Video
To the video posted.
The reported said “People are in disbelief of what happened”
LMAO, sorry it is unfortunate the guy got killed, but it’s like this… Ocean=big sharks=people in ocean=shark bait. Then they have helicopters searching for the shark?? why? it’s a shark, it belongs there in the ocean. What are they going to do when they find it(if it is actually the shark that killed the guy) hmmmm there more than one shark in the ocean. They gonna arrest it?
Sharks are
a minor threat, in truth. Some of that threat can be mitigated simply by using a longer boat (as in a lot of natural situations, size is a good deterrent). Here in CA, most shark attacks on kayaks have been on boats in the 12-14 foot range.
I SCUBA, paddle, and swim in what most would consider “shark infested” waters and have never even seen a shark except while on a dive boat or while fishing (in places I’ve been, foot long tigers are routine catches). They are out there, and aware of us, but they rarely attack.
The real threats in sea kayaking are as follows (and in no order than what I think of first):
- bad judgement (attempting to do what you shouldn’t - this is knotty since this is how you learn to survive)
- waves/wind
- changes in weather (it may be nice when you get on the water, but how is it 3 hours later?)
- cold water immersion (if you prepare for immersion, nature has a nasty way of telling you that you should have opted for more expensive clothes)
- lack of awareness of your surroundings and being oblivious to signs that conditions will change
I’ve been really guilty of the last statement several times, but have not been in serious threat from this.
Once, while camping and paddling with my son on Morro Bay, I ignored early signs of a change in the weather. We were out of the boats and observing wildlife on a sandbar and because my son was getting so much out of the experience, I didn’t think conditions would deteriorate as much as they did (California summers in Morro Bay can be cool, foggy, and damp, but it seldom becomes a full storm).
It was sunny, pleasant, and mid 70’s in the morning. When the wind and clouds came, we were already headed back, but the temp was down to the mid 50’s and the leading edge of the storm could be seen approaching. By the time it hit, with 20 MPH winds, a steady confused chop, and an outgoing tide, conditions went from novice to high intermediate in minutes.
Rather than navigate the center of the bay (which is shallow, but exposed, and had already developed an irregular and steep chop), we paddled toward the south of the bay. We didn’t traverse the bay until it was much narrower. Rather than follow the exposed coastline, I opted to cut the return trip short and hauled out to call for a ride back to the car. Dicey, but James did really well though he was tired and a bit annoyed at the extra mileage.
We could have paddled the extra couple of miles back to the car, but James wasn’t very happy with the conditions (I can’t blame him - it was well beyond his skills). In my judgement, it was better to haul ourselves out, grab a bit of food, and wait for the ride rather than risk creating a more challenging and unpleasant trip for my son.
Since we were both well prepared for the weather and immersion, the area is fairly well populated, I didn’t really feel the threat wasn’t all that great, to me, but it was probably much more uncomfortable and frightening to James.
Had we been on the open ocean, however, it would have been a much different story. I doubt it would have ended quite so pleasantly (the Pacific coast there is often highly challenging - usually high intermediate to expert).
Rick
if you live near the ocean
you know the risks and put them in perspective. You are the only one who assumes that sea kayakers are ignorant of the environment they paddle in.
You’ve been watching too many reruns of Jaws.
Here is a video of kayaking with a friend
No one died
https://bangordailynews.com/2012/07/09/outdoors/theres-no-question-great-white-sharks-are-lurking-in-maine-waters-experts-say/
Black river claimed
Another was claimed yesterday by the Black River in my town. I can’t post links, but two canoeist were flipped over in the river, the woman was saved, but the man is still being searched for right this minute. They weren’t wearing life jackets. I was riding my bike near the bridge when I saw all the first responders and divers. I asked around and that is what I found out.
To see the river and how fast it was flowing last night, makes you wonder why in H they would go out there in a canoe without life jackets.
The Black River is tricky…it has claimed many lives.
it’s also the place I’m going to kayak, when it slows down.
Low head dams are always a risk
dont know if this one caused the accident. The hydraulics can keep bodies pinned down.
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20140422/NEWS07/704219866
yes you can post a link.
Crazy upstate New York people
If you grow up or live in the Adirondacks, bears are a way of life. You know how to avoid them and what to do if you meet them. You don’t mind sleeping in a tent knowing they’re out there somewhere.
Fear is about what’s familiar. As soon as coywolves moved into the Northeastern woods I was spooked out of my mind. They terrify me way more than bears. Now we’re hearing about mountain lions. But people in the Western U.S. live among grizzlies and mountain lions and yet they hike and backpack.
You learn to adapt. You measure your risks. You learn about the things you fear. Your chances of a shark encounter on the northeastern Atlantic coast are extremely slim . . . except for Cape Cod . . .
eric:
Some of the scariest sh*t we experience in sea kayaks are not the obvious things, like a shark shadow under the bow.
you’re joking right?
Good joke! (I hope)
more worried about getting killed on the drive to any paddle route than a shark. You’re more apt to choke to death eating your beef jerky than getting chomped on.
even when you learn to
kayak as I did in the great whites home
http://www.wanderlusting.info/cultures/montauk-point-myth-and-fact-monsters-and-great-whites#
I bet you even ran into Chief Brody
(that was for our Jaws-fearing friend)
Dude, it’s the LAND PEOPLE who are
– Last Updated: Apr-22-14 2:14 PM EST –
crazy--Just listen to the news. People living the salt life are amongst the coolest!
I'm in Upstate NY as well--And although I live in the mountains now, I grew up on the ocean and will drive there every chance I get to be closer to sea critters. In fact, any place fluid if it gets me the hell away from potentially deadly hominids.
Sincerely yours,
An Aquatic Ape from Hell
Whale?
I’ve paddled with 7 or 8 different species of whales. The Blue Whales and Fin Whales strike awe in you, not fear. And the Orcas are a lot of fun to watch. Just don’t paddle toward them, and you’re fine. And that is just to avoid a collision, not an attack.
Sharks are there, but the likelihood of an attack is tiny. I got more fear out of whitewater kayaking.
I pick them up all the time.
Just pinch the top of their mantel, but keep away from their tentacles. If you dip your fingers in some sand first, it won’t slip out.
jack L
The American Salt water Croc wants
nothing to do with people. They are much more shy than gators.
On both of them, give any larger than eight feet the right of way. Make any shorter give you the right of way, unless it is a mother with babys
Jack L
Paddle boarding, really?
With a Great White shark… IMO this guy is only trying to prove how big his cahonies are.
http://youtu.be/lycgfl2kQyY
I’m not scared of sharks, but the thought they are swimming around me makes me have an eerie, uncomfortable feeling, being I am just a few inches off the water. I know that the chances are slim of getting bit and all that…heard that like one million times on news and discovery channel, lol.
Well that bloke…
is only proving the Great White is indeed under pressure to survive–From people! If one doesn’t paddle out of their way to get “up close and personal,” the odds are still overwhelmingly in one’s favor they will not end up as shark entree.
–You can pull over from paddling to take a pee off a serene inland lake, surprise a Mamma Bear with her cubs, and get mauled in an instant too ya know.
And watch out for deer ticks–Their bite can kill you(lyme disease)and the odds are still far greater than shark attack.
So take yer pick: Human food for thought or human food for animals?;-
this whole thread is
hysterically ludicrous.
Here a guy loves his favorite neighborhood river. And its eaten a person in the last week…
And he is concerned with Great White Sharks in the ocean which have no doubt eaten man but not in the last week. Last one was in Santa Barbara in 2012 …a surfer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal,_unprovoked_shark_attacks_in_the_United_States
Lowhead dams are far riskier.
Look here.
“hysterically ludicrous.
Here a guy loves his favorite neighborhood river. And its eaten a person in the last week…”
I simply asked how people kayak amongst huge sharks and whales and not feel sort of intimidated by it. At least I am honest in saying I would shake and probably pee myself if I saw a great white poke his snout up out of the water a few yards from my kayak. I’m not used to that I never been near the ocean and the biggest fish we have here is probably the Sturgeon which is pretty massive, but they hug the bottom and as friendly has a kitty. I’d probably feel at ease once I have gone out in the ocean a few times, but I don’t see that coming any time soon.
So yes, a 4,000 pound fish with teeth, swimming around 200 pounds in total, kayak and self…would be severely intimidating to me…at first. I’m not stupid either, I clearly know that other things are far far riskier than getting bit by a shark. Just merely kayaking is more of a risk…I know that. I’m not worried about a GW jumping out of the water and biting my arm off(although it could indeed happen) while in a kayak…now on a surf board? no way…never and those people have to be the craziest and I don’t understand how they can do it, knowing they are indeed shark bait out there. It is pretty amazing there aren’t more shark attacks on surfers…pretty amazing actually.
Not found yet
Also they didn’t find the other canoeist that fell into the Black River… They say with the powerful current and many eddys, that the body is most likely still around the area where he fell in. tat police, sheriffs and special force diving teams are all looking(could take weeks)
The whole town is pretty depressed about it. The two people were not wearing life vest.
These guys rode the Black a couple days
ago. And they had no problem with it–Just the locals who saw them.
Now tell us, what’s more “crazy”? What you’ll see the highly skilled guys in the video below doing, or paddling the ocean and imagining a shark attack?
http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/Feedback-Crazy-Or-What-Kayakers-Ride-The-Black-River-255706511.html