need to add title here

Swimming With Sharks

August 9, 2009 4:50 PM

Because tour operators use food to attract sharks for their "shark tourist" customers, critics say surfers and swimmers are in more danger now because the fish are associating humans with food.

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by eastcoastman September 15, 2009 12:17 PM EDT
great whites are very very intimidating sharks just looking at them..
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by eastcoastman September 15, 2009 12:16 PM EDT
i'm done surfing! surf board for sale! anyone interested contact me....lol
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by HumanValor August 19, 2009 11:38 PM EDT
Maybe Sharks are attacking more because the Japanese are killing Dolphins for sport and feeding Mercury infested meat at 2000ppm to school children. More than 23,000 Dolphins are killed each year. See the movie "The Cove". www.takepart.com/thecove. It disgusts me the act of human torture to animals in the ocean. Soon the destruction of the sea will be blamed on the Chinese and Japanese as they are destroying the food chain and the ecosystem with their killing and pollution.
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by brendaadkison August 13, 2009 1:33 PM EDT
60 minutes did an excellant job on this very real issue! You can hate sharks but the truth of the matter is they are what keep our oceans healthy by keeping the gene pools clean, by cleaning up the dead and or dieing so our waters aren't polluted, etc... If you enjoy eating healthy fish or seafood you must thank the sharks. Fisherman have been dumping chum from boats,piers and beaches for many years prior to the sport of diving ever coming into play. So, how can one say it is the diver that alters the sharks behavior... You don't have to like sharks but please educate yourself about their behavior prior to swimming in their waters and about their necessary existence to keep healthy seafood on your table... if not your table than please have compassion for the health of the seafood that feeds families of those less fortunate in third world countries where governemnts have sold finning and longlining rights to Japan or Taiwan, etc... where the villagers don't have a say when their reefs are polluted because the sharks have been removed! Sharks will never reproduce as fast as they are being killed... Education conquers fear, we can cohabit this planet!
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by shark_swimmer August 13, 2009 8:52 AM EDT
dudez i was swimmin with a shark andz i was thrownz offa the boat. it was bad cause i got my leg bit and it almost broked my bonez. so if u swim with sharkez dont ever falls offa the boatz
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by topeson2 August 13, 2009 12:47 AM EDT
great segment
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by cindytongsl August 12, 2009 7:10 PM EDT
"continual abuse of animals by the Asian cultures?" I suppose the force feeding of geese for foie gras is not abuse. And I suppose "battery hens" live in perfect comfort. They don't, do they?

Let me take this opportunity to correct the common misconception that the Asian race is barbaric. Our culture requires respect for the animal that gave its life to provide us food and sustenance. Traditionally, this is wehy we eat every part of the animal, from its organs to its meat.

But man is selfish, and in modern times, greed has propelled farmers, fishermen, hunters and the like, to profit by offering only the best parts for sale while discarding the rest.

This is not peculiar to the Asian race. This is peculiar to the human race. Here's www.goveg.com/factoryFarming.asp for more information. Let's not even get started on how research labs worldwide seem to enjoy torturing animals in the name of science.

It's not an Asian problem, it's not a Caucasian problem. It's a global problem.
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by mmb53 August 10, 2009 9:53 PM EDT
Whatever one might think about sharks, it is nonetheless horrific torture to cut their fins off while alive and to dump them helplessly back into the ocean. I am sickened by the continual abuse of animals by the Asian cultures. If this is such an important commodity to their culture, then at least put the animal quickly to death before dismembering them. Sharks may occasionally attack human beings, but there is one distinct difference - human beings have a choice, and it seems that we continue to make wrong choices when doing the right thing is just as easy and effective. Until we realize as a world communiity that our very survival depends on coexistance, then our future is most definitely uncertain.
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by www_dot_surfski_dot_info August 10, 2009 3:33 PM EDT
A paper published in MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES in 2007 by Larouche et al, entitled "Effects of provisioning ecotourism activity on the
behaviour of white sharks Carcharodon carcharias" shows that chumming (placing of blood and fish oils in the water) does not habituate sharks to humans. Instead the sharks quickly realise that the chum does not equate to food and they start ignoring the boats.

What is vital though is that the animals should not be given food - as this HAS been shown to change the behavior of many species, starting with Pavlov and his famous dogs.

I paddle almost every day in False Bay (where a lot of this footage was taken) and, far from being afraid of a shark attack, am convinced that these creatures must be protected and preserved from the most wasteful, wanton and destructive creature on earth - mankind.
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by diveplanet August 10, 2009 2:22 PM EDT
I was attacked by a 5 to 6 meter Great White Shark in New Zealand 2005. Instead of getting angry I wanted to learn more about the Great Whites in particular. How we perceive ourselfs and how sharks see us was a real eyeopener for me. Looking at a seal below is like looking at a swimmer, kayaker, or surfer. How can we blame an animal for seeking prey? Doing what it does naturally. I have been diving with Great Whites and now I study them to educate others about their importance to our own existance on this planet, as well as how we can make ourselves not appear as part of their basic diet / prey. Please visit my website and gain knowledge of these deadly but important creatures that have evolved over millions of years. http://www.diveplanet.co.nz/dplfoxgwresearch/index.asp
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