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#18
04-01-2006, 11:00 AM
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Shark attacks are an extremely rare event in Tampa. So rare, its the last concern on my mind when kiting. I have spent countless hours diving, fishing and sailing/kiting and never had a shark encounter while in the water.
The numbers are clear. Given the amount of people in the water and the rarity of attack, it has been proven that your odds of attack are less than the odds of a cocunut dropping from a tree and killing you. Quote:
The numbers of attack don't parallel population sizes/densities, either. Pinellas' population is more than twice that of Volusia. Miami Dade's is 7 times the density of Volusia County's. Yet, V.C. is at the top. Look up the densities online. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/maps/florida_map.html (its interactive, click the county) The most likely reason Volusia county's numbers are so high is because of a popular surfing locale in New Smyrna. The shark population there is very large. Guys are surfing right near an inlet where sharks feed on the fish on a regular basis. These are mainly 5 foot fish eaters biting guys toes off (or leaving nice bite marks) http://www.underwatertimes.com/stories/shark_attack.htm Timing of day has no correlation there or anywhere in Florida to actual shark attack, according to George Burgess, Ph.D. (University of Florida) Unless you want to count 2 pm as the highest occurence, but he didn't think it was statistically relevant. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks...dayattacks.htm For those of you concerned about shark attacks, focus more on the road on your drive out. A traffic accident is far more likely. After having said that, I avoid inlets with strong currents and OBVIOUS tarpon schools or pods of fish going crazy... just to lessen my odds that much more. Rick, I think that sticking with facts is always better than simply using conjecture. 
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