Amazing World - Shark Attack

Amazing World

SHARK ATTACK

More stories about some scary encounters with sharks.

A Boating Incident

35-year-old Sandra Graves had a nasty experience with a shark while she was in a kayak in the harbour waters near San Francisco. “It was Thursday evening and we were near the Marina in the Parramatta River when the shark suddenly hit the boat. I was immediately thrown into the water by the impact. I grabbed onto the kayak and watched as the fin went round and round me. Then, it suddenly disappeared into the water. It was at this point that I decided to make a mad swim for the shore. I put my head down and swam as fast as I could. But after a while I started to get tired. Luckily I noticed a navigational buoy and I climbed onto it. Some friends were close by and they saw what happened and went to report the incident; and within half-an-hour a rescue boat came to pick me up. I never saw the shark again, but the coast guard found the kayak with a large bite mark and part of a tooth in it. I’m glad that wasn’t my arm or leg, that’s all I can say.”

What was that?

55-year-old Simon was with his friend Chuck Anderson swimming in the Gulf of Mexico when they were the victims of a shark attack. “I was swimming in the sea when I suddenly saw this dark shadow under me, and I felt an unusual current going along my body. ‘That’s strange,’ I thought. Then I realised what it had been: a shark. And just at that moment I saw the shark coming right at me. Almost immediately I decided that I wasn’t going to die without a fight. So, as it came towards me, I hit it really hard on the nose. I thought that might make it go away, but it came at me again and again. And so it went on: I would punch him, he would retreat, and then I would swim as fast as I could for about 5 to 10 seconds. Then, I would have to turn around and face him again. He chased me all the way to the shore. Experts told me later that it was a full-grown bull shark. They can be up to 4 metres long and weigh 250 kilos. I’ve still got the scars on my legs and arms, and I won’t be going back into the water again for a while, I can tell you.”

Divine Justice

Susan is a diving instructor who works in the Cayman Islands. She remembers a funny incident with a shark and two of her students. “I’ve got a great job as I get to go out into the water every day and do what I most love: scuba diving. However, I do occasionally have some difficult students. A couple of years ago, there were two guys, Brad and Jeff, who were doing the basic diving course with me. Brad was really excited about doing the course, but Jeff was really nervous about going into the water because of all the stories he’d heard about sharks. I managed to reassure him enough to get him out on his first open-water dive. But just as we were about to get into the water, Brad started joking and saying things like, “Look, there’s a shark!”. Of course, poor Jeff got scared again and refused to get into the water. The funny thing is that just as we got into the water, an enormous nurse shark swam towards us. As soon as Brad saw it, he started screaming hysterically. And I must say, I’ve never seen anyone jump out of the water and onto a boat so fast in all my life. But I suppose it served him right. Neither Brad nor Jeff ever went in the water with me again after that, which was a pity because they never finished the course.

Just In Time

Rick Reeder was in the water in Hawaii, finishing part of a 12-kilometre race when a great white shark came after him. “I was in a swimming race when the captain of the escort boat suddenly started waving at me. My first thought was that they’re waving to encourage me; and I waved back at them. But then I heard someone yell, ‘Get in the boat, now!’ At that point I put my face back down in the water and started to swim to the boat as fast as I could. As I was swimming I didn’t have much time to think. And as soon as I reached the boat, my buddies grabbed for me, pulling at my legs and arms and everything. And just as they pulled my feet out of the water, the shark appeared with its mouth open, ready to take a bite. The shark continued to circle the boat for about 15 minutes and I could see the beast. It was a frightening thought to think that I could have been his lunch. Immediately afterwards, we tried to tell the other 57 boats about the hungry shark. We eventually got everyone out of the water, and no one was hurt. But I’ll never forget that terrible experience.”

G L O S S A R Y

nasty adj horrible and bad a kayak n a small boat like a canoe a fin n the triangular part of a shark’s back that is out of the water when it is swimming a mad swim n swimming in a panic, and frantically the shore n the coast; the area of land next to the sea a navigational buoy n an orange object that is in the water and that ships use to help them navigate (decide a course) to pick someone up phr vb if you “pick someone up” in the water, you stop your boat and take that person into your boat to come at someone phr vb to go towards someone with the intention of attacking them to punch vb to hit with a closed hand to chase vb to run and try to catch someone a scar n a mark on your body where you have cut yourself and the broken skin has closed a diving instructor n a person who teaches you how to “dive” (go under water with oxygen) scuba diving n the sport that consists of going under water with oxygen to get scared exp to become frightened to refuse vb to say that you will not do something it served him right exp this expression means: “I am pleased that something bad happened to him/ her because he/she did something bad before” to wave vb to move your hand in the air as a way of saying “hello” to encourage vb to say nice things to someone in order to help them decide to do something a buddy n US a friend to grab vb to take with your hands and with force

SHARKS

Wouldn’t it be exciting to come face to face with a shark in the ocean? Unfortunately, the probability of this happening is very slim. However, you can increase your chances by following our ten-step guide.

How To Meet A Shark - 10 top tips

1. Always swim alone - never in groups. 2. Swim far from the shore - never near the coast - sharks like deep water. 3. Swim at night or the early morning - these are sharks’ feeding times. 4. Always enter the water if you are bleeding - the smell of blood is guaranteed to excite sharks. 5. Swim with shiny jewellery - this will attract the shark’s attention. 6. Always wear brightly-coloured clothing. 7. Splash around a lot - sharks are often attracted to movement in the water. 8. If you see a school of fish, try to swim with them - sharks will probably be close by and think you are a big fish. 9. If you see a shark, try to swim close to it and play with it. 10. If the shark is really close, hold on to the fin and ride it.

What fun!

A Shark Joke

Marine biology researchers have developed a new method to fend off shark attacks. If you are diving and are approached by a shark they recommend that you swim towards it aggressively and punch it in the nose as hard as possible. And if this doesn’t work, beat the shark with your stump.”

G L O S S A R Y

very slim exp not very probable increase your chances exp increase the probability that something will happen feeding times n the time when sharks are eating and looking for food to bleed vb if you are “bleeding”, red liquid is coming out of your body to splash around phr vb to play in the water, making a lot of noise and moving a lot a school of fish n a group of fish that are swimming together a fin n sharks have “fins” on their backs. The fin is triangular and is often out of the water as the shark is swimming to fend off n to use your arms and hands to defend yourself against someone who is attacking you a stump n the bit of your arm that remains after a shark has eaten part of it