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Darwin Awards
2010 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Ignore great whites at own peril

2010 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20100113043352270C856589

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=iol1263366105281S621

A Man was eaten alive yesterday 12/01/2010 at Fish Hoek in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. At first it seems like just another unfortunate “one in a million” victim until certain facts are highlighted.

The Cape is well known by shark enthusiasts for the huge great white sharks that prowl these waters. Shark tourism is well known, but there is speculation that great whites are starting to associate humans with food, due to the chumming to attract these creatures.

This has led to widespread action after various attacks, fatal or not. A team of shark spotters now hold vigil at swimming beaches, sounding alarm when sharks are spotted. They also inform the public on shark activity, and the most common warning system is by means of colored flags. A flag with a shark on it is used after sharks have been spotted, and kept aloft long after the sharks have left to keep people aware.

Unfortunately visibility does not always allow shark spotter to see sharks in time, but they have a black flag during these events, informing people that the warning system is inactive. Sharks are also more likely to attack during low visibility conditions, because they have to take their primary prey (the cape seal) by unawares to insure a kill, as the seal are incredibly agile in the water, capable of out maneuvering the much larger great whites.

This did not stop our friend from having his encounter with a huge great white. It seems against the advice of shark spotters, people being people, decided to chance it in the poor visibility. This in it self is stupid, but our friend decided to swim out in front of the crowd, and witness reports suggest that he has been at the front of the crowd on his own by as much as 15 meters. The depth of the water was estimated to be 2 meters, but the real kicker was that in the end, this man was swimming 100 meters from the shore line, on his own, during a warning not to swim.

“The National Sea Rescue Institute's helicopter duty commander Ian Klopper said a number of witnesses had reported seeing the man about 100 meters from the shore when the shark attacked.”

A witness on the beach said this

"My husband had just pointed out how far the man was swimming from the other people. He asked what would happen if he was attacked by a shark, because he was so far away. The words were hardly cold when the shark attacked that man. The shark attacked twice; it turned and attacked the man again; I just saw the blood on the water."

Reports suggest that the man had no children, as it was only him and his wife at the beach, making it unlikely that he had any.

It seems that people still ignore the warnings by a well organised system, forcing authorities to close beaches.

man vs shark in the water is no contest...

Submitted on 01/13/2010

Submitted by: fishboy
Reference: 13/01/2010

Copyright © 2010 DarwinAwards.com

>> Moderator Scores <<

Bruce said:
Definitely Toss: Lacks Excellence
Neither of the articles you provided mention your claim that sharks are starting to associate humans with food, and they also don't indicate that shark attacks have been overly prevalent in that area. Given that it seems people regularly swim despite shark warnings and attacks are still fairly rare I'm inclined to chalk this up as an unfortunate accident and not a case of Darwin-grade stupidity. Thanks just the same.


James said:
Definitely Toss: Lacks Excellence
As Bruce said!


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