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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 10:51 pm 
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Location: Forster, NSW, Australia
:lol: :lol: :lol: from another forum...
Watched an interesting doco this morning called Shark Attack Experiment where a team of 3 females free-dive with 5 of the world's most dangerous shark species to see what type of triggers attract the sharks to target people. The sharks they were diving with were Black Tips, Great Whites, Bull Sharks, 7 Gills, and the Ragged-Tooth. :shock:

They tested things like swimming in the usual colourful beach attire, splashing while swimming, rapid movements on a surfboard, colours, making noise, wearing bling, releasing urine, etc.

Their findings were:

Avoidable shark attracting triggers:
Splashing (eg. Swimming)
Rapid Movement (eg. Surfing)
Yellow (Greatest contrast with blue water)
Noise (One of the Shark's greatest senses is hearing)
Shiny objects (eg. Bling reflects like fish scales)
Dawn/dusk

Non-avoidable shark attracting triggers:
Shark's sixth sense

Busted myths:
Beach attire
Urine scent

The show also had some other interesting info/stats:
More than 375 shark species have been identified but only 12 are considered dangerous to humans.
The three most responsible for attacks on humans are the Great White, Tiger and Bull sharks.
A recent study suggests sharks are colour blind but see contrast very well.
You have a 1 in 63 chance of dying from the flu, a 1 in 218 chance of dying from a fall, and a 1 in 3.7 million chance of being killed by a shark.
For every human killed by a shark, humans kill two million sharks.
New Smyrna Beach, Florida is the shark attack capital of the world.
In 1996, Toilets injured 43,000 Americans, Room fresheners injured 2,600 Americans, Sharks injured 13.

Their summary of their own professional experiences: No matter how long you've been working with sharks, no matter what you know about sharks, no matter what you feel about sharks, they're unpredictable. Treat them with respect.

Great little doco.

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2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 11:24 pm 
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Location: Lake Macquarie NSW AUSTRALIA
Interesting bit of info Tony. So glad I sold the yellow and got the Dune. I now feel so mush safer.

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 3:56 am 
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Location: South Florida
Like!

A couple yrs ago, a FL kayak paddler had his paddle blade grabbed by a shark and pulled from his hands. The paddle blade was yum, yum yellow. Fortunately, he had a friend nearby who retrieved his paddle, so that he did not have to hand-paddle to it.

Keith

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 7:51 am 
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Location: CLEARWATER, MN
I have been diving since the 1970's. The most popular equipment at that time was made by US Divers (Jacque Costeau's company). Everything was bright yellow.
The first time I dove in 'shark' waters, the local dive shop took one look at my equipment and mentioned 'yum yum yellow'. They made the comment that sharks seemed
to be more inquisitive around divers wearing yellow than any other color. A couple of years later, Australian friends of mine mentioned that they were
experimenting with equipment and suits made with alternating yellow and black stripes. Mimicking the colors of some Pacific sea snakes. They found that if the patterns ran longitudinally
along the suit or tank there was no noticeable change in shark response. However, if the stripes were perpendicular (transverse), sharks tended to move away.
Colored sea snakes have transverse stripes. But I never found out if the experiments really worked or not. I guess I could put black transverse duct tape on my yum yum TI
and see if it works. But I never have had any shark come up to my TI to see what it tastes like.


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 8:41 am 
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Location: Jaco, Costa Rica
TIDALWAVE wrote:
I have been diving since the 1970's. The most popular equipment at that time was made by US Divers (Jacque Costeau's company). Everything was bright yellow.
The first time I dove in 'shark' waters, the local dive shop took one look at my equipment and mentioned 'yum yum yellow'. They made the comment that sharks seemed
to be more inquisitive around divers wearing yellow than any other color. A couple of years later, Australian friends of mine mentioned that they were
experimenting with equipment and suits made with alternating yellow and black stripes. Mimicking the colors of some Pacific sea snakes. They found that if the patterns ran longitudinally
along the suit or tank there was no noticeable change in shark response. However, if the stripes were perpendicular (transverse), sharks tended to move away.
Colored sea snakes have transverse stripes. But I never found out if the experiments really worked or not. I guess I could put black transverse duct tape on my yum yum TI
and see if it works. But I never have had any shark come up to my TI to see what it tastes like.


You are far more likely to be struck by another boater that doesn't see you than a shark attack. Also you are far more likely to die on the water from other causes and having a highly visible kayak might save you. Wonder what the odds of injury or death is from a highly visible kayak to a color that is less visible? Now that would be a more relevant statistic.

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 9:13 am 
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Location: High Point, NC
Yes that would be the trade off - which is more likely to cause injury or death, a shark attacking your yellow kayak, or the coast guard not being able to spot your dune colored kayak for a week.

Maybe it's time for Hobie to build some multi-colored kayaks - blue or dune on the bottom and sides, and bright orange and yellow topside.


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 12:38 pm 
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Location: Jaco, Costa Rica
Humm, found this e-how link on color and distance most identifiable interesting.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8209029_visibl ... tance.html

and guess what color was found to be seen furthest away. Yellow.
How many kayakers have died from a shark attack or even bitten to my knowledge? 1
How many kayakers have been bitten or died from a shark attack without hanging a limb into the water? 0
Put me in the yellow camp of most desirable color for a kayak. :lol: I'm just hoping to attract a shark here in Costa Rica. Would be great to see one up close, let alone catch fishing. 8)

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Tandem Island- 2013
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 6:48 pm 
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Hey guys, please don't take this topic too seriously, I only posted it for a chance to type "yum yum yellow".

If you really want to test shark attractants, catch a few fish, get them bleeding, and tow them alongside. I bet the shark won't even notice the colour of the hull (kiddies, don't try this at hom!)

PS. Guess who doesn't hang a burley bag over the side either :D :D :D

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2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 8:29 pm 
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Location: South Florida
I have another friend, a very experienced fisherman, who put some sea trout on a stringer over the side--duh...of course, a shark grabbed it and flipped him. Probably scared the shark as much as it did him. He was not injured.

Keith

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"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 2:21 am 
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Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:17 pm
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Location: Jerrabomberra, New South Wales, Australia
tonystott wrote:
Hey guys, please don't take this topic too seriously, I only posted it for a chance to type "yum yum yellow".

If you really want to test shark attractants, catch a few fish, get them bleeding, and tow them alongside. I bet the shark won't even notice the colour of the hull (kiddies, don't try this at hom!)

PS. Guess who doesn't hang a burley bag over the side either :D :D :D


Ummmmmm yeah, kinda gathered that.

That's why I take Shark Shield on my trips. At least I get the whole fish onto the tramp.

It works too! :shock:

Over here (Australia), it's the best investment I ever made.


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 7:35 am 
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Location: Southwest Calif.
It's a good thing that they're colorblind or a red kayak would look like a pool of blood.

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