Surfing With Sharks- Sharktober

Video by Surfline.com
They’re Back! Yes, it is the season when large white sharks are again frequenting the North Central Coastline and offshore islands of San Francisco. Recently a large white shark was caught on Surfline web cam at Ocean Beach breaching clear, less than a hundred yards from surfers at Noriega Street.
It is Sharktober. This is the term we surfers refer to the months bordering and including October, when peak white shark activity and shark attacks occur along our coastline. The Bay is the center of the Red Triangle. This area bounded by Point Arena, Big Sur and the Farallon Islands, has nearly half of the recorded white shark attacks on humans in the US. Over 80% of recorded shark fatalities on the west coast are north of Point Conception, and they are all attributed to white sharks. White sharks, also called great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), are intriguing to many, repulsive to some and a fact of life if you are a water off the west coast of North America.

Yet even in these months of peak white shark activity, shark attacks are rare, more rare than being struck by lightening, and deaths by shark attack are even more rare. Last year, more people died by Selfies (13) than shark attack (6), in a year where shark attacks were 26% higher globally than 2014 according to the International Shark Attack File. The US was shark attack capital of the work with 59 unprovoked attacks, yet only one person died in Hawaii. According to the Shark Research Committee, who keeps track of historic and current shark encounters along the west coast, there were 6 unprovoked white shark attacks in California in 2015, five included board sports, and all survived.

Survival odds of a white shark attack is relatively high in the Golden State. Yet nearly 90% of victims survived white sharks along our coastline over the past century. In fact, a Stanford study published last year suggests that risk of a shark attack has gone down as much as 91% in the last 50 years. Anyone who grew up surfing along the coast can probably tell you why. Its crowded out there. The researchers estimate surfers increased by a factor of 125, from 7,000 in 1950 to 872,000 in 2013. Scuba divers also increased more than 200-fold, and the number of overall beachgoers tripled, from 53 million in the 1950s to 165 million today. Accounting for this, even though statistically shark bites have increased, the odds of attack are lower. Unless you are a surfer, the authors conclude. They remain the same, or about one in 17 million.

If you are a surfer, your odds are highest of attack of any water sport. The ISAF reports surfers and others participating in board sports were most often involved in 2015 incidents by nearly half. What is a surfer to do, take up badminton? This Sharktober surfers can avoid incident by following the suggestions below so that both humans and sharks can swim unharassed.

1. Avoid areas with high activity of seals in the water or where they haul out.
2. Don’t enter the water in areas of known shark activity and repeat fatalities. Known hot spots include Dillon Beach, Ano Nuevo and Pt. Conception.
3. Pay attention to Nature’s signs. Circling birds, splashing water, feeding seals and dolphins may also indicate a shark is near.
4. Use the buddy system. Most shark attack survivors lived because they had immediate aid.
5. Don’t look like shark food. A dark silhouette may resemble shark prey. Long boarders have lowest risk with swimmers and divers the highest. Patterned wetsuits and surfboards are available but not tested by time.
6. Low light may add to a mistaken predation. White sharks may mistake swimmers or surfers as a seal or sea lion during evening, dawn and dusk.
7. River mouths or areas of water obscurity can increase risk. White sharks also frequent areas with deep channels and drop offs or canyons like Monterey, La Jolla and Salmon Creek.
8. Don’t bleed in the water. If you have a cut get out. (The evidence on menstrual blood or urine attracting sharks is still inconclusive.)
9. If you see a shark, alert others, stay calm and paddle away avoiding jerky, splashing motions and exit the water. Warn others.
10. Observe the signs. Our beaches are posted if a large shark is sighted. Some like Stinson Beach have permanent signage. Drone footage and alerts on social media often outstrip the news and can alert ocean goers where high shark activity may be occurring. Use the tag #SharkWatch when tweeting or using other social media for tracking.

11. Final Resort? If you find yourself in the mouth of a white shark, do what the survivors have done: fight for your life and go for the tender spots of eyes and the gills. Shark survivors have described striking the nose, eyes or gills as a successful (and last ditch) approach towards inducing the shark to release them. Return attacks with white sharks are extremely rare and the odds of survival are high with immediate medical care.
If there is an attack removing the victim from the water, calling 911 in the USA, stabilizing and stopping bleeding through direct pressure or tourniquet (Surfboard leashes are multifunctional) and providing

immediate care and transport to a healthcare facility have saved many lives, and lead to some great stories.
See a shark? Send out a tweet to SharkStewards #SharkWatch and we will record the observation and share on iNaturalist. Learn more about sharks at Shark Stewards.org

Want to save sharks and protect ocean health? Join us for our sharktober education celebrations including Sharktoberfest at the Sanctuary and Shark Night at Pacifica Community Center October 28 and learn more.
Please volunteer, share the message or DONATE to save sharks.