Shark Attack! How to Survive and Live to Tell the Tale
Shark Attack! How to Survive and Live to Tell the Tale
In 1945, the USS Indianapolis was sunk by Japanese torpedoes in the Pacific. There were about 1,000 men who survived the sinking and when rescuers finally came after several days, there were only 317 left. Most of those who died were attacked by tiger sharks.
Sharks belong to hundreds of species out of which only about 20 of those species are known to attack man. Some of the most notorious are the great white, bull, blue, hammerhead, tiger, mako and even the nurse shark.
Sharks rarely warn about their coming attack and they do not have a pattern, which makes them very unpredictable creatures of prey. They are also highly complex.
Sharks dont take nips. They bite and tear the skin, take a limb or a big chunk of flesh. And victims dont die right away. They simply bleed to death.
If ever you find yourself in an area of open water with a shark, just assume the worst and dont take chances. Ever! Get out of the water fast, get on the boat or head for shore.
Swim with a group. A group means more eyes to watch and if a shark comes, the group can work together to either fight it off or frighten it away. A group can scare a shark better than a single individual.
Do as you would in a pool. Do not urinate. But if you must, urinate only in small amounts and let it mix with the water in between. And dont vomit either.
If a shark is swimming towards you, create noises by yelling and splashing the water. Repeatedly yelling and slapping underwater may also help, but make sure you use your energy efficiently. You might need it to fight off the shark in case it decides to ignore your warnings.
If the shark begins attacking, strike back. Kick or punch its eyes or gills. These are the areas that can hurt it most. Hitting it on the nose might help, but you could miss and hit its teeth instead.
When a shark has already attacked, the first thing to do is to control or stop the blood. Blood in the water will attract more sharks and provoke aggression. If you are in a group, circle the victim while attempting to stop the flow of blood.
If you are on a raft or boat, fight off the shark with everything that you have until it swims away.
Use common sense and assume the worst when in the water. If you survive an attack, you can live and swim with sharks another day. But I doubt it.
