How to Avoid a Shark Attack

Some years ago I went on a Caribbean vacation and signed up for a "swim with the sharks" excursion. I don't think I would do so now! The excursion was pretty "loose" safety-wise and our tour guides used bait (red meat in cages) on the seafloor to distract the sharks long enough for us to snorkel above them.

After about fifteen minutes, the tour guides felt the sharks were growing tired of the bait (and becoming increasingly interested in us!), so they called us back onto the boat.

Believe it or not, so-called shark tourism is on the rise, particularly in South Africa. In South Africa they offer great white shark "encounters" (my excursion, thankfully, only dealt with smaller reef sharks).

One thing is clear, despite your opinion on sharks: you don't want to be caught in the water alone with one if it is not a controlled tour environment. Here's how to lessen your odds of encountering a shark while at the beach, snorkeling, or diving off the coast:

Don't go where the sharks go: This is obvious, but it has been said before that if you don't want to get attacked by a shark, don't swim with sharks. A fair point! Never swim in areas where sharks have been sighted, or where large schools of fish are known to swim. Schools of fish can attract sharks.

Never swim with an open wound of any kind: If you have a cut, scrape, or other open wound forget about swimming in open waters until the wound fully heals and closes up. Sharks have an acute sense of "smell" in the water and can detect a single drop of blood from miles away. (This is why sharks hone in on sick or injured fish so quickly.)

Don't swim erratically: Keep your strokes swift and natural; any erratic swimming or excessive splashing could attract the attention of sharks -- your motions could be misconstrued as the activity of a sick or dying animal. Sea lions, in particular, fall prey to sharks when they exhibit "sickness" motions. Like many other predators, sharks prefer to have an easy meal, and they look for an animal that is injured or disoriented as opposed to going up against a healthy and more difficult meal.

If a shark attacks you, cause damage to its eyes: In the extremely rare event that a shark bites you, punch and kick the eyes repeatedly. If you have a hard object (such as a waterproof digital camera, spear or paddle) use this to cause damage to the shark's eyes and nose area. This will disorient it and hopefully deter it from continuing with the attack. After you have been attacked, it is crucial that you go ashore and get out of the water immediately. Not only will you need medical attention, but the blood in the water will no doubt attract other sharks in the area.

As I have said earlier in this article, a shark attack is a rare event, but they do happen. And in many cases it appears that sharks are drifting into "our" beach waters more often -- as their food supply continues to be disturbed, sharks looks for new sources of food and new hunting grounds. If you do decide to go on a "shark tour", make sure that your tour guides are experienced, have medical equipment on-board, and have a good safety track record.