Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jacktar]

[n3ptne]

No way man... if nature ever designed or intended a shark to be an indiscriminate killing machine it is the Bull Shark.

They have the highest level of testosterone of any animal on the planet and are easily able to swim hundreds of miles in fresh water (as far as IL in the Mississippi). They are responsible, hands down, for the most shark attacks/fatalities world wide.

Whites, by comparison, are very docile, more inquisitive if anything else.

[capebretoncanadian]

[capebretoncanadian]

[n3ptne]

Cape:

I'm sitting in a convent right now so I can't easy access the information, will do tomorrow.

However the oceanic whitetip is nothing compared to the Bull. Vast numbers of attacks and deaths occur in India from the Bull Shark that go unreported, especially in fresh water rivers.

Whites, on the other hand, tend to "taste" potential prey items and then once determined they are unsuitable let them go. The problem being that a "taste" from a White can in a very real sense result in the loss of a leg or death.

Bulls on the other hand, because of their enormous amount of testosterone (again, more than any other animal found on the planet), tend to be far more aggressive when encountered.

The ISAF lists that between 1580 and 2005 there have been 410 White attacks as opposed to only 103 Bull attacks. At a glance this would seem to favor the White, averaging roughly 1 confirmed attack per year. However this doesn't take into account the very real probability of vast numbers of unconfirmed Bull attacks in countries like India or Africa. 63 of the White attacks were fatal as opposed to 22 for the Bull.

The oceanic whitetip is responsible for 9 during the 425 years in question.

Tigers might be more suited for the ascription of "indiscriminate killer" but in reality they are just "indiscriminate eaters", with dissected corpses found to contain license plates and other oddities.

In the wild, from what I've gathered, Whites are rather docile when confronted on favorable terms, which is to say that there is no confusing you as being a prey item. Bulls on the other hand, even when confronted under favorable conditions, have the propensity to lash out for a variety of reasons.

Diving with a White wouldn't bother me in the slightest and I'd eventually like to work myself up to doing it without a cage... as for the thought of diving with a Bull? I'd never do it. Too unpredictable of an animal.

[JLarter]

No-one swims with Great Whites unless they have some sort of protection.
I agree that Bull's are worse, especially if they are lost or in a tight space.
Idiot divers are to blame for many attacks,especially in Florida.
The Nurse Shark sleeps on the bottom of the ocean and divers think they can stroke it. Not surprisngly they get bitten. This is on the increase and are a major reason why Florida has so many attacks.
When I worked in Florida at a marine education centre for children, we used to have to catch sharks to put them in our 'shark pond' so the kids could swim with them. Only when you really look for sharks do you realise how many there are. I always saw a couple every time I went out to the reef, and once managed to swim a couple of hundred metres with a hammerhead when I was diving, it stayed about three metres from me. Amazing.
We used to have nightmares that a Bull got into our swim canal when the kids were having swim tests though, bloodbath.

[capebretoncanadian]

Right on n3ptne...some good info....but one thing that really caught my eye was an article on wikipedia about oceanic white tips that said they were likely responsible for more deaths than all other species of shark combined.....due in no small part to a 1945 sinking of a U.S. naval ship that resulted in hundreds of people being taken by sharks.....allegedly mostly white tips.

Really interesting stuff though...spent the last two hours reading up on all the known species of shark.....fascinating.

[JLarter]

Wouldn't take everything wikipedia has to say as gospel. Although I've confirmed the story for myself. I suspect that most of those deaths were due to drowning and may be a slight exageration about the attacks.
Its not as pretty as other sharks either!!!

[capebretoncanadian]

[polarbearbrad]

Let me guess, the USS Indiannapolis. July 1945, the Indiannapolis delivered its payload to Guam and was headed west. A submarine nailed it broadside in the middle of the night and it went down in 12 minutes.

As the injured and dead went into the water with the healthy, the blood brought the sharks in. They were in the water for five days because there was no time to radio out an SOS and a lapse in communication between the two areas of command. A PBY patrol plane spotted the men in the water, radioed the position and landed pulling men from water.

There were no marine biologists on board of course, however POPULAR THEORY indicates that most of the sharks would have been Bulls, Tigers, and White Tips. If you want to know more google the Indiannapolis. I may have mis-spelt it, sorry.

As for diving with Whites or Bulls without a cage, what is the point in taking the chance? Why risk it?

[jacktar]

[jacktar]

[Bulsajo]

[UncleAlex]

A shark prowling around the Korean coastline is phenomenal. The next thing
we'll hear is that a jogger was attacked by a ghost tiger. I thought Korea was devoid
of wildlife. Anyway, if any English teacher decides to take a dip in the sea this summer
and happens to get a leg caught inside the jaws of a shark, remain calm and punch
it in the snout with all your might. Many people have escaped from even Great Whites
by utilizing this tactic. Great Whites are easier to get away from obnoxious
hagwons, I've been told.

[JLarter]

It's not a spear, it gives off an electric current if they get too close or some other system of scaring away sharks. Having not used one, I'm no expert in them.
The one problem I have with UncleAlex's comments is that when natures most adept killing machine has its jaws around you, you don't stay calm!!!!
Seeing as the huge majority don't have you in their jaws for more than a second, that's not the worry, blood loss is.
All the same, if there are sharks around Korea, it would be awesome to visit them, and study them.