Is it safe to go back in the water?
Dur Dum Dur Dum...
Two weeks ago I was staying at a friends’ farm in Connecticut. We were reminiscing about being at Uni together and the weekends we spent away at the beach, surfing and partying and so on. I asked him where he surfed now and he told me that he usually drives 45 minutes to the nearest beach but unfortunately they were all closed right now due to sightings of Great White sharks. Oh, what a shame! WHAT? Apparently, he calmly told me, the sharks had been spotted in Cape Cod and Massachusetts too and all the beaches had to be closed due to the sharks swimming too close to shore... only 3-4 feet deep! Blimey. My friend showed me a photo that had been taken a few days before.
Oh my god! The poor man in the kayak was totally unaware of what was 6 feet behind him until people started screaming “shark, shark” at him from the beach. I would have simply poo’d myself, then fainted, fallen into the water and been eaten. But it actually makes you think... what would you really do in that situation, how would you react?
It then reminded me of a time in Australia, when I was on a road trip with my Mother (I know that sounds a bit dull but if you know my Mother you would certainly know the trip was ‘such fun’!) We had walked along the coast path from Manly (a boat ride from Sydney Harbour), to a sweet little cove where only a few people were on the beach. I decided to go for a swim and was probably about 12 feet deep when I heard my Mother shouting at me from the beach. She was waving frantically and shouting something. I couldn't hear her and she continued screaming something at me and then started pointing towards the open water behind me. I honestly froze. I thought there was a shark behind me and from watching ‘Jaws’ numerous times, knew that splashing was bad. So I was trying to tread water without actually moving... trés difficile! I was only just keeping my head above water but I daren't turn around. I then realised my Mother was smiling whilst screaming and not actually screaming in abject terror. I slowly turned around, praying all the while to God, and saw..... a penguin. Not a killer shark but a small sweet penguin, swimming in tiny circles around and around, having a lovely time. I was so relived I think I peed myself... that, or I swam through a bizarre warm current. I searched for the American shark story a few days later on the internet. The sightings are quite terrifying. Dozens of beaches have been closed, not only because of the actual danger of being eaten by a shark but also, and this is a bit gruesome.... of coming into contact with dismembered seals! Yuck! They are asking the public to stand 300 feet back from the shoreline so as not to walk into a seal massacre! Yuck! One spokesman added: “If you are going out in the water (as if), be aware of seals while swimming. If the seals scatter from an area then it is likely that a shark is present”. No... really?? Then I remembered an article I was was reading last year about all the basking sharks in Cornwall. Now they aren't killers because they are plankton eaters not human eaters but they are huge!!! Again, other than having an accident in the downstairs department... what would you do if you saw one?
And then, in yesterdays morning newspaper I read what I most feared... ‘Killer sharks found in English waters’. These are blue sharks, seen in the last few weeks off the north coast of Cornwall. This is not that unusual I think, they have been spotted before, far out in deep water. In fact, crazies pay loads of money to go and dive with them but then I read these new beauties were seen in shallow waters! Nooo! Blue sharks are one of the most vicious breeds, smaller than great whites but they will still chew your limbs off in seconds. I haven't got a photo of the actual ones seen but this scary little bugger is bad enough!
Two weeks ago I was staying at a friends’ farm in Connecticut. We were reminiscing about being at Uni together and the weekends we spent away at the beach, surfing and partying and so on. I asked him where he surfed now and he told me that he usually drives 45 minutes to the nearest beach but unfortunately they were all closed right now due to sightings of Great White sharks. Oh, what a shame! WHAT? Apparently, he calmly told me, the sharks had been spotted in Cape Cod and Massachusetts too and all the beaches had to be closed due to the sharks swimming too close to shore... only 3-4 feet deep! Blimey. My friend showed me a photo that had been taken a few days before.
Oh my god! The poor man in the kayak was totally unaware of what was 6 feet behind him until people started screaming “shark, shark” at him from the beach. I would have simply poo’d myself, then fainted, fallen into the water and been eaten. But it actually makes you think... what would you really do in that situation, how would you react?
It then reminded me of a time in Australia, when I was on a road trip with my Mother (I know that sounds a bit dull but if you know my Mother you would certainly know the trip was ‘such fun’!) We had walked along the coast path from Manly (a boat ride from Sydney Harbour), to a sweet little cove where only a few people were on the beach. I decided to go for a swim and was probably about 12 feet deep when I heard my Mother shouting at me from the beach. She was waving frantically and shouting something. I couldn't hear her and she continued screaming something at me and then started pointing towards the open water behind me. I honestly froze. I thought there was a shark behind me and from watching ‘Jaws’ numerous times, knew that splashing was bad. So I was trying to tread water without actually moving... trés difficile! I was only just keeping my head above water but I daren't turn around. I then realised my Mother was smiling whilst screaming and not actually screaming in abject terror. I slowly turned around, praying all the while to God, and saw..... a penguin. Not a killer shark but a small sweet penguin, swimming in tiny circles around and around, having a lovely time. I was so relived I think I peed myself... that, or I swam through a bizarre warm current. I searched for the American shark story a few days later on the internet. The sightings are quite terrifying. Dozens of beaches have been closed, not only because of the actual danger of being eaten by a shark but also, and this is a bit gruesome.... of coming into contact with dismembered seals! Yuck! They are asking the public to stand 300 feet back from the shoreline so as not to walk into a seal massacre! Yuck! One spokesman added: “If you are going out in the water (as if), be aware of seals while swimming. If the seals scatter from an area then it is likely that a shark is present”. No... really?? Then I remembered an article I was was reading last year about all the basking sharks in Cornwall. Now they aren't killers because they are plankton eaters not human eaters but they are huge!!! Again, other than having an accident in the downstairs department... what would you do if you saw one?
And then, in yesterdays morning newspaper I read what I most feared... ‘Killer sharks found in English waters’. These are blue sharks, seen in the last few weeks off the north coast of Cornwall. This is not that unusual I think, they have been spotted before, far out in deep water. In fact, crazies pay loads of money to go and dive with them but then I read these new beauties were seen in shallow waters! Nooo! Blue sharks are one of the most vicious breeds, smaller than great whites but they will still chew your limbs off in seconds. I haven't got a photo of the actual ones seen but this scary little bugger is bad enough!
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