass. Known as “ambush and assault” predators, sharks move at impressive speeds and often attack from below, which make it almost impossible to defend oneself when attacked.
“Of all the people who have had shark encounters, they’ve always said they never saw it coming,” said Wilson.
Sean R. Van Sommeran is the founder and executive director of the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation and has years of field experience. He says that shark encounters with people walking away with a few lacerations or an occasional broken surfboard are common, and that these incidents happen every year without fail.
Just within the last three weeks, he has already heard of two reports in Monterey Bay that did not lead to any serious injuries, where one shark swam past the surfer and another brushed against a surfboard.
“Sharks are curious animals and the great majority of human encounters are just examinations,” he said.
The good news about encountering a shark is that if you see it, it probably is not hunting, stalking or necessarily intending to bite you, says Van Sommeran, because if it was determined to attack, there would be little you could do to defend yourself.
Although most encounters do not lead to fatalities, it’s a good idea to take an aggressive stance and learn how to react in the face of an approaching shark, which may choose to bite you out of curiosity, according to Van Sommeran.
“What you need to do is keep your eyes on it and be prepared to fend it off with your hands and feet. You should first kick it as hard as you can, assuming that it’s curious, by displaying an ability to defend yourself and appearing to be a lively thing that should be approached with caution,” he said.
“Even if it’s not going to eat you, the shark may want to examine you with its teeth, which could still chop a leg off.”
For surfers, Van Sommeran suggests putting your surfboard as a buffer between the shark and yourself and bumping it hard with the board when given the chance.
“This is to demonstrate that you are alert, lively and that you see it-that makes a huge difference because the shark’s typical strategy is to conceal itself till the last moment,” he said.
“This is something that surfers have demonstrated again and again to sharks that have approached them; by putting the surfboard between them and bumping it. However, this shouldn’t be confused with chasing it or beating the shark,” he added.
The other alterative is to remain dead-still, although that could indicate to the shark that you are a weak or injured creature, says Van Sommeran.
However, shark experts and researchers agree that shark attacks are rare occurrences, usually cases of mistaken identity where the shark sees the human silhouette and mistakes it as prey.
According to the California Department of Fish and Game records, there have been 106 recorded shark incidents off the West Coast since 1952, and only 10 fatalities to date.