howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
16 January 2010
19:1137938this is nothing to do with the tax inspectors, you may have already read about that shark attack off of the beach in cape town a few days ago when a tourist got eaten by what witnesses described as a 5 ton monster.
that area has a great population of these creatures and thrill seeking tourists pay large sums of money to be taken out then lowered onto the sea bed in a glass cage.
to make sure that the paying customer gets value for money they usually drop some raw meat into the water to attract sharks.
the problem is that local experts are saying that the great whites are now homing in on the tourist areas because of the availability of meat, therefire making it even more dangerous for the casual swimmer/surfer.
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
16 January 2010
19:4037942It is alright Howard I will not be swimming out there only in Dover on boxing day.All the big whites are on the Beach in Dover
And go home at 1230hrs.
Guest 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
16 January 2010
20:2337952And the sharks will become maneater`s, and then a new tourism will start for the human population called shark hunting. I expect a few more casualties, and the unspeakable of Hollywood will be making Jaws 5 or whatever, and the gullible empty heads in the audience, will be cheering when the shark mock up is butchered, clueless to the real world. Either way, the animals of this world will lose out again.
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
16 January 2010
20:3037954probably a new exteame sport,punch a great white without getting bitten type thing.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
16 January 2010
21:1537961agree totally with colin and brian here, maybe a reality programme will feature celebrities fighting with the great whites?
one can only hope.
incidentally the chap that wrote "jaws" is a great defender of these monsters and contributes a lot of time and money into their conservation.
Guest 672- Registered: 3 Jun 2008
- Posts: 2,119
16 January 2010
21:3037964A bit like the carrot and the donkey realy.
Humans will always learn the hard way.
grass grows by the inches but dies by the feet.
Guest 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
16 January 2010
21:3437965If I portrayed you as an evil human Howard, (which I`m sure you`re not), and made loads of money in the process, you can be sure I`d defend you, and conserve you.
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
17 January 2010
07:4337989I've spent holidays in South Africa and Cape Town and seen the wonderful whales, but actually, never seen any sharks there.
Animals aren't evil, we might make, or portray them that way though.
Roger
Guest 690- Registered: 10 Oct 2009
- Posts: 4,150
17 January 2010
11:3438012Sorry Roger, but mention of evil in #7 was relating to these Hollywood producer`s portraying animals as evil to rake the money in. Nothing inferred above that animals are evil. Not sure if you misread it. Or I may even have misinterpreted your answer.
. Film makers have got alot to answer for in view of the way they`ve distorted history, (and still doing it today), made our fellow animals look evil, and making billion`s in the process. And yes, I used to watch and enjoy them, but in recent years, I`ve viewed it all in a totally different light.
Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
Guest 644- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,214
17 January 2010
14:1038028Dumping meat into the sea to attract sharks for tourists in cages to gawp at should be banned. Shark behaviour becomes altered and it brings two species into close proximity that should have no connection. The sharks simply work on instinct, get driven into a feeding frenzy and then get the blame when a gullible tourist gets attacked. Yet again the animal kingdom becomes a tool of those trying to make a buck.
Peter Benchley, who died in 2006, did indeed write and lecture in marine conservation as it is reported that he regretted the consequencies of his (extremely lucrative) books and films. Generally though, I do think that the sheer amount of conservation issues that the public have been made aware of in the last thirty years since Jaws has largely changed Western attitudes towards enironmental issues. Just look at the difference betwen David Attenborough's early series Zoo Quest, trapping animals to take back to London Zoo, to that of the recent series Earth and Life.
I think there can be no doubt that it is wrong to exploit animals in their natural habitat for entertainment purposes, passive non-interfering observation being the exception.
As an obscure fact, Peter Benchley practically re-wrote Jaws as Beast, this time revolving around a malicious giant squid. This time poor old Architeuthis took the rap - it was an awful read.
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
18 January 2010
01:4238101I have swum off the beach in Durban, which is protected by nets. My only problem was being hung over from the previous night and falling asleep on the beach in the blazing sun. My skin was frazzled and I was walking around like a leper for a week afterwards.
Have never been overly concerned about the welfare of sharks. As a merchant seaman, have always regarded them as a bit of an occupational hazard. Have swum in numerous places where they are present and never fancied ending up as a meal. In the Merchant Navy, we call them knobbies (rhyming slang: Knobby Clark - Shark).
I remember gazing in horror at a South African pictorial magazine with graphic photos of a swimmer who had been attacked by a great white and survived. There was a semicircle of deep toothmarks across his back and the flesh on the side of his body had been torn off leaving the organs exposed. He had a black wetsuit on which had held his body parts together and enabled him to survive.
