Soooo... How do you fake those aerial shots then? Sorry. You lose.

I'm guessing your reading comprehension is a bit lacking, marlen101917. Taken from the article:

Orleans Harbormaster Dawson Farber said he and his team went out in a boat to confirm the sighting – he noted the shark was an estimated 12 to 14 feet long -- and they had all bathers get out of the water. The beach was also closed.

Considering he'd be losing his job if he was lying, I'd be inclined to take his word on it. Well that, and the hundreds of other people who SAW the shark.

Anyway, the picture above is pure gold. Hilarious.

I think we can all agree this incident creates a high pucker factor for the kayaker. Whites are very curious and the more we understand them the more we realize they are very intelligent. This is probably more curiosity than predation and possibly a bit of territorialism.

This has been going on in South Africa for years, just google it.

I am going to assume the first and LAST time kayaker!!!

Marlen's glass is always half-empty.

@Gtouch,

The kayaker should consider himself lucky that it was not a lawyer. That would have sent chills up and down his spine at least.

Good one contempt! If I were in shark infested waters I would be in something alot larger than a kayak. He might as well have one of those floating ducky things you blow up and put around your waist.....No thanks!

unfiltered Kayaker response: "i said FU&^%$#K and paddled like a Mutha FU&^%$#er"

Mushy tooshy.

marlen, You are clearly a troll. Go away...

marlen, you are a dip___. The really sad part is how many posts on these articles are from people like you.

Get a life!!

Ok, sure, whatever marlen. (rolling eyes)

Boy this guy is lucky. This could've ended very differently. Problem is, my understanding is there have been some warnings in place and from what I know this is a regular occurrence; seals come to the area, sharks follow. So unless this guy isn't familiar with the area, guessing not, then can't feel to sorry for him if something would've happened. However, I think I'd take the kayak over the knee-board that the other guy was on, in a black wet suit no less. Might as well get a bucket of chum and jump in, geez.

Main thing though is no one got hurt and the authorities closed the beach. Hopefully no one will get any funny ideas and try to catch and kill the shark(s). This is their turf and we are the intruders. They are just being sharks and that means we may not be able to go to the beach for awhile, tough stuff. Only thing I could see being done is put up some areas with the buoys and shark nets to enclose an area, I guess.

Otherwise this photo is awesome!

It is time

Um, no, that's a handle not a rope. Ever use a sea kayak? Marlen, your ignorance is showing.

Sharks come in to waters for one of two reason really.....food or family. Clearly they are following some food source or seeking mates. But go ahead and kayak and swim with them, if you like, there are worse ways to go.

@marlen seems to be referring to the kayak's wake. Which the shark fin has as well. There is nothing about that picture that would imply the 'yak is towing anything.

We are gonna need a bigger Kayak !

I'm wondering what the shark's response would have been if the kayaker had turned and paddled towards the shark. Most predators are quite accustomed to their prey taking flight and pursuing their prey but many don't know what to think when their target turns and comes right at them.

I'm sure we've all heard various stories about shark attacks being repelled by people slugging a shark etc.

Any actual shark experts care to offer their thoughts??

My wife and i spent every summer in Orleans Mass for 20 years. I remember well when the seals started to colonize Monomoy island,having spent a lot of time in the pacific where seals and great whites are synonymous with each other my first reaction was the Great white wouldn't be far behind. Well...the academic citizens of Chatam laughed at the notion. So.... who's laughing now.LOL. I say good for the sharks! Come to reclaim some habitat instead of being forced from it for once!

All he did was turn and paddle? He missed a crucial step...

Turn, paddle, and @!$%# your pants.

Whites are very curious and the more we understand them the more we realize they are very intelligent.

I've had quite the opposite experience with whites myself, the majority of us are complete morons as history and some of the the more current news stories would attest. Just read the article about the two fights that broke out at the little league game in Georgia or the couple that was arrested for dancing on a subway platform. Curious, yes, intelligent? not so much!

And yes, i know Kevin was referring to Great WHITE Sharks, i'm just being cheeky! hehe!

Notice how clear and shallow that water is? A favorite pass time up there is to wade around those same flats on low water to dig clams and let the children splash around in the tide pools. A lot of people like to wade along the inland channels and fish and a lot of them wear dark wet suits and chest high waders while they are up to their arm pits in the cold water...it's an extremely effective way to fish no doubt...but i have a feeling a good many people will be re-thinking that one! LoL. And..i imagine that clam sales at the local seafood shops are going to take a tremendous up turn.LOL.

*looks at the picture* Now THAT'S what I call an "OH SH!T!!" moment!

Study the photo and notice the rope tied to the back portion of the Kayak. It clearly shows the guy pulling/guiding the swimmer with the fin attached to his back. I'm sure there are sharks in the area but this photo is clearly a fake.

You mean the Kayak's wake?

When Marlen was in his high school marching band his mother would stand up in the stands and yell out, "Look everyone, my boy is the only one in step!"

I am told if you hit a shark on the nose they will ward off...I hope I never have a chance to test that theory

"There were people running toward it."

Idiots.

I think it's worse than that. Marlen is like the child from the "sixth sense".

When his shrinks asks him what has him so spooked lately...Marlen looks to him with wide eyed alarm and says in a low and quavering voice...a tremulous whisper, "i,i,i see conspiracy theories"!

Being followed by a predator which wants to, and is capable of eating you alive, must be the most disquieting experience known to man .... except for the woman in his life crying, of course.

:-(

@Berenerd

"I am told if you hit a shark on the nose they will ward off...I hope I never have a chance to test that theory"

Yes, it's called the "arm stump theory." It's heavily promoted by prosthetic hand manufacturers around the world.

Some even got into the water at the beach later in the day.

...and those people were also white. The Black people were seen running at full speed away from the beach earlier that day with indiscriminate shouts of "oh hell no!".

Lmao

Marlen, the fin wake is clearly faster than the boat wake.

LOL Spike!!

Emanuel - I guess that's supposed to be OK for you to say that since you are black. God forbid a white person would say something like that.

Emanuel. LOL. That's just great stuff!

HA! Thanks for the chuckle, Emanuel. Sounds like a pretty sensible survival technique to me. Contrary to the old adage, sometimes "Getting the hell off the beach is the better part of valor."

If I said it once I said it a million times...

I don't go in the woods without my gun and I don't go in the ocean without a nuclear sub!

man i wonder how much the water woulda turned blue if that was a swimming pool.

"...it had a fin sticking out,"

...as opposed to the Japanese Soup Shark.

That guy looks like he could of wrestled the shark if he had to...

First, LMAO Spike. Spot on man.

Second, how many "provoked" shark attacks were there last year and could we please have some stories about the kind of people who pick a fight with a shark?

Third, more seriously, I know enough about sharks to not provoke one, but it's my understanding they get confused by, or dislike, certain electromagnetic fields. What would be the effect of a small battery operated field emanating from the kayak, or for that matter, from a surfboard, or swimmer, or whatever? I've read that magnets have some success at detering sharks. Seems to me that if I was going to paddle in the ocean that an additional pound or so of gear wouldn't be a problem if it kep a shark from biting, or even following, my kayak. Unless, of course, I was out there to provoke him.

anyone notice the Brown Trout that was in between the kayker and the shark?

Emanuel that was some funny S@*^t

I had a 12-14 foot brown shark swim right in front of me at LBI in NJ. I saw it through a wave as it was cresting, going sideways. They were hunting a massive pack of stingrays that came up the coast. It looked like a black car moving underwater.

Ice water ran through my veins man, like a switch. I then swam in and told the lifeguard and he told me I saw "a clump of seaweed". Two hours later Im back at the house and watching a live news chopper feed of a pack of brown sharks right off the beach.

spike-322306 When Marlen was in his high school marching band his mother would stand up in the stands and yell out, "Look everyone, my boy is the only one in step!"

Spike, Don't you mean "before Marlen dropped out of high school............"

The unusual higher water temperatures in combination with the BP spill have driven sharks out of Gulf waters around Florida and up the Atlantic to find new hunting grounds. And now that sharks know the seals are there they will continue going to the area.

marlen.....the only rope I see is the one you are apparently trying to put around your neck.........just keep talking and you will succedd.

The Kayak is currently being cleaned and disinfected...

Emanuel, that was awesome.

Eoin I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if the shark tasted it and thought "yum, snickers with peanut butter".

Gary, Great Whites are not to common out here in the gulf. And I went fishing Saturday and we caught numerous sharks about 20miles out from LA.

Where is the shark repellant Bat Spray when you need it?

Many years ago (I don't remember the source but I am thinking it may have been Popular Science magazine) I read an article about research being done by the US Navy to find better, more effective shark repellents than currently in use by the Navy. I remember that the article noted that the Navy had concluded at that time that one of the most effective means of repelling sharks was "simply introducing confusing odors into the water."

My reaction then and now : "OK, I'm in the water, and I see a shark nearby, ....there's gonna be PLENTY of confusing odors in the water. No problem there!" ;-)

Marlen,

It has been my experience that when you pull something with a 'rope', 'chain', 'strap', etc., etc., it pulls taught, or tight... In this case it would be the same and you would be able to see it out of the water, clearly you are not thinking 'clearly' and or you need to get and put on your 'glasses'.

Marlen, Go to your room, the one with soft walls.

Everyone else two thumbs up. Emanuel your comment won the day with Robert from Oregon coming in a close second! ROFLMAO

haha you mean JAWS...

All the Jaws references make me laugh :)... when my daughter was 4 she was sleeping with me and watched the midnight movie (JAWS) <I was asleep with the TV on>... I woke up just before quint got eaten..So I made her close her eyes and we watched the end... Shark blows up and she starts crying and screaming "he was my friend"... so I said sweetie he ate all those people... her response "they were in his water" even a 4 yr old knows!!!! She also mentioned if he woulda ate the fat lady instead of the dog he wouldn't of been hungry (opppss)... to this day it is her favorite movie (she's 22) Can't wait for August when it's on blu ray!

I was going to make fun of Marlen but you people beat me too it.

99 people who actually understand the situation that happened .... 1 who is completely oblivious to it. I actually figured at least 4 or 5 would try to be making the idiotic "fake" observations, but I guess marlo-what's-his-name is the only one truly bewildered by this one.

Two suggestions ....

1. Actually READ the article BEFORE commenting.

2. If you actually DID read it .... get someone else with better reading comprehension skills to read it to you. Yours SUCKS!

GaryColumbus...though i have no doubt the Bp spill had serious and still largely unidentified impacts on marine life in the gulf...and...even though i completely agree with your opinions on higher water tempratures having caused many predominantly tropical fish to begin moving northward to traditionally temperate waters(having regularly seen the evidence of this first hand in the last five or six years). This situation however has little to nothing to do with either occurance. White sharks are cold water fish,they far prefer water temps below the 70 degree mark and even though they do travel along the east coast just above and below the equator in migration they rarely work inland to hunt in hot water,but rather remain in the deeper colder currents until they get to where they are going. I'm not saying that they don't sometimes end up in hot inland waters on occasion,but its not their natural preferance and they won't hang around for long. The waters around Cape cod and the general vicinity are nearly ideal for white sharks since the water temps are on average in the 60 degree range(much like the white sharks prefered habitat in the Pacific along those same latitudes and places like cape "good hope" off of south Africa) even in the heat of summer and sometimes...depending on offshore current variances...they are cooler than that.

Once the gulf stream reaches those latitudes it begins a slow diffusion as it backs up against the tail of the Grandbanks and often what you find up that way instead of one solid current line, are fingers of independant water broken off from it and quite often cold water infussions(deep cold upwellings and colder offshore wind driven water) mixed with it or actually creating barriers against it. Cold oceanic water is far more nutrient rich than warm, and because of this far more lively on a whole. The seals are there because of the incredible ammount and diversity of food and where ever "Mister seal" shows up "Mister white shark" isn't far behind. If anything drastically rising water tempratures would end up pushing both seal and shark into regions of the artic in time. Any way...i'm personally glad to see them showing in some numbers on the east coast,glad to see the seals,glad to see any ressurgance in life marine or otherwise that is contrary to the consistent doom and gloom enviromental outlook that has become so popular any more. It's a grand testament to the fact that the natural order of things has it's own say about it's future and if allowed to do so it's more than capable of taking care of itself.

I LUV it Emanuel! Thank you for today's laugh. True too. Blacks tend to be well aware of the difference between bravery & stupidity. Whites .... not so much sometimes.

Good job Hunt. I was going to enlighten the BP-Guy about the fact that Whites have NEVER been overly common in the warm Gulf, but you did it better than I could have.

'Lyndanne' wote:

" ....Shark blows up and she starts crying and screaming "he was my friend"... so I said sweetie he ate all those people... her response "they were in his water" even a 4 yr old knows!!!!"

Yes, a 4 yr old does indeed know. "Out of the mouths of babes."Great story, 'Lyndanne' (and a priceless memory). Thanks for the smile.

I think I pretty much agree with your daughter's perspective; especially when I see the surfers off Oregon's beaches, laying on their dark colored boards wearing dark colored full wet-suits with their hands and feet dangling in the water, ... and effectively making their silhouette from below closely resemble a sea lion or seal on the surface.

One can hardly blame the sharks for just seeing "lunch." Good thing that when they do strike they usually end up mostly with a mouthful of surfboard. It seems to discourage them a bit (at least in the cases on the Oregon coast the past few years) .... from coming back for seconds!

Lyndanne!! Best comment/story EVER!!! Made my day so I'm getting off-line on a high note right now!

"They were in his water."

real shark false shark? real shark! Yes you can buy plastic fins no they don't come all natural torn behind the dorsel plane. To the people thinking the kayaker was a bit insane for using a small launch kayak in shark infested waters didn't read where. The Cape Cod region of Mass. is not teaming with large predatious sharks such as whites and tigers and though you can find mako they are in deeper colder waters. It is rare for a single white shark to be documented off the mass coast by beach goers let alone three so that leaves little room for commen infested ideas, and I know because I live here and swim in those waters often. We have many nurse sharks and other bottem dwelling sharks and rays but not the larger sharks. The guy is lucky his aggressive paddling didn't actually provoke an attack, staying smooth and even in the water would have been better had the shark actually been looking at the kayak as food. Yes we have seals in this region but I imagine it also has much to do with the far warmer (and absent winter climates) that lured this large fish into northern coastal waters. I highly doubt the shark saw the kayak as prey or it would have bumped, nudhed or taken a feeler bite. Plus. white sharks Rarely ever attack on the surface, but rather from below.

and those people were also white. The Black people were seen running at full speed away from the beach earlier that day with indiscriminate shouts of "oh hell no!".

The problem is, Emmanuel, as a black man who's also a trained fisheries biologist I would've been one of those getting closer to see the shark. Sorry but the race card won't work here...

hahaha Emmanuel. That reminds of I think it was Richard Pryor years ago did a skit about the Amityville Horror. The white guy comes in the door and hears "Get OUT" and stays. A black guy coming in the door hearing "Get OUT" would be like, "It's been nice folks" and bolts.

This guy was just lucky.

Sarah-3043284

All he did was turn and paddle? He missed a crucial step...

Turn, paddle, and @!$%# your pants.

lmao I was fixin to say the same thing!

@Eoin-899252

" ....anyone notice the Brown Trout that was in between the kayaker and the shark?"

HA!!! Eoin, I have to admit I didn't get your joke the first time I read it (not streetwise to the lingo, I guess). Finally looked up "brown trout" in the on-line "Urban Dictionary" and then laughed until I had tears in my eyes. The mental image is the best part!

My fly fishing will never be the same experience for me again; thanks a whole lot!!! (kidding)

:-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN2mNBASYQ4&feature=related

I have lived in Florida for almost 40 years and in my younger days spent countless hours in the water. When I was about 35 I worked, and became friends, with a guy who loved to fish for shark and would fish right off the shore.

I asked him one day if he went swimming in the ocean. I expected an answer like "you know people are too nervous when going in the ocean and the chances of a shark attack/etc. are overblown". But that was not the answer I got. He said "I don't even go in the water up to my knees!!". He went on to say he has caught 9 foot sharks right off the shore and if anybody were to take a helicopter ride of the coast of ANY beach they would be amazed at the number of sharks just swimming around for their next dinner.

I have a whole different perspective now. I have not gone in the water since my friend "enlightened" me. I'll still go to the beach and enjoy the day but go in the water up to my ankles to just rinse them off. Swimming? I know leave that to swimming pools!!

I agree. Spooky stuff in them thar waters.

I actually have stopped because of the bacteria.......That's North Carolina anyway.

What ProBusiness says is technically correct. I used to be stationed at Tyndall AFB, which is right next to Panama City, FL, and airplanes in the approach to landing could always see numerous sharks, mostly around 3-6 feet long, swimming among the people in the surf. The people were mostly unaware of the sharks presence. However, shark attacks were very rare. Most of the sharks in the Gulf Coast are Blacktips, which are not aggressive to humans. They will bite in self defense, but that's about it.

The Great White following that kayak--that's a different matter!! The look of concern on that kayaker's face is priceless. Great photo!

the cool thing is i live in santa cruz it makes me mad that whenever theres a news crew in town im never around whatever its my wiered home town im guessing you were with the rangers 375th division is it?

Hey War Ranger, act like a grunt and keep your arrogant mouth shut and do your job. That's what we do: follow the orders the brass gives and make it happen. Dig?

Like Alan said, most sharks around the coastal areas are not aggressive. Tigers and a few other will come close, but it is a rarity. Whites generally avoid attacking humans, it just when they resemble their prey do they do that.

I used to go on family vacations when I was a teenager and younger and loved to snorkel out to the sand bars on the emerald coast and watch all the sand and black tips swimming around. Very docile, and very timid.

Ah, awhile back was swimming past the waves in Florida, water about ten feet deep. Swam underwater, slowly turned around and there, just hanging and watching me was a barracuda, a very large barracuda. Sharks aren't all there is out there and yes, I do swim in the water sans shiny objects, jerky motions or thrashing about. The odds aren't too great for being attacked, they happen of course, but far more dangerous to be driving on the freeway.

You're far more likely to be injured or killed in a car accident than have a shark incident in the ocean. Do you drive every day, ProBusiness? Driving's especially hazardous here in Florida where everyone drives according to the rules of their country of origin.

An average of ten people are injured or killed in shark incidents around the world each year. More folks die from falling coconuts or bee stings (50 average each cause). I'll keep swimming, thanks. Unfortunately, I have to drive to get to the beach. Darn the bad luck.

ProBusiness, I recall seeing something like that on Shark Week. A news helicopter was flying over a beach in Florida (I think it was) and there were numerous sharks swimming precariously close to the shore. It was scary to see and scarier too since a biologist that was on pointed out that this occured daily.

ProBusiness: my nephew attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. He said that when he was flying over the beach there, he could see sharks everywhere close to the beach. I walk in the ocean with the the water just covering my feet.

True. All sorts of monsters in the water. But admittedly, that kayaker had YUMMY-looking arms and I probably would have started swimming after him too! (wink)

Peridot-1693859 said, "An average of ten people are injured or killed in shark incidents around the world each year."

Not too good at reading are you?

READ the article you are commenting on! That's a VERY important step to keep yourself from looking like an idiot. A 2-minute Google search works too.

Either of those quick steps would have revealed that your "ten" is approx. 70-90 attacks too low.

Maybe next time .... if you READ IT next time.

100 attacks worldwide vs. how many traffic fatalities?

I live in Florida too. I've seen sharks come all the way up on the beach after bait fish. I still go in but not without a mask and snorkel so I can at least see what's around me.

Afraid to swim because of sharks .. afraid to breath because of oxygen. If swimming were a means to destroy the human race by predation we would not have evolved this far and to this numerical extent. In earlier evolution sea based food provided most of our meganutrition and I thank those monkeymen for not having the weak spines of modern men. Sharks are like any other creature and you are propbably going to get killed by a human if any animal these days, so stay home because stray bullets are actually likely anywhere, of course, if you enter the water terrified you act as prey and deserve to be eaten.

@ fritzNH,

WTF is your major malfunction!? What did I say that was arrogant? I stated that there are thing in the water that you can't see, even at the beach. Things that can and do kill people and that a lot of people would not go in if they knew or saw it there. What is so arrogant about that?

As for the blindly following orders of top brass, you go ahead and be a little Rodger Robot, not me. I was paid to think on my feet and come up with solutions. Not just holler, " YES SIR, NO SIR, THREE BAGS FULL SIR! "." Hoorah! Rangers lead the way sir! That's stupid, but I'll do it anyway sir! " That may sound like you, but not me.

Vacation on the Great Lakes ... No sharks or soiled undergarments due to shark sightings ... guaranteed!!!

Nah, he was fine. What the story didn't tell you was the guy is a lawyer. He knew the shark wouldn't attack, out of professional courtesy.

Probably true Paul - but when neanderthals like you get in trouble for doing something utterly stupid (since folks can never seem to help themselves from doing so), we'll be tickled pink to bill you by the hour when you come running through our doors like sniveling little Justin Beieber fans.

That might be true but White Sharks have been known to attack their own kind.

Dumb, you are basically saying anyone in on the upper east coast kayaking deserves a Darwin award.

That being said, the idiots who actually ran out to get a closer look(if the quote is to be believed) definitely deserve to get beotch slapped.

I dive and have come across many sharks, mostly reef ones, but of all the people on all the beaches in all the country, only 25 have been attacked by sharks. That's way less people then have won large lotteries, so really the odds are so slim, that it's not a Darwin worthy event.

Yeah, ScottW714 (or is that Mr. Quaalude?) , you've been self-medicating too long. I'm sure you were also at Woodstock, the Iraqi invasion, and were responsible for freeing multiple from the FARC in South America all the while killing a green anaconda with one hand while you used your M-16 to tale down the guerrillas as they approached your position, set on killing the intruder. By the way, were you the guy who did an open water dive to do the photo recon on the Titanic for James Cameron? I bet you were; you sound like you've done everything else.

And by the way, anyone who curses, talks about heroics, etc, usually never did it: it's a small man's (in action, bravery, and fidelity) that makes him say things like this. The Internet is a blank slate and you write your own history. Machismo is really for the weak of heart, mind, or self-awareness. You seem to win in all three categories. And whites, when hungry, will attack what's available. Their sensory system going haywire in their search for food. To keep it simple (for you) the glands in their head which really drive the shark are picking up every minutia of blood, scent, etc. in the water they can to home in on their next meal. Since they are not indigenous to the East Coast, if the animal's going home tomorrow, he'll need a big meal, so really anything is game. Anyone in a Kayak, ANYONE, tough guy like you or not, is in danger. But I digress: now we've got 2 Darwin Award contestants: the moron in the kayak and the shark expert from wherever. Somebody's gotta win and I assume it'll be quickly!

Well, Scott. Sounds like Bullwinkle, aka Mr. Know-it-all Fritz sure told you.

On the other hand. Unless this was a cartoon shark with legs, or the people were running ON the water and not the beach, like the story said, it is highly unlikely they were in danger.

The reading comprehension of many commenters is astounding. Correlation?

I missed the post by Scott but I loved the dressing down given by Fritz. Fritz it the nail right on the head.

FritzyNH,

Old boy, it sounds like you know everything about sharks. Next you'll probably be giving us their scientific name and mating rituals. I'll bet you dived with Jacques Cousteau and did the research for Peter Benchley when he wrote " Jaws ".

Sound to me like you need to reread your own post. Seems to me that you're ragging on other posters for the same thing you just wrote. Are you trying to compensate for something? Maybe you were bullied in school or you just have a small peepee. Or could it be that you're just an insecure little man whom is too afraid to say things like that in person, so you fall back on the anonymity of the internet?

Posted twice, deleted duplicate.

No, it's Obama's.

Sharks are just socialist muslims looking for a free meal, duh.

IT's screwed up attitudes like this that are responsible for so many species going extinct. I'll choose the sharks over you. We need fewer people like you.

Douglas, Pa the theory of staying in the lakes and streams would work except for one minor detail. There is shark that can and does swim in freshwater. The shark is the Bull Shark and is thought to be more dangerous than the White Shark because it is more inclined to attack a human. If you think that the inland streams are safe from sharks think again.

Doug - There is an easy way to preserve the lives of both sharks and people: don't go swimming with sharks! Frankly, I have no pity for anyone who chooses to kayak out there after multiple shark sightings have been reported on national news for over a week. And if your business model involves kayaking in ocean waters during shark season (yes, they come every year in New England, this is nothing new), then you deserve to lose business.

It's not our planet, we just live on it.

Ohh I hope they will lose the business. White Nation Humans, too stupid to realize they are not alone on the planet.....I say that based on the pictures....all white people......and the history of this Nation (which is my Nation, btw). We are the absolute stupidest folks on the planet. But that's the good news, as we are entering a time of such overlap that the stupid will tend to self-weed in higher and higher numbers. When the dust settles, I expect the balance on the planet to be much more equal, with the heart-connected people of all Nations surviving and the pathetically unnatural, or those disconnected from their hearts and Nature, will be mostly gone. Then the four Nations can finally get together and create beautiful communities in balance with Nature's other Nations. How will this happen? Not from cataclysm, simply from self-devouring practices and policies such as the GOP supports. And of course, general stupidity as displayed by the kayaker and surfer.

@ david, Douglas didn't say 'lakes and streams', he said 'pools and lakes' (which most people would define as 'not connected to the ocean in any way'). A bull shark may be able to swim inland in a stream, but getting into a completely freshwater lake is a bit trickier, no? I'm not talking a brackish lake that doesn't have a hard barrier to the ocean (e.g. a dam). I know those exist (in fact there is one not 2 miles from my house). And nobody in the area is unaware that it is very possible for a shark to be in that lake.

Bull sharks have been known to go quite a ways inland. They have been spotted as far inland as St. Louis. If you are referring to lakes cut off by any rivers or streams from the ocean then you would be right. As far as swimming pools you of course would be right but if you live in Florida you might concern yourself with alligators.

Very true David. Bull sharks have a way of surviving fresh water for months. And they will eat anything in their path

man i just saw that movie...shark night. it was actually a decent watch...all kinds of these sharks were showing up in lakes and the rivers...nobody knew why...until they found out that these bad guys were capturing the sharks and dumping them into the rivers and lakes...i can totally see terrorists doing that...hell i if i was a terrorist i'd do it.

wait, the feds aren't monitoring this, are they?

Douglas, it's their water... so people should swim at their own risk.. cudos to you for swimming in pools and lakes... just because you are afraid of sharks doesn't mean they should die? I'm afraid of quite a few people I don't think they need to die.

Douglas... The water is their domain, they belong there. We have a perpensity to kill anything that gets in our way...including killing so we can be entertained! Sharks have been around millions of years, a lot longer than humans. Leave them alone, enter the water at your own risk.

I totally agree, that black wetsuit is -not- a good idea...in water paddling he would look like seal fricassee. Great body on him though lol.

Purina Shark Chow..... ROFLMAO

Good for you. Nice to see someone else in a Yak wrote a non panic attack response.

Thanks, dude... I paddleboard as well and I definitely feel for the guy in the foreground - I bet he was scared stupid. One nudge on that board by a shark and you are in the water - kayak can take a lot more abuse before it puts you in the drink... I love to see the wildlife when kayaking - I live in the South so at times I get to see gators up close - it is always a bit of an azz-clencher but definitely something not to miss.

http://www.buylifetime.com/products/blt/pid-90117.aspx#ProductReviews

the one i am looking to buy . Yes i know it is a lot like a barge . Too much water displacement maybe.

I like the fact i can bring my grandson and it should fit in my nissan hardbody Pickup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DIq_MVHl4yY

Retired - that may be a decent sea kayak but check the reviews carefully. Stability on the water is paramount, but being able to go in a straight line helps tremendously. If you are going to be paddling a lot, make sure the kayak can actually move nicely, not just float. Installing a rudder kit helps tremendously - it is more money but worth every penny IMO. Make sure your kayak has this option available, but there are also universal kits. 2 person sea kayaks are often really cumbersome to launch from the beach. When getting through the surf it is best to just have the stronger, better paddler paddle - otherwise it is too hard to coordinate getting through the breakers. Have fun, dude!

Thanks for the tips max. I have operated RHIs and pontoon boats before but nothing without a motor.

I have been having fun with the grandson and boogie board and thought i would just putt around the lakes and maybe the beach with the above nothing to serious.

I have been researching a bit and i know i want a sit on top vs a sit in type.

I own a aluminum Jon boat but got tired of it so the wife turned into a pond complete with water hyacinths and a little fountain .

I like the ideal that the above is easy to get back on board if you want to go for a dip. As for the cumbersome part i,ll make a kayak cart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IGSXOoHBpIk

the above is one mans ideal. I like to try to make something of my own maybe using something besides a milk crate.

Sit on top kayaks are definitely better in your case - they are all self draining, so if you get swamped by a breaker the water just drains away - that makes them very wet of course, which is no problem in the summer and warm water but in the colder season/area you might want to wear a short wetsuit. Seat quality is important or it can lead to sore azz and/or back pain. Good paddle is very important - light and strong, with rings that keep the water from dripping on you. Get some good paddling gloves as well.

As to swimming out there in the sea, further away from land - watch out, because that is shark country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcuYjDR2tSg&feature=player_embedded

shark bait

No, if anything it was Dick Cheney's fault. Dubya' was merely a bobble-head for the Oval Office.

WHO KNOWS , '' TIME WILL TELL ''

This is like the millionth "George Bus's fault" joke. Can't believe people are still using this lame ass joke. It wasn't funny the first time.

Fly_Moe it wouldn't be funny if it weren't for the fack that George Bush is often blamed for the economic woes when someone is defending President Obama. But I do agree with you here that this joke has been overdone quite a bit.

Unfortunately David, to many it's not a joke. They truly believe that all Obozo's failures are Bush's fault. But what can you do?

Chris I can't agree with you more. Anyone sitting in something that looks like a floating seal where there are Great Whites who eat seals has got to be either stupid or have a death wish. White Sharks attack from underneath so this kayaker probably was not in any great risk of being dinner. It could have been possible for the shark to have bitten the kayak to see what it was in front of him or her. That I am sure would not have made his day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tp8WjkCO-V4

Father and son Kayak Shark Fishing - Galveston 2011

Funny, that's what I laughed at too. My first instinct would be to back off not run towards it. I like having 2 legs and 2 arms.

I hope you mean poison the idiots who go out into the ocean when there's known shark presence.

It's not like it wasn't on TV all the time for the last month. Remember, the ocean is their home not ours. We don't belong there. If we did, God would have given us fins and flippers. If you don't want to risk being eaten by a shark, don't go in the water or get a bigger boat (cheesy JAWS reference there).

When we SCUBA Dive, our first thoughts going into the water are that as long as we are in the ocean, we become part of the food chain! Hasn't stopped me yet and the natural beauty below the waves is awesome. Seen quite a few sharks, but no Great Whites. Off the coast of Port Antonio, Jamaica, I was down about 20 feet on a safety stop coming up and ran into a pod of dolphins that swam around us and frolicked until we surfaced!

Whenever we did come across any sharks, hammerhead, bull etc, we just gathered into a group of divers and made us look bigger than the shark - size did matter, especially on night dives with underwater flashlights held by 3 or 4 divers linked arm in arm.

@omgwit, It is never cheesy to refer to lines from "JAWS". A classic movie that at the time scared the s#%t out of people around the world. And the guy in the kayak definitely "needs a bigger boat"!

You Must Be A Nut To Say Such A Thing, Or Maybe You're A Victim Of Those" Feed The Sharks Charters" Down In The Bahamas?

So Long As We Overfish The Earth's Oceans Or Continue To Have BP Oil Rig Or Supertanker Spills, Sharks And Other Marine Life Will Be Forced To Search Closer To The Beaches, For Food.

Charlie Tuna, Cpt Nemo, Silver Springs, Florida

Gee is that what you would do? Really?

Kayaks never have 2 oars in the water at the same time. We who kayak use a single long double ended paddle, Thom Cahir. Sorry, but your theory is invalidated.

OTOH, predators like to explore new things in their environment. Perhaps this animal was curious about something it had never before observed. Great White Sharks have followed kayaks in other parts of the world.

Ummm... you know that sharks are very curious, right? Like, for example, floating dead fish and mammals? Great whites "explore" new things with their mouths, even if curious, rather than truly hungry. The faster the kayaker got to shore, the less time he gave to the shark to make a decision to "explore" the idea further. Many people have been killed by great whites, even from a curiosity bite... and let's face it, if a shark that big really wanted a person dead, there'd be nothing left to find. Except maybe scraps of clothing and kayak. Oh, and maybe the oar, if the shark didn't use it for a toothpick.

In addition great whites, like many predatory animals, are ambush hunters, rather than open stalkers. If the shark was dead-set on attacking, it would have initiated the attack from below. So the kayaker was probably, relatively, safe... and that doubt is an even better reason to get to shore, a.s.a.p.

when does school reopen ??????

fish "schools" are open year round

Actually it is an olympic sport.

Franks. Thanks I wasn't sure and didn't have time to look.

I'm a big believer in home field advantage. Can there be any more of a home field advantage than the water for the home team Sharks?

Amen to that! Ever see what a Great White does to a 200 pound seal? There are videos showing them flipping a large seal 10-15 feet in the air. Imagine what they can do with a measly man! Chump...GONE!!!