Friday, January 26, 2007
Great White, Great Escape
This week has seen lots of interesting news related to diving and the ocean. A bank robber whose "getaway vehicle" was a scuba tank got sentenced to 16 dry years in prison. The discovery of an 8th century wreck in the Mediterranean was reported. And most of you probably saw the video footage of the frilled shark (called a "living fossil") found in shallow Japanese waters, far from its normal habitat 2,000 feet below.
But the most dramatic news came from Australia, where a diver survived a nightmare ordeal. While fishing for abalone, he was attacked by a 10-foot white shark. On the first bite, the shark engulfed the diver's head. On the second bite, the diver found himself halfway down the shark's gullet. According to some reports, the only thing that kept the man from being bitten in half was his lead-lined vest. Miraculously, the man escaped death by jamming his fingers into the shark's eye socket and wriggling out of its mouth.
While such a story recalls images from that cinematic classic "Jaws," it's important to remember that white sharks are both magnificent and endangered creatures. No one wants to meet the business end of a white shark, but neither should anyone want to hunt one down because it mistook a human for a seal. The Australian government quickly echoed this sentiment by warning that anyone caught trying to track down the shark that attacked this diver would be prosecuted.
I salute the bravery (and luck!) of this Aussie diver -- and am off to the dive shop to buy a lead vest!
But the most dramatic news came from Australia, where a diver survived a nightmare ordeal. While fishing for abalone, he was attacked by a 10-foot white shark. On the first bite, the shark engulfed the diver's head. On the second bite, the diver found himself halfway down the shark's gullet. According to some reports, the only thing that kept the man from being bitten in half was his lead-lined vest. Miraculously, the man escaped death by jamming his fingers into the shark's eye socket and wriggling out of its mouth.
While such a story recalls images from that cinematic classic "Jaws," it's important to remember that white sharks are both magnificent and endangered creatures. No one wants to meet the business end of a white shark, but neither should anyone want to hunt one down because it mistook a human for a seal. The Australian government quickly echoed this sentiment by warning that anyone caught trying to track down the shark that attacked this diver would be prosecuted.
I salute the bravery (and luck!) of this Aussie diver -- and am off to the dive shop to buy a lead vest!
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