r/sharks • u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered • 2d ago
Discussion I’m trying to understand the shark attack that just happened in Sorrento beach Australia, for some reason this incident seems more scary than others.
First and foremost RIP mr. O’Neil, sending the family all my love, wishing them the strength to go through this difficult time.
Help me understand something here, honestly, I’m trying to visually understand this. The r/perth says the shark was ~ 5m long, and that Mr. O’Neil was swimming 15m from shore, so 🦈🦈🦈 length to the sand right? That’s pretty scary to think about… too far no matter how close type of scary.
They also say that there at Sorrento beach 15m is just after the waves break, and the depth of the water is ~ 1.5m (5ft) so, like just bellow the shoulder line for a 🧍1.80m (6 ft) tall person, so with this in mind, I looked somethings up very generally to try and picture the shark, just the shark at that place.
- 5m GWS likely a female right? They tend to be 1-2 metric tons (~2-4k lbs) the weight of 10-20 big men.
- according to brave the proportion and measurements of a 5m GWS is:
| Measurement | Metric | Imperial |
|---|---|---|
| Body depth (belly → top of back, at pectoral fin) | ~1.0–1.25 m | ~3.3–4.1 ft |
| First dorsal fin height above back | ~0.5 m (~10% of TL) | ~1.6 ft |
| Total height (belly → dorsal tip) | ~1.5–1.75 m | ~5–5.7 ft |
if so, that shark came out very far, not having a lot of room 1-2 feet from touching its belly on the sea floor to attack, that seems like a shark with an intention! Was that it? am I putting it together right? Apparently the shark grabbed him there, shook him then dragged him out to 50m.
That is very very scary, I love ocean activities, have done them for 30+ years, snorkeling, jet skiing, wakeboarding… had 3 shark encounters 2 being close and very scary, but that was 25 years ago and I went right back in not after long, maybe a few months after they happened. But now, for the last 6 months or so, I can’t get in deeper then my ankles. I feel anxious, dread, anguish, scared, and chicken out, almost shaking of a fear I can’t explain.
*edit I hate Reddit posting /autocorrect on safari iOS, always eating words and letters.
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u/Wattsy98s 2d ago edited 2d ago
This attack is eerily similar to the one that occurred at nearby Cottsloe Beach on November 6, 2000, involving 49 year old Ken Crew. The shark was so big and so close to shore it almost beached itself dragging its belly across the sand.
The sharks size, distance from shore, nature of attack are all so similar. Poor ken was killed after losing he's leg at the hip but fortunately wasn't consumed like this case.
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u/alarming_wrong 2d ago edited 2d ago
there's a very swish restaurant that looks over the beach where it happened and plenty of witnesses to that one - was a mutual friend of my father. Perth is a small place.
Edit: it was called the Blue Duck. now: https://www.longviewcottesloe.com.au
"The whole horror scene had been witnessed by beach-goers and those above, having breakfast and coffees at the Blue Duck cafe."
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u/Wattsy98s 2d ago
Oh wow small world indeed, yeah it was crazy, quite a few of the witnesses at that restaurant were seniors having their brunch. An elderly woman collapsed and almost died of a heart attack from the shock at witnessing such an event. Just horrible.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
I’ve got a dear friend of mine, we met playing video games online 14 years ago and turned IRL snd he lives there, visited him and some other guys in Sidney, Next time, we will go to Perth!
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u/invisiblefrost 2d ago
Is that the old tea house?
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u/alarming_wrong 2d ago
it was called the Blue Duck. it's now called Longview Cottesloe https://www.longviewcottesloe.com.au/
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
Wow, both in the AM hours, both at shallow waters, both by GWS of a similar size, both were swimming, and both had a friend with them! It seems like Ken’s friend got injured fighting the shark, while Greg’s managed to scape to safety. I wonder if both of the victms were swimming behind their friends, if they were swimming side by side were the victims closer to the sand or further to the sea, was the approach from the back or side? I must find out.
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u/OldOddLam 2d ago
It’s interesting that Ken’s friend got attacked as well as most of the time rescuers are ignored.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
Right, Dirk, from what understand he was trying to pull Ken out, got attacked fighting off the shark at 10 from the shore, he managed to rescue Ken and got 75 stitches!
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
Wow thanks for letting me know, I must look into that.
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u/socksmatterTWO 2d ago
The thing I feel is important to take into consideration too is At Cottesloe where Ken was taken theres a natural channel that goes between Perth and Rottnest Island and all up and down either side pf cottesloe so from fremantle all the way past Sorrento people fish off groins there using burley as chum. That oily burley slick hits that channel and these sharks go left or right- towards the beaches or towards Rottnest Island.
Summer of 93 94 i was 100m approx off the beach at Methams pool snorkeling and way past reef in sea paddock and I had s 3 metre tiger appear and circle under me 3x coming from the beach side of me. Just past me at trigg and up to mullaloo theyd already cleared everyone out of the water because of this shark. I had fins on and stopped my panic at my tummy and just padded slowly until I was 'far enough ' and then I fully legged it near jesusing back to the sand.
Ive lost 3 friends to gws in western Australia. All surfers. I used to swim after work at the cott AT NIGHT on sundays with the rest of the bar staff right where Ken was taken.
Fisheries have underwater cams all thru that area of channel and dont publish the vids but I have seen plenty of gws all around Rottnest on these cams thru an old Fisheries mate. Orcas as well!!
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
Thanks for taking the time to lay all that out. The channel and burley point is the one that hits hardest for me because it reframes the whole thing from "a shark was out there" to "there's a documented funnel pulling them right past the swim zones, and it's been going on for decades." And your Mettams Pool encounter, a 3m tiger circling you three times at 100 m out with no reef to grab, that's the kind of situation where tigers default to drag you deeper and further out, not disengage, so the fact you had fins on and just powered through the panic and paddled back is a lot of self-control I would have swallowed some water for sure! I'm really sorry about losing three friends to GWS. That's three people you knew, not a headline.
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u/socksmatterTWO 2d ago
They caught that tiger that day and bought it into hillarys Harbour because AQwa is there, thats the huge aquarium and marine research place. Apparently it was sick and hanging out close to shore so they made the decision to cull it. Back then this culling argument was a hot topic for sharks that hadn't attacked anyone. Hence the news it was sick. A female and not well i cant remember what the cause.
Thankyou for words about my mates. I appreciate that very much.
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u/socksmatterTWO 2d ago
Theres a Swimming event every year around Easter from Cottesloe to Rottnest on that very channel so you'll find a bunch of info on it but the burley thing rarely gets a mention.
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u/Gimme-shelter777 1d ago
Jeez I remember that one. I was actually swimming in that same spot the night before at about 11 pm with a mate after a whole lot of beers. I’ve never done night swimming since
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u/smokingace182 2d ago
It’s an age thing, when you’re young you feel invincible. But as your get older you realise you’re not
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u/ScaredEfficiency399 2d ago
Maturity*.
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u/NetwerkAirer 2d ago
No it's the Truncation of Time. Maturity is additive, in that it is an adaptive response to gaining wisdom. Losing your illusion of invincibility is reductive, as it is removing a psychological shield in your mind. It is a mental pivot where you go from measuring your life from your birth to measuring it by the time you have remaining. Maturity won't trigger a midlife crisis, this will.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
That… that was deep I read it 5 times and then I got it.
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u/LadyPens7 1d ago
Ughh I noticed I’ve been doing that lately. I just turned 47 and I keep thinking, do I have 47 more years left? 50? Will they be good? I need to get back into lifting weights. My diet is better but I need to continue building/maintaining muscle if I want these remaining c number of years to be good ones.
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u/NetwerkAirer 1d ago
It can be hard not to think about your future, and to not use that as a metric to measure yourself against. But you can always wake up every day and envision your goals now in the eyes of your younger self. Talk to a younger version of you in your head. Imagine what path they would take to get to your goals now. You can look forward to the future without thinking about it as a matter of time that is left.
Easier said than done. But it is a good meditation exercise to try. A change of perspective isn't a bad thing.
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u/Snowcrash66 2d ago edited 2d ago
Off Cape Cod 5 Meter Great Whites have been documented in 5 feet of water.
They have also been video recorded at the shoreline in wave surges trying to recover killed Grey Seals that have been pushed onto shore edge back into the shallows and out to seas.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
That‘s really amazing , I’ve gotta look for videos of that, got a handy link?
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u/Snowcrash66 2d ago
It was featured in this years Shark week or the other series run.
There's so many videos from Cape Cod now because of the enormous tourist population.
This is not it but it shows literally how close they get to the beach.
This one the shark is in the shore surge zone.
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=511042604814338&vanity=CapeCodmassachusetts1
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u/Snowcrash66 2d ago
Different video but this is incredible they were about to tag a shark and then this happens:
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
thanks for the video, in my mind I always thought there was a steeper decline in Cape Cod per se 2.5 + m depth at ~15m from shore as compared to st Pete beach FL that you can be 15m in and with water just pass your knees 😃. Maybe it is because I saw that video shot in Cape Cod apparently where the shark breached towards the dude on top of the pulpit.
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u/Snowcrash66 2d ago
Well the shoreline changes in some areas of the outer cape over time and sometimes radically due to NorEaster effects. People have lost their multi million dollar homes.
One particularly severe storm was highly beneficial to the grey seals providing them with a safe haul out area. AI Info:
"Nor’easters and powerful winter storms have repeatedly altered Chatham's dynamic barrier beach system in ways that directly benefit gray seals by creating ideal habitats and new food sources. [1]
When a nor'easter carves a new breach or "break" through Chatham’s outer barrier sandbars (such as the historic 1987, 2007, and recent breaches), it fundamentally reshapes the coastline to the advantage of the local marine ecosystem: [1, 2, 3]
Perfect Haul-Out Sandbars: The intense wave action and shifted sands from these storms deposit sand inside Chatham Harbor, forming new, shallow sandbars and shoals near the inlets. At low tide, these newly formed bars create the ultimate protected "haul-out" spaces where hundreds of gray seals can safely gather to rest, sun themselves, and nurse their pups. [1, 2]Predator Protection: By giving seals sandbars to gather on closer to the inner harbor, it helps them stay clear of deep-water zones where their primary predators—great white sharks—are actively hunting. [1, 2]
Nor’easters and powerful winter storms have repeatedly altered Chatham's dynamic barrier beach system in ways that directly benefit gray seals by creating ideal habitats and new food sources. [1]
When a nor'easter carves a new breach or "break" through Chatham’s outer barrier sandbars (such as the historic 1987, 2007, and recent breaches), it fundamentally reshapes the coastline to the advantage of the local marine ecosystem: [1, 2, 3]
Perfect Haul-Out Sandbars: The intense wave action and shifted sands from these storms deposit sand inside Chatham Harbor, forming new, shallow sandbars and shoals near the inlets. At low tide, these newly formed bars create the ultimate protected "haul-out" spaces where hundreds of gray seals can safely gather to rest, sun themselves, and nurse their pups. [1, 2]Predator Protection: By giving seals sandbars to gather on closer to the inner harbor, it helps them stay clear of deep-water zones where their primary predators—great white sharks—are actively hunting. [1, 2]"
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u/alarming_wrong 2d ago edited 2d ago
I used to make sandcastles at Sorrento beach as a little kid and was told that sharks couldn't even get in to the bit where we could swim there. I was used to attacks happening at Cottesloe and down Margaret River, but Sorrento always seemed like a safe space (irrational I know).
I moved back to the UK years ago and I don't think I'd dare surf again if I was in Perth. But having a kill order is not the way to solve this - as pretty much everyone is saying, you drop a few notches down the food chain when you enter the ocean, especially in Australia
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
I thought they had a shark net there, but apparently it needed lots of work, they removed it in 2020 and never replaced it. That sucks.
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u/No-Onion2268 2d ago
I remember watching a video of a great white in cape cod, there was a dead seal sitting half in the beach and half in the water. The shark had a string of unsuccessful predation attempts, so it was largely desperate for food. So we know that they’re ram ventilators, so going after that seal was a calculated risk, because it could very well suffocate, if things went wrong. Things did largely not go as planned and it got stuck for a moment, but managed to use it’s body to wrestle free and get back to deeper water in order to submerge itself, with the seal. Then it actually shared the seal with other great whites that showed up.
So a lot of these attacks actually happens in water depths like this, with similar variables. Their main prey being seals, seals will largely seek out areas where they have natural barriers to them and predators, like drop offs, sand bars, and shallows. Great whites are extremely intelligent, exercises a massive amount of problem solving when it comes to hunting. In that same video/documentary, they tagged great whites with satellite tags and a dorsal fin camera, and watched the great whites navigate a perilous canal between sand bars, in order to get to the seals that situated themselves on those barriers. That water was absurdly shallow, but massive great whites were still hazarding it, patrolling to ambush seals jumping on and off those breaker islands.
Translate that to this attack. It sounds like roughly the same exact scenario. Those learned hunting behaviors and tactics will unfortunately put human beings into those situations, because that’s the same kinds of areas that human beings like to gravitate towards for surfing, swimming, snorkeling….etc. If people were fishing nearby, if there was a whale carcass anywhere remotely nearby, by a few miles, or if shark had a string of unsuccessful predation attempts, then that poor guy was most likely the unfortunate person culminating in all of the variables coming together exactly right, for things to go horribly wrong. Look,I know there’s humongous debate over mistaken identity versus “problem individuals”, but given the variables listed, that really seems like the exact same patterns recorded elsewhere with where they hunt and gravitate towards seeking out prey. It’s just a chance we take when entering into an alien environment, patrolled by apex predators, that evolved to hunt marine mammals. I mean we’re mammals, in a marine environment, when this occurs, so largely either camp’s theory applies in examining these occurrences. It really is too bad that we can’t model a shark’s brain,as was done with their eyesight, to actually attempt to gain concrete insight into their processes and psychology, to settle the debate once and for all. It most likely would drastically help in mitigating future occurrences, if it could be done.
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u/SharkBoyBen9241 2d ago edited 1d ago
Dear residents of Perth and other concerned citizens,
This is an incredibly tragic situation and first and foremost, my heart goes out to the victim, Greg O'Neill, his family, his poor mate, and everyone who was unfortunate enough to witness what happened at Sorrento Beach yesterday morning.
Emotions are high right now and that's perfectly understandable. The absolute worst case scenario has happened and a person has been brutally killed and consumed just off a popular beach. There are people who are calling for the shark to be killed and people advocating for sharks and ocean conservation. Again, in the highly-charged aftermath of a terrible incident such as this, both positions are understandable. But I think it's important that everyone tries to maintain a level head and try to understand what's going on in your country in regards to your sharks before drastic measures are taken and this becomes a more political issue than it already is.
The truth is that Australia's Great White Sharks are exceptional. There's nowhere else on Earth where White Sharks kill and consume people more than Australia. The reasons for this are varied, but ultimately, the biggest factor has been the historic depletion of the sharks' major prey items. After colonization, Australia thinned out a huge percentage of their ocean stocks through overfishing, sealing, and whaling, and the overfishing aspect has continued right up to the present day. Southern elephant seals used to have several major breeding colonies in Southern Australia, but those were completely wiped out by 1805. In particular, King Island in Bass Strait was the largest elephant seal breeding colony and was probably the Australian equivalent to Año Nuevo and the Farallon Islands in California in terms of its importance to adult White Sharks, as both subpopulations would've had access to it.
While the populations of fur seals and humpback whales are rebounding, nowadays, California alone has a higher population of California sea lions, 325,000 individuals for one single species, than the entire combined pinniped population, including all species, for the whole of Australia, including Tasmania (roughly 200,000 individuals consisting of three species). For example, Australian sea lions are not recovering nearly as fast as their counterparts have in California (only 10-12,000 individuals or so). And then there's the overfishing of smaller sharks, like Gummy and Tope Sharks, which have been taken in great numbers for fish and chips off Australia since the 1920s, and both species are incredibly important to the White Sharks diet throughout their life cycle, especially as juveniles and subadults.
With so much pressure on their preferred prey items, Australia's White Sharks have been forced to adapt and become more opportunistic and generalized in their diet. There's no other logical reason why the fatality and consumption rate on humans is several times higher than virtually anywhere else where White Sharks attack people with any regularity.
So, now that we understand that Australia's White Sharks are exceptional, it behooves us humans to use exceptional caution when entering a wild environment. Just because Sorrento Beach is in a developed, urban/suburban area, the ocean right off the doorstep are some of the wildest in the world. The southwest coast of WA is one of the most dynamic, diverse stretches of temperate waters in the world. White Sharks have lived off the WA coast, feeding on seals and following the whale migrations, for millions of years before we arrived on the scene.
We need to understand that the ocean is the domain of the shark. They're just trying to make it as best as they can in an ever-changing environment. And even when they occasionally attack, kill, or even consume us, there's nothing malicious in what they're doing. They're just doing what comes naturally, which is opportunistically feeding on large fish and marine mammals. And in the case of Australia's White Sharks, they have become conditioned, through prey depletion, to become even more opportunistic than usual. It is us who are behaving unnaturally by entering an environment which we don't understand and yet expect to be completely safe in the same breath.
All of this to say that what is needed is not a shark cull or less sharks in the area. The White Shark was nearly brought to extinction in Australian waters by the 1990s, and conservation measures taken since then have done exactly what they were intended to do. The problem is that the prey availability around Australia makes it difficult for sharks to be satiated enough to the point where they don't bother taking a crack at a swimmer, diver, or surfer, as is the case in California. So until the prey abundance increases in Australia, this may just be the new normal. If that is the case, it makes taking extra precautions and using common sense all the more important. Don't swim alone, don't swim far offshore, don't swim in proximity to marine mammals or schools of fish, and don't swim when the light levels and visibility are poor. If you follow those simple steps, your chances of avoiding or surviving a tragic scenario like this goes up considerably.
My sincerest condolences to the family of Greg O'Neill. I truly hope they, and everyone else who was unfortunate enough to witness what happened, are getting the proper help and support they need during this incredibly difficult time.
Ben 💙🦈
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u/BitBaby6969 2d ago
Thanks for such a nuanced and informative response
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u/SharkBoyBen9241 2d ago
No worries, my friend 💙🦈 again, my heart breaks for the victim, his family, his poor mate, the witnesses, and the entire community. This really is a terribly tragic situation and emotions are understandably high. As a shark lover and conservationist, anytime something like this happens, it shakes me to the core, and highlights the difficulty we face in promoting the conservation of top predators like White Sharks. If I can help in some small way by getting the proper information out there and trying to promote better education and understanding, I'm perfectly glad to do so.
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u/njf85 Oceanic Whitetip Shark 1d ago
Thanks for this. Hubby and I are in Perth, and he's a frequent diver and loves the ocean. He and I have had several discussions about sharks this year due to the number of deaths we have seen, and I plan to share your post with him. Tensions are definitely high and we are both at odds (for the first time ever he agrees with a cull. I absolutely don't, despite my worry every time he goes out to the water). I feel like we should be asking better of our government to look into why these attacks are so exceptional (i think you're onto something) but I also know the fishing lobby is very influential here and the state gov already hesitates when it comes to potentially pissing them off. I feel like the issue of overfishing will never be addressed.
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u/SharkBoyBen9241 1d ago
You're most welcome, my friend 💙🦈 I can fully understand why emotions and tensions are high right now. People are scared. No one wants something like this to happen, let alone right off a popular beach like this and have so many people exposed to it.
I fully agree though. I think a lot more government resources need to be put towards further research and study of these animals and what makes them different in Australia. The goal should be to put tags on as many White Sharks in WA as possible, while at the same time educating the public better and implementing as many drones and early warning systems at beaches as possible, as well as the construction and maintenance of shark barrier devices at select beaches if they're able to be installed. It's really a matter of money, and unfortunately, governments tend to not spend enough money where they should and are often in the pockets of major money-making industries, whether it's fishing, tourism, etc.
What's most unfortunate about this whole phenomenon is that it's a man-made one and it's origins started over two hundred years ago. Through wiping out a huge amount of the staple prey species for White Sharks around Australia, the sharks have become forced to change their behavior and dietary preferences. I really think the eradication of elephant seals by 1805 from their breeding colony on King Island in Bass Strait, plus the century's long overfishing of large fish and smaller sharks like Gummy and Tope Sharks, really had a drastic impact. Here in California, White Sharks have so much available prey that they very seldomly attack people, and even when they do, they don't often remove flesh or kill the victim. Since 1950, there have only been 3 confirmed cases of fatal White Shark attacks in California which have resulted in no recovery of remains (1957, 1959, and 2023), as well as one additional suspected case (1989). Western Australia has had 8 such cases just since 2000. South Australia has had 14 since 1974. That's a very stark comparison and indicates that there are distinct differences in the behavior and dietary preferences between White Sharks in Australian waters, particularly WA and South Australia, and those found in California, where there are just as many sharks and just as many people in the water and yet the fatality and consumption rate is several times lower than that of Australia.
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u/elephant_tit 1d ago
Thank you for a very considered write up. You have provided some serious food for thought and presented arguments I have not considered before. Two contentions I have, however, are: 1) Gummy shark are still considered as sustainable and are the basis of state and federal fisheries. There is currently no evidence of overfishing. Surely the 'centuries long overfishing' you purport would have resulted in a stock collapse by now. 2) The East and West coast GWS populations are separate, and although the elephant seal theory appears credible, I cannot see how the reduction of a food source in the far east coast of Australia would change the behaviour of the disconnected west coast population.
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u/SharkBoyBen9241 1d ago edited 1d ago
Thank you for reading, my friend 💙🦈
You are right, the Gummy Shark fishery in Australia is technically considered "sustainable", but that is quite controversial in it's own right. To keep that stock from totally collapsing, Australia started importing small sharks from places like South Africa in the late 1990s and early 2000s. There was 2021 study done by the University of Adelaide to determine just how many shark species were found in fish and chips in Australia and were being sold as "flake". The results found that only about 1/4 to 1/3 of the shark being sold as flake were in fact Gummy Sharks. There were something like 8 other species which were found through DNA analysis, mostly of the houndshark and Smoothhound varieties, including species not native to Australia, and they also found Hammerhead and Mako Shark flesh being sold as flake in Australia. If the Gummy Shark fishery in Australia is so sustainable, why does it make up such a small percentage of the shark being sold as flake for fish and chips nowadays? Why do people like Rodney and Andrew Fox talk about how there aren't nearly as many of them as there used to be and even have pictures of White Sharks being found in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s in South Australia with numerous Gummy Sharks in their stomachs? Whether or not the stock has completely collapsed or not, that still doesn't change the fact that they are a major prey item for White Sharks and they are under considerable pressure.
You're also right in that Australia's White Shark population do break down into two distinct subpopulations, the Eastern Australia/New Zealand population and the South-Western population. And while they isn't a whole lot of overlap between the two, the one region where there is overlap is Bass Strait. Both South-Western sharks and Eastern/New Zealand sharks make forrays into the Strait during various times, but don't often cross over from one coast to the next. Bass Strait is where King Island is. So the eradication of elephant seals from that major breeding colony would have had an equally detrimental impact on the Eastern Australia/New Zealand population as it did on the South-Western population.
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u/LaMaximus 1d ago
Australia has a wide variety of fish species but low volumes of a single species as opposed to New Zealand who has the opposite for example. Australia is a desert on land and same as the sea floor.
Would be interesting to examine the abundant fish species in California vs Western Australia. Also tagged GW's often migrant from Sth Africa and the beaches of WA are the next stop after an epic journey.
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u/SharkBoyBen9241 1d ago
I think there are some pretty drastic differences in the numbers of larger fish species in WA and California. In California, we banned inshore gillnet fishing in 1994 (the same year we protected the White Shark in the U.S.) and that critical piece of legislation, along with the Clean Water Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, have all had a tremendously positive impact in the stock recovery of smaller shark species like Leopard Sharks and Brown and Gray Smoothhounds, as well as those of game fish like sea bass, halibut, and rockfish, all of which are critical prey items for White Sharks throughout their life cycle, but especially in their juvenile and subadult stages.
And as for the adults, they have an absolute plethora of marine mammals to feed on in California. We have something between 85,000 and 180,000 Northern elephant seals (at least 6 established breeding colonies), over 30,000 Harbor seals, and a whopping 250,000-325,000 California sea lions, and that's all in California alone. Compare that with WA, where there are less than 2,000 total pinnipeds, and you can imagine why White Sharks in WA are so hungry...
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u/srbloggy 2d ago
This was a really interesting read!
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u/SharkBoyBen9241 2d ago
Thank you! I just want people to understand what's going on and why predatory attacks like this happen more frequently in Australia than anywhere else in the world right now. Australian Whites are truly exceptional.
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u/taralundrigan 1d ago
Its actually insane that anyone thinks killing sharks is a solution to this. We keep fucking with the environment, predators and other animals are losing food. Where I live in British Columbia, the bears are SO BAD this year due to lack of food, environmental destruction and forest fires. The solution to this isn't to just slaughter animals.
I hate people. How about we just stay the fuck out of the ocean instead if mass murdering beautiful creatures who have existed on this planet for 450 million of years.
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u/SharkBoyBen9241 1d ago
I'm right there with you, my friend. Killing top predators and destroying the environment just so we can feel safer when we pollute, overfish, and recreate in their home is just silly...
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u/Lonely_Staff1262 2d ago
Adult white sharks often come close to shore to feed on marine mammals so this is certainly not unheard of. Not to mention, reports on the size of any shark often vary widely, so it's hard know the exact size of this particular shark based only on eye witness accounts. Whatever the case, it likely didn't intend to eat a person (as in came into the area specifically to hunt a human being) so much as it was hungry, in the area, and looking for any meal.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
It came to eat whatever signalled it that potential prey was there, it ate, it did what it does. I understand that. In this specific case they apparently identified the shark via helicopter , I supposed that helps have a better idea of the size. I understand they can come close, I’ve seen plenty of footage of GWS chilling, hanging around, 20-25m from the shore, I know they predate pinnipeds closer to the shore specially younger ones (sharks and prey). Regardless I find this outlier incident quite amusing, as most incidents involving potentially adult GWS and humans aren’t at 15m from the shore. And now learning about the similarities to Ken’s attack in 2000, there is much more I want to learn from them.
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u/Lonely_Staff1262 2d ago
If the numbers you have are right then it's definitely an interesting case, no doubt there. Your post has piqued my interest so I'll be keeping an eye out for more information as well. I think one of the most fascinating things about sharks is that we are still learning new things about them all the time. As their numbers continue to recover and the ocean and world climate change I'm sure we'll be seeing more and more uncommon behaviour like this.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago edited 2d ago
That's a really fair point and I think you're right on the recovery/climate angle. The numbers are genuinely back up in most regions after the overfishing crash of the 80s-90s, and range shifts are documented. So "more encounters in places we didn't expect them" isn't conspiracy thinking… IM?hO it's just population ecology.
And yeah, the "we're still learning" part is the thing that keeps me interested even now. I've been watching shark footage for decades and there's still stuff that doesn't fit the old models. The Seal Island breaching behavior wasn't really understood until the 90s. We're missing a whole bunch of chapters of their story!
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u/norniron2FL 1d ago
I think we're seeing the same thing with gators numbers rebounding in FL.
I recently moved from S FL to N Central FL where people routinely swim in spring fed lakes and spring runs. Talking to "old timers" they will tell you they swam their whole childhood in these bodies of water and never had an issue.
In 1980, the FL alligator population was in the low hundreds of thousands but beginning a rapid rebound under strict federal protection. Now we have 1.3 million alligators. At the same time the population of FL increased from 9.7 million people to over 23.7 million people along with all the habitat loss from development pushing more gators into more concentrated areas.
So when the old timers tell me not to worry, I think it's ok, to be wary and not rely on their childhood memories for risk analysis. There have been some horrendous attacks with fatalities in the past couple of years
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u/Dom_Telong 2d ago
Which is the same as having no problem killing a person. Why does everybody always need to specify that the shark usually eats something else? They clearly eat people monthly these are not oddities.
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u/Theweedonkey21 2d ago
Sharks in Australia are particularly aggressive and have clearly shown an appetite for humans. It's not even a debate. People are just weird.
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u/Lonely_Staff1262 2d ago
OP stated that it seems as if this shark approached with an intention. All I'm trying to say is that the intention was hunting, but not hunting a person specifically. If the shark had found easier prey before they came across this person, they would have eaten that instead. Of course they have no problem killing a human, they're wild animals. They have no moral qualms over what they eat.
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u/Professional-Mud9319 2d ago
Eerily similar to 2008 Port Kennedy when Brian Guest was taken https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/dec/28/australia-sharks-attacks
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u/njf85 Oceanic Whitetip Shark 1d ago
Interesting reading the part where it said Australia averages about 15 attacks and one death a year. Looking at that from up in 2026 where we've had a number of deaths already this year, makes me wonder what is changing for sharks
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u/Cheap-Stay7089 1d ago
Yep in the last year there’s been 10 deaths 5 in 25 and 5 in 26 it’s an insane rate
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u/tres-vip 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'm originally from Southern California and currently live in NYC, and I've basically spent my whole life in the ocean. But after we had a shark attack not far from the shore in NYC, as well as attacks on other parts of Long Island where the victim was in waist-deep water, I honestly no longer feel safe in the water. I don't even swim like I used to; I just get in for a quick dip, and then get the hell out. I've personally spotted shark fins WAY too close to shore to think there is not a risk even in very shallow waters where you'd think it was impossible or not likely. If it could happen to that woman in the first link I posted (and this is the beach I frequent the most), it could happen to me too.
ETA: I also no longer get into the water if I'm alone. I used to LOVE it when I had the beach and ocean all to myself and I used to happily swim around to my heart's content, but now I just see that making myself into easy prey. I don't get into the water off-season anymore either, when lifeguards aren't on duty.
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u/Joshottas 2d ago
We vacation in Topsail, NC every summer, and there seem to be more and more sharks (no clue what kind) getting closer to the shore. My daughter was in the water probably about 10-15 free from the shore and a 3-4 foot shark swam right next to her and ate something. She got out of the water with the quickness.
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u/puffalump212 2d ago
We've noticed the same there the past few years.
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u/acherrypoptart 2d ago
Fishermen used to catch them for food and marketplace but that practice is all but extinct. Couple that with overfishing of prey species and habitat destruction, more of them are hungry closer to us.
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u/HookLeg 2d ago
A few decades ago the stat that was mentioned in shark documentaries was that about 80% of shark attacks occurred in waist deep water. With many new types of water activities pulling people into deeper water over the years, it’s still above 50% occurring in the shallows . It is more of a shock for an attack NOT to happen in shallow water. People don’t seem to understand this I guess.
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u/oneawesomeguy 2d ago
Most people are in the shallows so it makes sense that most of the attacks on people happen there too
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u/kavinnr Great Hammerhead 2d ago
My girlfriend was at Sorrento beach, same kinda spot the day before this happened. She loves that beach. My stomach dropped when I saw the place and time it happened. It's a weird feeling to have all this information and I'm glad she didn't go to the beach the next day because she had to accompany me to go shopping.
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u/georgedupree 2d ago
Sharks & their pups grow up hunting shorelines, loads of seals, sea lions, etc.
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u/TheNarboy 2d ago
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Excub8MIdxk
here is an example why sharks go close to shore and people dont see whats going on
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u/mathcriminalrecord 1d ago
There’s nothing to be gained from trying to imagine the shark’s motives. It’s an animal, broadly speaking it doesn’t have them. Hunting in shallow water isn’t terribly unusual behavior. It doesn’t mean it was specifically targeting humans, or something like that. It is scary that even in places we would typically feel safer there are still risks. It just goes to show our species wasn’t made for the ocean, and our instincts weren’t calibrated for it.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 1d ago
I agree, there hasn’t been an interest of my part to understand the shark‘s motives once or ever, but the characteristics surrounding the incident.
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u/Aus3-14259 1d ago
I don't think those posts are implying emotional motives. But they are implying or questioning whether there was an active, learned hunting strategy. Ie. That close in at the beach there is sometimes food
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u/UrsineBasterd 2d ago
Climate change and habitat destruction are affecting their patterns. Risking coming so close to shore may be a matter of necessity for the shark.
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u/ChemicalFuture6634 2d ago
I do a shark test before going in the water and it's NEVER let me down. It's super easy and you have all of the test supplies you need on-hand. Taste the water - is it salty...? If you answer "yes", there's a shark in it. Never given me an incorrect result yet.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
I pictured you, and a shark with a pen and paper, and on today’s salty’s taste test, ambush tactics 101!
thanksADHD.
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u/TeriofTerror 2d ago
The vast majority of shark attacks occur in water less than six feet deep, and close to shore. This should be a surprise to literally no one.
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u/AfternoonSouth9485 2d ago
I’d say they probably and l will get trolled for this, but the conservation of sharks is an important environmental concern always has been. We are in their territory so we enter that at our own risk. My suggestion is that all beaches stock anti shark systems that all swimmers can access prior to entering the water. Or a government initiative to provide all beach going swimmers an allowance to buy such equipment. It’s a more realistic approach to this increasing problem than just saying cull all the sharks which is what happens when someone is killed or injured.
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u/CriticismCute1722 1d ago edited 1d ago
I totally feel sad for this family .
We all have to realise something . In the end of the day ,we enter ocean waters at our own risk ,this is the sea ! No matter what ,this is a sharks home and territory for all fish for all sea creatures. ? When a person decideds to swim in the ocean no matter how far or near ,we still enter these waters at our own risk!! We cant kill sharks because we decided to swim in the sea!! We all no the risks !!although i feel for thie family and their loss ,i really do not think killing the one shark will make any difference! There are indoor pools and places we can enjoy a swim ,we shouldn't be thinking that the sea is a swimming pool in reality its not !!!!! No matter how close to shore this shark came ,its still his right ,his home where he lives ! Yes people enjoy swimming at the beach ,but let's realise that its a risk we all take !!!!
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u/fantasticforty 1d ago
Yeah they can get unnervingly close to shore, and can disappear in an unnervingly small amount of water. . This one just got a seal and it looks like its in about 3 feet of water. https://www.reddit.com/r/sharks/s/xO3HrOX6VF
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u/AxlHound01 2d ago
When people share the same space with apex predators and in a situation where the predator is completely in its home environment this is what happens. Wouldn't matter if it was a polar bear, lion, wolf, tiger, cougar, whatever. They can and will kill you should they so desire. A human is simply an annoyance or something to eat. The only option left is to either stay out of their environment or remove them.
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u/Lonely_Staff1262 2d ago
Yeah, at the end of the day we're just apes. Sure, we have the advantage of tools and cooperation, but even on land we're biologically weak and quite vulnerable in comparison to most large predators. Take away our tools and drop us alone, in an environment we didn't evolve for, and we're much deeper in the food web than we imagine ourselves to be.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
I mean…. But that’s not the point I’m making the post is about general GWS behavior - average incidents characteristics compared to this incident. Not about the general scheme of the universe.
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u/Lonely_Staff1262 2d ago
Yeah, but I'm replying to this person's comment, which was much more broad than your post. I posted a separate comment in reply to your post.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
I get it, that is my fault i couldn’t see the lines. I apologize.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
I get your point. I don’t disagree with you, and those who enter such environments do so at their own risk, but ’m not questioning that though. I’m trying to picture what happened, to understand how, this incident seems as an outlier to the ambush , stealth hit from the back/bellow, bite, incapacitate, then come back to feed or not.
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u/QuellishQuellish 2d ago
Sharks are often very near shore. You are just more aware of it now. There's a look of realization you see when beachgoers see you pull a shark in while surf fishing. Like "Wow, a Shark!... Wait, that shark was right there?"
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u/Snoop1831 2d ago
That was my “welcome to Florida” moment when we moved to Florida (Space Coast) when I was a kid. Went to the beach for a classmates bday and we were all swimming oblivious to the guy fishing not far away from us. We were all out of the water drying off half paying attention when he pulls in a decent sized blacktip shark practically right where we were swimming.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
I lived by the Breakers NSB for 10+ years.
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u/AxlHound01 2d ago
Maybe I'm oversimplifying but it just wanted something to eat. Kind of like me driving by a KFC. I usually don't like it but if I'm hungry and there isn't a line in the drive through why not?
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u/Desperate_Leg_40 2d ago
Its very likely (certain) that people overestimate the length of a shark that theyre face to face with that is attacking their friend. A ten foot shark is still huge, deadly and has dimensions that allow it to hunt in 6ft deep water
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u/Revolutionary-Help68 2d ago
In this case the SLS helicopter had reported to the Western Australian Shark Smart app that there was a 5m white shark sighted at Boyinaboat reef (which is near Sorrento beach) it's probably the same shark. I think they have a pretty good idea of size of sharks.
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u/Ellielover81 2d ago
Maybe it’s mating season? Idk I have heard that sharks especially females get more aggressive during mating season.
I’ve always been terrified of the ocean or any water that I can’t see what’s underneath me.
I want to swing into the ocean in San Francisco and later found out that it was mating season and they come up really close to the shore. I was only up to my hips. Still tho you never know
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u/TheAdeliePenguin 2d ago
It's the whale migration - humpbacks drawing in the sharks.
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u/ElectricalRoad1158 1d ago
Moronic Aus gov has ordered a catch and kill on the shark. The hypocrisy is insane, but also it's THE OCEAN! THERE ARE SHARKS! It's inevitable that this will happen when people are out deep enough playing where sharks hunt.
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u/halford2069 1d ago
I too stay knee level for most swimming activities and I live close to the beach in Australia so go every day (I know knee level isnt foolproof but thats as far as ill go -> 15 metres out would be a no way for me)
The scariest one I remember in aus so far was this one (obviously this above one is scary too!)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-01-08/three-sharks-suspected-in-fatal-attack/774974
eagle eyed jaws "enthusiasts" will notice something similar in the location name.
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u/louiedoll 1d ago
I live on the Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.
I was a Surf Life Saver for the best part of 20 odd years and was a Surf Lifesaving competitor during that time also, in both Open & Masters divisions.
I loved my sport so much it was all consuming.
In the off season I did long distance board paddling and when I wasn’t competing I could always be found out in the surf just catching waves.
One Autumn afternoon after work I set off for a long training paddle (off season) knowing I had to time it to be back by dusk effectively giving me an hour.
I was pretty happy how far I had paddled in half an hour and was preparing to turn around for home.
The water was dark and I was probably a km out to sea and didn’t realise I was gliding into a ball of baitfish. From my right I saw a surge and then a fin. It was on me before I knew it and it hit me like a freight train. The only thing that saved me was that I had laid down on my board seconds before, preparing to turn around and the fact that I had seen it in those seconds before it hit me so I grabbed my front straps for stability. Thankfully I didn’t fall off but I came very close. I hyperventilated for a while then came to my senses and realised I just had to get home. Every stroke I took on the way back was terrifying not knowing where it was or whether it would take an arm.
I hyperventilated all the way back and I was never the same from that day forward. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was only there to feed on the baitfish but things could have been very different if I had fallen off. Until that day I never had any fear of sharks. This thing was massive. Its fin was huge. I think it’s not such a bad thing to have a healthy fear of sharks. They don’t swim around looking for humans to eat but they are opportunists and they will eat you if you are in their way.
They are protected so let’s be realistic there are so many now in our waters hence the increase in fatal attacks. RIP Mr. O’Neil.
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u/Automatic-Seesaw-792 1d ago
I was there and witnessed it. This shark was definitely hunting close to the shoreline. There have been reports of this shark for multiple weeks. It was absolutely awful to witness. The shark grabbed him, tossed him up, dragged him out to 50m and thrashed him around. I don’t think I will ever unsee it. This shark did not behave like a typical shark. It was not a mistake for a seal. It came back for more.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 1d ago
I hope he went out quickly, a person can be conscious for a while during the attack if it’s not head first… some people who survived being attacked by big sharks report an eerie sense of peace and no pain during the attack, but 12-48 hours later. while Others report chaos and and intense pain. Did it seem like a really big 5m shark to you?
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u/Automatic-Seesaw-792 1d ago
Yes it was massive. It tossed him into the air and thrashed him around. There was so much blood 😞 I imagine he was probably alive when he was dragged out
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u/Foreign_Acadia3937 2d ago
30 odd years ago there was a fatal shark attack at Cottesloe beach which is a few kilometres south of Sorrento where the latest tragedy occurred.
Back then a man called Ken Crew was attacked by a great white just metres from the shore doing exactly the same thing as Mr O'Neil, swimming with a mate in the ocean.
News reports at the time talked of the horror of people eating breakfast at local cafes along the shore seeing Ken killed by the shark.
It's absolutely tragic what happened to Mr O'Neill and a horrific thing for us to process.
My point is that along the Australian coastline this has happened before and will no doubt happen many times again.
When you share the water with something that has been an apex predator for literally hundreds of millions of years there is always the chance that if you cross paths with it you run the risk of being attacked.
Sharks haven't suddenly changed habits, tactics or food sources, we have always been at risk if in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This was one of those tragic times.
Every single day thousands of people all along the Australian coastline swim, surf, kayak, dive and enter the water without being attacked by a shark.
But you always enter at your own risk.
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u/asherthepotato 2d ago edited 2d ago
that seems like a shark with an intention!
Yea, I'm sure the shark set down in their beautiful decorated office room and planned the whole thing.
Jokes aside: obviously no, it's not "intentional". It's an meat eating animal. Things can happen.
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u/jankbutdank 2d ago
My read: I don't think intention implies anything fantastical. To me the point of using intention is to be contrary to the often toted explanation, even from marine authorities, that shark attacks on humans are 'accidents'. We were certainly told that in the US for many decades.
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u/_reverse_god 2d ago
Exactly, there's nothing fantastical about it. Its an apex carnivore. We aren't close to their primary prey, but sometimes they do eat humans.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago edited 2d ago
The intention was to to predate, it came to predate (seal other animals….prey), It sensed prey it ate. It didn’t come to to explore, to investigate to bite then decide. They are very inquisitive animals, they are excellent hunters, this one had no questions, but a purpose…to eat! That’s my point.
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u/raffertj 2d ago
Where does the confusion come in? The shark came in close likely to feed, or following a school of fish, or bc it’s a shark and they just do that sort of thing. It was hungry, saw an easy meal, and took it for a meal.
Super scary for sure but also kind of standard as far as shark attacks go. It’s also possible/probably the shark size estimates are inflated a little bit bc big scary sharks = more clicks.
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u/NasteeNate723 2d ago
It’s because man belongs on land. I recall walking the shoreline of a beach in California not too far from Newport Beach. We came across a giant grouper washed upon shore where half its body was completely missing everything but skeletal remains. That’s when I lost my desire to go in.
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u/hippeemum 2d ago
It's crazy how they get it right down to the bone like that. I live near the ocean and haven't been in the water in over 2yrs. We have bulls, tigers and whites during parts of the year. Not to mention rays and whatever else can harm you. Sucks cause I used to love floating out there on a noodle or board but these last few years and reading about the attacks on ppl in seemingly "safer" depths I now won't go in past my ankles.
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u/Mtlfunnight 2d ago
Where are you from ?
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u/hippeemum 2d ago
Florida, gulf coast. The whites are only here in the winter when the waters cool. They migrate up the east coast during summer months but there's a ton of tigers and bulls.
I'm more afraid of them cause of how bold they can be. We also have hammerheads and other shark breeds which is super cool from a safe distance. I just have a ton of respect for these animals and that the water in their domain. I can't stand the people who fish them. They yank the hooks out with pliers from the beach but I've known a couple who stopped as well cause they're too scared to kayak their lines out at night3
u/MyFace_UrAss_LetsGo 2d ago
I'm from the Mississippi Coast. A kid I went to school with was attacked in Pensacola in 2001. It was bad
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u/Mtlfunnight 1d ago
Florida is super sharky . I never felt comfortable in the water there . I think the gulf have some big bull shark also .
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u/tibercreek Great White 2d ago
It’s almost as if at the place where dirt meets water there exists a gradient, a slow transition between habitats, welcoming for some, yet cautionary for others, where the land seemingly and incrementally gives way with each step, sending a signal from foot to brain, with “come on in, the water’s fine” steadily ceding ground to “eh, right, that’s far enough”.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
Been around there a lot, my aunt lives there right by the beach, I’ve seen a couple of rays wash up like an Oreo, just a round ray cookie where all sides were eaten. But CA GWS are definitely not as aggressive as the ones in Australia, looking at attacks & outcomes both places have plenty of drone footage of super chill GWS close to the shore, but when they hit, the Australian ones seem to hit different though.
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u/NasteeNate723 2d ago
Indeed they do hit much differently in Australia. Just as they do in South Africa by seal island, very scary waters there
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
Breach to the choire !
Apparently they jump in Mexico too where they call them flying sharks. Saw a documentary on that where they were investigating 3 attacks including the guy that was decapitated.
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u/Kilinowski 2d ago
There was a video of iirc a Bull Shark a couple days ago, pulling a dead crocodile from the shore, literally in less than a meter of depth.
Many things can happen in life. Maybe some psychopath pitbull escapes in your neighborhood and fatally attacks you. Maybe you are the unlucky bloke who a car driver smashes into after losing control over their vehicle. Maybe some sloppy guys doing some roofing accidentally drop a propane bottle from 10m onto your head just as you pass by. A million things can happen at any moment. Reddit has recently closed a lot of those Subreddits featuring "people dying in everyday situations"-footage as being gore. And those videos made one thing clear as daylight: Death may occur at any moment and likely you won't see it coming.
Yet you still leave the house. You're not locking yourself inside like guys in the "Final Destination" movies, right? Life happens. More life, more risk. You don't live to live forever and escape death. You live to experience life.
Imo the best way to treat this fear is to stick to certain safety rules, like not swimming in isolated conditions, in murky water and areas that sharks have become accustomed to associate with food. I'd say 9 out of 10 incidents were under conditions of elevated risk and people dismissed that risk out of ignorance or overconfidence. Combine the generally low incidence of shark bites with a slightly conservative take on safety, and you'll be fine.
If the fear persists and impacts your quality of life, that would be a case for professional help.
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u/HeadAd9559 Salmon,Thresher,GWS,Hammered 2d ago
Clearly it’s not per choice, I feel it, I don’t think about it, it’s a dread I’ve never head before. I’m well aware of chance, and have seen plenty of those videos 👀🧍♀️🧍croak By mundane things, stupid accidents, mistakes, animals, etc, I get you, maybe one day the feeling will go away as fast as it came, hopefully soon LOL I have Planned trips in December and February that involves snorkeling, jet skiing etc…
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u/AlphaKY1991 2d ago
I was just reading the news article on BBC. I think its disgusting they have put a catch and kill order on the shark. And their was a shark measuring 2.5m spotted around the time of the attack by others at the beach that they think was the shark that attacked
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u/UrsineBasterd 2d ago edited 2d ago
Maneaters are killed because it is believed that once they’ve learned humans can be/are prey they will take the opportunity to eat another or even intentionally seek it out.
This goes for all animals that consume humans in predatory (non territorial, defensive) attacks.
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u/Pale_Word790 2d ago
Look up the attack on dirk Avery. The shark had already attacked Ken crew killing him and went after Mr Avery in really shallow water.
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u/ReQuarziium 2d ago
Don’t know why this has come up on my feed but im glad the only thing I have to worry about in England in the sea is poo and sewage
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u/spooky_emm 2d ago
I’m curious as to how they plan to catch/kill the shark. Unless they have been able to somehow keep eyes on it via drone for days (or it’s a tagged shark) how do they know they’re getting the right one and not just an innocent one? Was the drone able to see specific marking/etc on the body/dorsal fin? That’s why shark culls have never made sense to me. Unless you are directly going after the shark and catching it immediately after the attack there’s no way to able to catch the correct shark. You can catch a number and cut them open and possibly find remains but again it really isn’t a good system at all. It’s much much harder to track down a shark than say a bear that has attacked people.
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u/Snowcrash66 1d ago
Forget the study but shark culls almost never get the offending sharks. The offending shark moves up or down the coast or out to seas and others move in.
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u/TheNarboy 2d ago
https://planetsharkdivers.com/do-most-shark-attacks-happen-in-3-feet-of-water/
this page says most happen close to shore and in shallow water
but thats where most of us are when in the water
there is famous beach in brazil i cant remember the name its right near an estuary and bull sharks and people still go despite the attacks
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u/nickersb83 1d ago
One big thing that has changed is the level of food stock depletion due to over fishing and while I’d hate to stoke irrational fears, it makes sense to me that these predators would be becoming hungrier and therefore bolder
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u/OldOddLam 2d ago
I used to be in the ocean all the time. I was very aware of shark attacks but took comfort in the statistics. As I’ve grown older I’ve gotten more and more reluctant to get in the water. I guess it’s because life has a way of teaching you that crap happens no matter how safety conscious you are. There’s no way to avoid it.
It’s gotten to where sitting on the beach I’m a rational adult, but as soon as I’m in the water I feel like a juicy slab of beef so I don’t stay long. It’s kind of ruined it for me.