Surfing With Sharks

[BoMan]

I have never encountered a shark and thought it would be useful to collect practical information about avoiding injury. This article provides a place to start the discussion. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/shark-attack-how-to-survive/index.html

Do you have experience and advice to share?

[oldmansurfer]

Sharks don't really want to eat people mostly. They may mistake you for a turtle or a seal. Don't splash excessively when you paddle. If a shark is coming by to make the first pass at you if you get out of their way they may just forget about what they came to investigate and move on. The thing about that is you need to see them before they check you out. The good thing about crowds is that more people means more targets for the shark to mistake for a seal or turtle so less likelihood of you as an individual being bitten. If you see a shark nearby leave the ocean in my opinion at least for the day but be careful to not splash or frantically paddle back to the shore. So a good idea is to always paddle strongly with minimal splashing. The shiny object thing is good to avoid barracuda bites but not so sure about sharks, still a good idea to not wear shiny things in the ocean. If the shark is circling you already then you're in a tough spot and try to keep facing them if you can however on a surfboard you can only see them if they are on the surface. I haven't ever been in this situation, but I would likely paddle to the shore once I did not see the shark (and keep my feet up incase they bite the back part of the board while paddling. I have been close to many sharks in the ocean while surfing. Many stories to tell but so far I have eaten many more sharks than sharks that have eaten me and likely that will be true even if I get killed and eaten by a shark. Sharks eat fish and turtles and seals so their presence in the ocean nearby may be bait to attract them to the area. I get out of the water if there are schools of fish in the area and if there are turtles I keep an eye peeled as to their behavior and if they are dashing around from one place to another I get out. I know that on one of the human attacks that occurred where I live there was a marine biologist under water nearby and right before the attack the turtles in the area all rapidly swam out of the area immediately before the attack. I have seen large turtles that seemed to be hiding out in the waves, hanging around where the waves are breaking, my guess to hide from a shark. I stay away from them in that situation. So far so good but then that's sort of like saying I intend to live forever, so far so good. LOL Hey it's their home, we are visitors

[oldmansurfer]

My first and second encounter with sharks while in the ocean was at my bodysurfing sop on the South shore of Kauai. The first one I had caught a wave and was going back out when I saw a huge like 8 to 9 foot shark bodysurfing the wave in. I turned around and quickly got out of the water and once on dry sand I turned around to look for the shark. At the very same time there was a guy next to me who appeared to be doing the same thing. Did you see it? I asked. He gravely nodded his head. Should we warn the others? I asked him but this time he shook his head no. Then explained that it hadn't bit anyone yet and that if we yelled shark everyone would get excited and that might bring on an attack. So we stood there and watched for a while but never saw the shark again. Then we went back into the water again.

The second shark I saw while in the water was at the same beach and in the afternoon when I was ready to head home. This shark was obviously feeding on something in the reef. It's tail was splashing back and forth and obviously head on the bottom tail up orientation. After briefly coming in I decided to try to see if it was a human it was feeding on so I went back in and swam close to it but could not see anything so I figured it wasn't a human.

Prior to this I had a change of mind about sharks because of some local fishermen telling me about sharks. The beach close to my house was one of the places that fishermen did hukilau net fishing. From the shoreline they would swim or using a boat surround a school of fish that came close to the shore. If I was there I would always help to huki (pull) the net in. There were two guys whose job was to get the sharks out of the net before bringing the net onto the shore because the sharks would destroy the net letting the fish escape. I watching in amazement as the herded the sharks out of the net or as a final resort grabbed the shark and pushed it over the top of the net. Actually sometimes they couldn't get a big shark out and they would pull in one side of the net then double up the net and bring it in till they could grab the shark and throw it over the top of the net. After a few times watching this I asked if the sharks ever bit them and I guess that was a definite hazard of their job neither of them had gotten bitten. They informed me that sharks don't want to bite humans but because they are grabbing them they are at risk. So I was already thinking sharks aren't these deadly killing machines waiting for humans to venture into their territory. One other thing I learned was there were always sharks in the nets. They were always out there but pretty much left people alone.

[oldmansurfer]

Most of the time when I see sharks they seem to be casually cruising along but there was one encounter I had when they were not casually cruising. I was going out in a small bay where the entry was off some boulders on the shoreline. You walk along this few boulders sticking out and jump off the last one. I slipped and fell rolling off the side of the last boulder but it was covered in seaweed and so it felt pretty padded and my only concern was that no one saw me fall LOL. So I paddled out and my friend who was in front didn't see me fall. We were riding small waves and it was okay not the best but fun waves. I saw something dark flash in front of me in the water not sure what it was and saw it again. I started carefully looking around and noticed it was a shark (at least one) and it was very agitated looking with it's back kind of arched and it's pectoral fins held forward and down and it was wiggling back and forth. I read later that this is probably territorial aggression and it was letting us know we were in it's territory. But I got the message even though at the time I wasn't sure what. Just knew it didn't want us there. My friend said he was seeing them or it also and that we should get out of there so we did. Walking back to his car his girlfriend was yelling something like "Should I call the ambulance?" I asked my friend what the heck is she saying? He said "look at yourself" and I did and noticed I was bleeding all over my chest and abdomen. I had tiny little scrapes that was adding some smell to the water probably not helping the issue with the shark. Anyway if the sharks are acting like that get out of the water even if they are just small sharks that would only be able to bite off a few fingers or toes.

[BoMan]

Thanks for the advice!

At my beach break the sandbars attract striped bass. So far the only predators I've seen are pelicans, seals and wading fisherman. There have been a few instances at Salmon Creek just north of Bodega Bay.

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/surfer-describes-shark-attack-in-sonoma-county-that-left-him-with-severe-in/

[oldmansurfer]

The territorial aggression is called agonistic display and I guess when you see it if you are diving it might be too late but you would want to get out of that area immediately without frantic swimming. The reason I saw it was because it was shallow clean water and small sharks. They were only 3 to 4 feet long but I got a real good view through a wave as it came in. They weren't big scary sharks but still that wasn't normal behavior.There was a guy bitten at the break I usually surf at a few years ago. I see sharks there regularly. For a while there was a fairly large shark that would swim parallel to me for whatever reason as I paddled in to the beach or from one break to another. It was always 50 or so yards away. I am not sure what that means but it could just be coincidence or that might be a avenue that sharks commonly swam near the surface in.... no clue. Generally if they are far away I just keep my eyes open to see if they are coming closer. If they are in the lineup then I leave the water or if they are close but off the edge of the lineup I will leave the ocean. To be safe surfing you need to be aware of the ocean.

[BaNZ]

Once saw a 3-4 feet leopard shark. I had tear in my eyes while having a panic attack. Wondering why am I surfing in San Diego where it is shark infested.Yes I know they don't attack humans. Pretty sure I'll be pooping myself if I see a great white.

[oldmansurfer]

This was an unlucky dude or maybe luckyhttps://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/04/21/hawaii-news/kauai-shark-attack-victim-survived-bites-from-a-bear-and-a-rattlesnake/

here is a recent one https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/10/18/surfer-bitten-by-shark-off-kauai-shares-survival-story/

[Lebowski]

I lived in New Zealand for a little while, and one particular week there had been a lot of shark sightings, so tensions were running high. I was working for a surf school at the time, and one day coming along the beach in our 4x4, we saw some washed up Bronze whalers on the beach. Later that week, we were surfing out the front of our surf house, and I was the last person in the water. Everyone else had left except one of the students, who was standing on the beach waiting for me. I was halfway in to the beach, waiting for a little wave just to carry me the rest of the way, when I looked back out to sea and saw the classic dorsal fin followed by the tail fin sticking out of the water. It was probably 30ft or so away. I'd love to say that I stayed cool and casually cruised in, but I probably set some kind of olympic record for paddle speed getting back to the beach! When I finally made it, the student and I burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of it.
I'm not sure what species or exact size it was. I was too high on adrenaline. It was big enough.

Another time I was giving a childrens lesson to about 8 kids, so I was in chest deep water at the same beach. I saw something flapping on the beach in the shallows, which I quickly recognised as a small shark. I got the kids out and we got a photo with it before one of the Dads dragged it back into the ocean. I think it was a blue shark, about 5ft long probably.

[jaffa1949]

once again my photo

[Naeco78]

Awhile back when i surfed in the Pacific Northwest, there was a website where people could post their shark sightings on a map. Mostly surfers. Can't remember the name of now.. but it was useful at the time. Not sure that would work nowadays though.
One time i was checking the surf and as the wave crested and the sun shined through the back of the wave.. and I saw one of the men in the grey suits lurking inside the wave. Huge great white shark. I didnt surf for awhile after

Now where I surf in the Northeast US, they usually have lifeguards clear the water for "unusual marine activity". Usually code for sharks.. but one time it was for dolphins breeding close to shore. Wouldnt wanna cross paths with either one of those situations.

[oldmansurfer]

Once I was surfing with my wife on the north shore of Kauai and there was a fairly large shark in the water coming into the lineup. It was a good distance away still but I was willing to risk my life but not my wife's life so we went in

[oldmansurfer]

A little bit about sharks and blood. My only thought is that the human blood was in anticoagulant similar for use in blood donation. It's possible that sharks don't like anticoagulated blood

[TeeBee89]

Noticed in the Navy they'd follow the ship, even deep out to sea (likely the wet garbage- spoiled food etc.- attracted them that was thrown over). Middle of the North Pacific for example, endless sea in all directions for days on end. Eight, ten footers, maybe even larger. Sometimes in exercise with another ship a light jackstay, kind of like a zipline between ships, would be rigged to transfer personnel or light materials as part of a RAS. You had to do it at least once as a requirement and they liked to "dip" your boots in the water just to put the fear of God in you. I thought mine was kind of fun, until arriving back on deck I was asked, by a pale looking boss: "You see that ten footer cruising between the ships when they dipped ya?"
"WHAT?!"
"We debated telling you."
Another time in the Arabian Sea the divers were supposed to go in, believe it was for an early morning hull inspection. Coming off watch, groggy and anxious to sleep, was putting something away on the upper decks. Turning around, I heard this splash and saw a dorsal fin receding into the water as this large tail splashed and something dove. White as a sheet, my diver friend stopped putting on his wetsuit and slowly turned to me to ask: "Did you @#$% see that?! I'm NOT going in."
The divers made the ship pick another spot. For such warm waters, it was common to see them feeding on whatever the livestock carriers threw over.
Advice in this thread is very useful, especially the 'don't panic.' I long avoided thinking about it, but they're often cruising around closer to us than we realize.

[oldmansurfer]

It used to be that you could eat sharks in Hawaii. They have recently changed that. I used to fish for ulua aka Giant trevally from the shore. There was a learning period of about 3 years from the time I started until I caught my first ulua. During this time I caught a bunch of sharks because they are feeding on the same things. One of my friends suggested we try eating some of the sharks instead of releasing them. So we did. I have probably eaten 5 sharks. The last one was during a short time when I wasn't catching ulua and my freezer was empty. I was fishing from a pier and the fight was wild. It ran every direction including coming in toward the pier several times. By the time I had the shark up to the surface the spool of line on my reel looked like a bird nest and I was shot. I recall thinking if it made another run for the pier I wasn't going to even try to stop it. However it was shot too. I tried to rouse my fishing partner to wake up and help me land the shark but he was unwilling to help me for a shark. He did say I could use his pole gaff. I had another one which I used to gaff the shark with. This was about a 9 foot tiger shark and way too heavy for me to pull out of the ocean. So there I was trying to figure out how to land this shark by myself when a big strong young man walked by. I asked him if he would help me and he agreed. Between the two of us we were able to pull the shark onto a part of the dock that was only a foot above the water. I thanked him and offered him some shark meat but he said he was there for menpachi which is a small red fish that people like to eat. Just so happens I had caught about a dozen or so of them while waiting for my big pole to bite. I gave him all I had because I was going to have a couple hundred pounds of shark meat and I wanted to thank him for helping me. I ate that shark in a variety of ways. Just broiled or breaded and baked, teriyaki, smoked and dried like shark jerky, fish cake and fish burgers. It was a great fish. Lasted me a long time. I also used the muscle from the jaw for bait to catch small fish called akule. I collected the teeth and gave some to my brother to make art with. He made replicas of old Hawaiian weapons. I didn't know anyone who wanted the skin or the fins. Now you aren't allowed to take the sharks you catch. I haven't been fishing since this change. But fishing was my main hobby when I quit surfing so for about a 12 year period of time after I quit surfing for my job I became a fisherman (actually fished from when I was 4 years old). I think stopping surfing then was a mistake and I should have tried to find a way to continue but recently I think my hopefully temporary quitting of surfing was the best choice

[oldmansurfer]

For a while I surfed at a break in a small bay with a group of local surfers who surfed there from when they were kids. They would all yell shark when they saw a shark and everyone would get out of the water. One of the guys had a watch and 20 minutes after the last sighting they would all go back ion the water. At first I did the same and then thinking about it, I realized that the sharks were always outside of the break when we saw them. And the only way to see them was if they were on the surface and their fin was sticking out. Otherwise where were they? Over there? Over here? right underneath you? You really couldn't tell as the water was murky. I decided to take my chances with the sharks and stayed there surfing while they all went in. I survived

[TeeBee89]

Interesting. I tend to give murky river mouths a pass, associating them with bull shark attacks. Like in Balian years ago:
https://tracksmag.com.au/american-surfe ... ali-427001

That and far more infamous Reunion. Yet I dawn patrol with near religious devotion
In the case of Bali though, only recently learned attacks are more historically common at Ulus and even then are extremely infrequent:
https://stabmag.com/elsewhere/watch-sur ... k-in-bali/

Might be useful for this thread then to consider history of locations, migration, warming waters, food sources. For example, heard for years White Sharks were being seen more in Nova Scotia, but didn't believe it until recently:
https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/the-na ... -1.7087604

[oldmansurfer]

Once I was surfing by myself at my usual break and the waves were very nice but small and there was a long wait between sets. The sun was shining the water was clear and clean, beautiful day. I saw something moving in the water and looked down to see a shark about the size of my board (7foot) swim under me. I can recall thinking "Wow! That shark is just as long as my board. " and "That's a white tip shark" as I could clearly see the white tip on the end of the dorsal fin even though it was under water. I was thinking that was cool to see it so well and then realized my feet were hangin down there. I quickly lay down and paddled in at a leisurely pace. There was a fisherman on the beach and as I walked by we talked a bit. I asked what was biting and if he ever caught sharks here? He asked me if I saw one and I said I did but he said he never caught sharks there.

[oldmansurfer]

I went surfing at a north shore spot on Kauai. This spot was rarely without surfers if it was breaking well. No surf forecast but the locals nearby would check on it and call friends. I had to just go check it out. It was on my way to Hanalei bay so when I was headed to Hanalei, I would make a short side trip to check this break out. It looked nice and not too crowded with about 6 or 8 guys out. As I paddled out they were all paddling in. I knew most of them and one guy says "shark out there" and another guy says "big shark out there." So I kept paddling out and kept my eyes open looking for any signs of a shark. I didn't see anything for nearly 2 hours and had the joy of getting this break on a nice day to myself. Then way outside I saw a huge fin. It was maybe 4 feet long and narrow and black. I had never seen a fin like that before. It was way outside so not too worried but I was tired already from 2 hours of constantly catching waves and wanted to see if I could check it out from the cliff nearby. So I went in and by the time I got to the cliff there was only a dark shadow in the water actually maybe 2 dark shadows that I lost track off. From there I went to my fathers house because he had a book on Hawaiian sharks. He wasn't home but I looked through the book and there was no shark there with a fin like that. So I decided to wait and ask my father who would be home soon about what he thought it might be. I sat down and picked up a copy of Life Magazine and was thumbing through it when suddenly there was the fin. It was a male orca. I did not know they were in Hawaii but when my father came home he explained they are seen rarely. Not about a shark but about my attitude back then toward sharks while surfing.

[oldmansurfer]

I did actually see an orca up close on Kauai. Unfortunately it was dying and beached but got a photo if it. I was part of a Marine Mammal Stranding Network