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The shark thing...

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Thursday, 20 March 2008

How much toothy danger faces the coastal kayaker

Oh...

When it comes to kayak fishing, the topic of sharks seems to pop up a lot. This goes in cycles at the AKFF and there are a couple of interesting conversations taking place on the topic now - one of them on worthiness of shark shields and another on the statistics of car-related deaths vs shark related deaths. Such conversations don't just take place on Internet forums, but also in general conversation that have anything to do with kayaks and the ocean. We can thank Steven Speilberg, creator of Jaws (the movie) for the amount of attention the subject is nowadays given. Here's my take on it...

Certainly, I agree that there is far more danger for any fishermen (kayak or otherwise) who drives to his intended fishing destination because the chances of experiencing an accident are greater than experiencing a shark attack. However, I do believe that most coastal kayak fishermen have a greater chance of seeing a shark than they do having a car accident to or from the fishing spot. There are plenty of sharks out there and for sure (not all of them dangerous and even less of them agressive), they become more and more prevalent and thus more visible further north (travelling north, from Hervey Bay onwards I sighted sharks frequently, all the way to Townsville... with the greatest presence of them in the Townsville area itself).

It's really not at all fair to simply compare car accident deaths to shark attack deaths without being able to get accurate per-capita percentage comparisons on the amount of people who drive vs the amount of people who fish from a kayak with relation to the total population. Obviously, that's data that is pretty difficult to obtain and thus quantify. What is a safe thing to say is that by kayak fishing off-shore (or even in bays) we are certainly putting ourselves in a position where a shark encounter is much more likely. A shark attack is another thing altogether though and all of the evidence suggests that these occur quite rarely. Think about how many people surf, think about the way they might look to a shark and then think about how few of them are actually attacked and killed.

According to the Ichthyology Florida Museum of Natural History, the International Shark Attack File (ISAF) records only one death during 2007. Thats across the world. And how many people were snorkelling, diving, kayaking, swimming, surfing? Food for thought. I'm not trying to suggest that attacks are so infrequent that one shouldn't consider the possibility. Indeed, ask Norcal Kayak Anglers member Dan, who's kayak was attacked by a Great White Shark while fishing off California's San Mateo Coast. In what must have been a frightening moment, the shark grabbed the bow of the kayak, shook it around - knocking Dan off - and held it's grip while he climbed back on. As soon as it realised it wasn't mouthing food, it took off. The kayak was damaged, although he was able to paddle back to shore safely enough.

Another, more foreboding tale comes from New Zealand kayak fisherman, Paul, who was stalked at Taupiri Bay. Billybob and I had a discussion about this and he had something interesting to say, which was that when you stop to think about it, Paul did pretty much everything wrong - and he still survived. Not only was he long-lining, he was also dumping berley to attract fish. And when panic set in (completely understandable) after sighting the shark that practically dwarfed the kayak, he dropped his knife and cut his leg open. Blood ran into the sea through the scupper holes. He also started vomiting, as well as losing control of bladder and bowels - all of it just adding to the berley attractant. So not only did he very likely attract the shark to himself, he also inadvertently piqued it's interest by his inadvertent actions when it showed up.

great white shark attack on kayak fisherman

Sharks are unpredictable creatures, so respect must be paid to them. As incalculable as they may be, however, in my experience they are just as likely to get a fright when they see you. Every time a shark has been able to get close enough to notice me (usually following a lure or hooked fish while I'm winding in) they scoot off real fast. Up north you often see them chasing schools of fish, but that's all they seem to be interested in. Tigers will often harrass (and sometimes take) fish being pulled up and they are usually fairly aggressive about it, but again, it's the fish they are usually after.

I don't use a shark shield myself, although if I was able to comfortably afford it, I probably would buy one. The more I fish off shore, the more I want to do it and although I've never seen a GW or Mako out there yet (the 2 species I don't want to have a close encounter with) there's every chance that one day I will. It might take 20 years, it might happen this weekend. By virtue of putting myself out there as often as I plan to (I'll be kayak fishing for the rest of my life) my chances of this happening obviously increase. To be honest, I'm rather surprised I haven't seen either of them yet. It seems few kayak fishermen have - usually they are more likely to be found further off shore. but there are always exceptions so when and if it does happen - with or without a shark shield - one thing I won't do is panic. Ultimately, I think that is pretty much the worst thing anyone could do, though I concede that it's also probably the natural thing to do as well.

I am often asked if I'm afraid of sharks and some people are surprised when I give them my answer, which is I am actually more concerned about other boats on the water - the ones that don't see you (or are too stupid to be driving a boat). I'm more inclined to invest money in making myself nice and visible than I am in shark deterrents. Given the right budget, however, I'd likely feel differently. I probably aim to get one for my upcoming Bass Straight crossing attempt.