If you can smell the ocean, there’s a good chance a shark can smell you. They’ve got insanely acute senses and can smell as little as ten drops of blood in an average swimming pool. Sharks are in every ocean, and that’s their home, so if you’re going surfing, you’re the guest, and you need to respect their home.
When you are surfing around sharks, keep some things in mind to ensure your safety in the water:
- Pay attention to your surroundings.
- Don’t surf at dusk or dawn.
- Avoid shark hangouts.
- Don’t surf alone.
- Don’t be a target.
- Avoid undue splashing and thrashing.
- Use a shark deterrent.
- Get out of the water.
By following these guidelines, you are much more likely to have a shark-free experience on the water. However, there are two caveats here, each on different sides of the issue, first is unprovoked shark attacks on people are exceedingly rare and shark attacks do happen, and there’s always the possibility of a shark attack no matter what precautions you take. After all, you’re in their house, so let’s get started.
Pay Attention to Your Surroundings
If you see signs on the beach warning of shark activity in the area, pay attention to it. Lifeguards and other beach personnel don’t put these signs out on whims. Entering the water at your own risk in this situation is just stupid behavior.
The signs mean that people have seen sharks nearby and recently, and if the signs are still up, there are still sharks nearby. So you’ll want to tread carefully when you do go in the water, as you might become shark bait.
Even without signs, you need to scan the water before you go out and while you’re in it. Unless you’re surfing the Dead Sea (where there are no sharks), there are sharks nearby if you are in saltwater. If you see the telltale dorsal fin, you need to get some dry sand under your feet.
If you’re out there but aren’t actively paying attention to the water, you may not notice a shark
sniffing around at you and your board.
A few years ago, actor Rob Lowe and his sons encountered some small sharks
while paddleboarding. While they hung around to marvel at the creatures, which wasn’t super smart, the Lowe men saw the sharks because they were paying attention to the water.
But paying attention to your surroundings and being careful while you’re in the water– along with other common-sense measures– can make your time in saltwater safer and less sharky.
Don’t Surf at Dusk or Dawn
Yes, these are the best times to surf, and that sucks because it’s also when sharks are most likely to be hunting for a meal. There are, of course, different species of sharks that hunt at various times, but generally, sharks hunt at night, so dusk and dawn would mark the beginning and end of their hunting trips.
They do this because much of their prey tends to rest or sleep at night, making them a little easier to snatch up for dinner. Although sharks are apex predators, they can fall victim to other creatures, so night hunting can reduce the shark’s risk when going after prey.
Avoid Shark Hangouts
Sharks hang out where there is food.
If you want to avoid becoming food yourself, stay away from these areas. One of the prime places for this is at a steep dropoff. When you paddle out far enough to be close to where the waves start, you are very likely near a dropoff.
Sharks love to loiter on the other side of those drop-offs, then sneak up to the shallower spots for a quick nosh or wait for some snack to venture a little past the dropoff. While they may not be coming for you specifically, mistakes get made, you know?
Other areas to avoid include places ripe with sewage, brackish water areas, and places that you know shark prey gathers.
- Sewage attracts fish, so where you find sewage entering the ocean, you’ll also find some shark prey, and you want to avoid that.
- Brackish water occurs when a river or stream enters the ocean. This creates murkier waters that may make it harder for sharks to identify you as non-prey. Also, shark prey tends to gather in these areas, as does any river life that washes down into the sea.
- If you see a pod of seals in the area, stay away. As prime shark bait, seals attract sharks, so if you see a pod sunning on the rocks or swimming around, that’s a sign from the universe that you should not surf there that day because there are sharks there, and they are hunting.
Don’t Surf Alone
It’s a romantic vision, the lone surfer on his board at dawn. But the dawn part we already know is asking for trouble. The lone surfer part needs some attention, too, though.
Sharks are big, scary apex predators, sure.
But in truth, they’re not all that tough when it comes to one-on-one. Okay, they’re tough but think of them as the school bully. He’s not going to pick on someone he’s not sure he can dominate.
To whit: when a shark is eating an orca, it’s not because he chased it down and killed it. He’s probably scavenging.
What this means for us is that if a shark sees you by yourself on your board, he might think you are prey.
From this, you can see why a shark might decide a solo surfer might be a tasty treat.
At first glance, I thought the turtle was the surfer, and I have a college degree. Understandably, a shark might make this mistake, too.
A group of surfers will be more of a deterrent. It may be that the shark perceives the group as a larger single creature that he just doesn’t want to mess with, or he may feel that the fight against the other creatures (we know they’re surfers; he doesn’t) won’t be worth the meal.
With a large group of surfers, a shark will be more likely to keep his distance, just like that school bully who ran away when you and your friends finally rose against him as one.
With all that said, don’t get the idea that sharks are idiots who just stuff whatever they can into their mouths. If they attack you while you’re on your board, sure, they may have mistaken you for a seal or a sea turtle.
Their mouths are how they explore things.
They don’t have hands to feel around and figure out what you are, so they are essentially taking a test bite when they attack surfers. Despite how fun the movie “Jaws” was, sharks are not evil, and they don’t hold grudges.
Don’t Be a Target
Most everyone knows sharks are attracted to blood, which we’ll address in a bit.
But growing evidence suggests that sharks gravitate to contrast, which makes sense when you think about the surroundings in which they are hunting. A shiny fish swimming around in dark water will be pretty easy to see.
While a great white shark isn’t after silvery-looking fish, more than 400 different kinds of sharks are swimming around out there. So if you paint something flashy on your rails, you might not be ringing the dinner bell, but you’re at least opening the doors to the kitchen.
Several attacks in recent years have been attributed to sharks being drawn to the contrast between human skin and a tattoo on that skin. This may be a result of more and more people getting tattoos, or the sharks might indeed be drawn to the contrast.
The jury is out on this one, but it’s a working theory.
Along those lines, bright nail polish may draw attention, and yellow or white swimsuits create a striking contrast that sharks find alluring.
We already mentioned sharks’ ability to smell blood from afar. This is a real thing, so if you’re bleeding, don’t go in the water. While they can smell blood, they sniff for the blood of the prey of their choice, so yours won’t be a clarion call to sharks.
However, since they are attracted to blood, why take a chance?
That said, contrary to urban legend, this does not include menstruation. The amount of blood expelled is not enough to ring a dinner bell. Menstrual blood does not cause shark attacks.
Another approach to not being a target, especially when you’re on your board, is mimicking the actions of a predator. If you are constantly swiveling around and changing your orientation on the water, the shark will perceive you as a fellow hunter. Also, it will make it much more difficult for him to sneak up on you, which is how he prefers to hunt.
Avoid Undue Splashing and Thrashing
Their sense of smell isn’t the only uncanny thing in a shark’s sensory arsenal.
Their hearing is incredibly keen, as well. A shark can hear you splashing up to 800 feet away, which is more than two football fields. Since splashing is something seals and turtles and the like tend to do, it makes sense that when a shark hears it, he may decide it’s time to eat.
Splashing around on your board may also lead a shark to perceive you as an injured sea creature, which is even more appetizing because it will be less work for him to catch his dinner.
Use a Shark Deterrent
There are many kinds of shark deterrents out there, so if you take some time to do a little research, you’ll find something you’re comfortable with. Two good ones bear mentioning here, each on opposite sides of the technology spectrum and price range.
Since eye contact tends to ward off sharks, the Mate Not Bait Shark Repellent Eyes Sticker, found on Amazon.com, slapped on the bottom of your board is a low-cost, low-tech way to cover your bases.
The idea is that if a shark swims underneath you thinking you’re a seal but then sees some eyes looking back at him, he’s apt to change his mind. There is some science to this, so it’s more than sticking some googly eyes on something and hoping for the best.
On the other end is gear that interferes with the electrical systems sharks use to navigate and hunt.
Ocean Guardian makes a Freedom + Surf unit that mounts to your board that puts out signals to drive sharks away. Sharkbanz makes a Magnetic Shark Repellent Band for the wrist that operates along the same lines. Both are available through Amazon.com.
Get Out of the Water
Irrespective of what you’ve seen in the “Sharknado” movies, if you’re not in the water, you cannot be attacked by a shark. If there is a shark sighting, bail. Immediately. There are cool videos out there of people surfing while sharks’ dorsal fins stick out of the water.
The coolness of the videos does not offset the danger of making them.
If you spot a shark, get out of the water and stay out for at least a day. You can come back next week unless you stayed in the water with the shark, got bit, and died. Following these guidelines will make you safer in the water and much less likely to suffer a shark attack.
Almost all of these guidelines get the Lego treatment in this hilarious, harrowing, adorable, and informative video made by a couple of ten-year-olds for The Florida Museum.
That said, it’s important to point out that all sharks are not dangerous, that sharks are not man-eaters, and that not all sharks want you in their belly. For all the different kinds of sharks out there, only four species are responsible for unprovoked attacks on humans:
- Great white sharks
- Bull sharks
- Tiger sharks
- Oceanic whitetip sharks
The whitetips stay out in open waters, so one of them is extremely unlikely to attack you while you surf.
If You Are Attacked
While shark attacks are extremely rare, they do happen. We see news of them when the weather warms up, and more people start to hit the beach every year.
If you find yourself in the improbable situation of being on the business end of a shark’s jagged teeth, here’s what to do:
- Remain calm. Just like if you get caught in a rip current, panic is your enemy. If you can keep your wits about you, you’ll have a much better chance of surviving. Panicking will cause you to take quick, big breaths, which may involve sucking in a lungful of water. Panic also prevents you from making decisions and taking action to save yourself.
- Fight back. People often speak of punching an attacking shark in the nose, which is a sensitive spot, but punching underwater is not nearly as effective as it is in the air. And if you miss, you’ve just put your hand into the shark’s mouth, which is the opposite of where you want parts of your body to be. Go for the shark’s eyes or gills, which are sensitive spots, and will at the very least startle the shark (and maybe drive him away).
- Get out of the water. As mentioned above, shark attacks are impossible if you are on land. As you fight to get away, head toward the shore. Call for help, wave your arms, whatever, just get to land. If the shark lets go, make for the beach. He may be coming back for another bite, or he might not. Assume he is and get out of the water.
- Get medical attention. Kind of a no-brainer, sure, but even before the ambulance arrives, put pressure on bleeding wounds. Because of the lacerating nature of a shark’s teeth, the tissue damage can be catastrophic, so blood loss will be a real issue.
Following these steps (and keeping your head on straight if something does happen) will allow for a safer time on and in the water, which translates into a great day of surfing. Since water safety is important, you were probably already aware of many of these things.
Above all, remember that the ocean is an inherently dangerous place, and it is the home of the creatures in it. We are just visitors, and we are responsible for our behavior in it.
Conclusion
The chance of a shark attack is vanishingly small, and if you live in Chicago, the odds are zero. But if you surf on an Australian beach, your chances of being injured or killed by a shark attack are higher.
To sum up, let’s review what you need to remember:
- Keep your eyes on the water.
- Stay out of the water at feeding times.
- Know where the sharks like to be.
- Surf with friends.
- Don’t do (or wear) things that will make sharks notice you.
- Take advantage of technology to discourage sharks from seeing you.
- Stay out of shark-infested waters.
