SHARK ATTACK - GLOBAL THREAT OR MASS HYSTERIA?

Rather than being panic-stricken of shark attacks, get to the beach and enjoy yo ur time, Haron Lau, Chase Chen and Hahn Do says. Human kind fears of death. Especially with fleshy bloody deaths, these bloodcurd ling images might haunt observers for the rest of their lives. Don't even mentio n seeing the scene with plain eyes, with some people, having a nausea is their f irst reaction when they have the idea of somebody passing away. And what could be more frightening than having ourself fantasising about the dea ths that happens to us? For instance, was playing the cool water on a beautiful clear sunny holiday then bam, insanely swimming for the sake of out own life, w hile pursued by a shark? Shark attacks and their tragic consequences Recently, the mass media cover the public with news about shark attack, they des cribe it as one gloomy unpredictable fatal accident that cause death, a spine-ch illing death, that could happen anytime at anywhere, except on land. Infact, in February, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, professional abalon e diver Peter Clarkson was taken away by a pair of sharks, believed to be great whites, off the coast near Port Lincoln in Adelaide. This news was a shock to the abalone Industry of South Australia. The skipper of the fishing boat who watched his colleague die in the jaws the sharks, had vowe d never to return to the sea again. Shuddering with horror, he reportedly told ambulance officers: "I saw the beast come up and take him. There's no way he could have survived." Jonas Woolford, the president of the South Australia Abalone Industry Associatio n said the attack would devastate its members. "This will have a major impact. I t's extremely tragic to lose one of our own. It's very upsetting," he muttered o n ABC Radio. Earlier before, in August 2010, Nick Edwards, a 31-year-old miner, died from ser ious injuries after a shark attacked him while he was surfing, this time, in Wes tern Australia's south-west. Reporters of the Daily Mail founded he was heard yelling 'Shark, shark!' as he b attled to reach the safety of land after the attack. Other surfers raced to his help, dragging him ashore through bloody waters, befo re they saw his shredded leg. They then massaged his heart while waiting for amb ulance officers and police to arrive, but the blood loss. He was declared dead s hortly after arriving at hospital. Noteworthy, it was doubt the huge creature was chasing a seal when it bit Mr Edw ards. Furthermore, the tragic death was the first fatal shark attack in Western Australia since December 2008. The shark was doubt chasing a seal when it bit Mr Edwards. But perhaps the most famous case was the incident of Paul de Gelder. Back in the first quarter of 2009, his anecdote was depicted as a miracle, while it was widel y reported and discussed by the media and the broadcast. Unlike most of the case, which victims are killed by great white sharks, accordi ng to his interview with the ABC National Radio, in February, 2009, the Australi an Navy diver was attacked by a bull shark in Sydney Harbour, while he was in ch arge of a operation of conducting naval underwater equipment. He is a very rare case that still alive after the attack. He was very close to t he boundary of death, the consequence would be different if only it has bigger m outh, or even slightly different angel. Nevertheless, after a long term of rehab ilitation at St Vincent's Hospital, he lost his arm and part of his leg up to th e thigh. The attack was sudden, neither him or his colleagues were ready. In the moment o f life and death, his instinct of self-preservation controlled his reaction. Instinctively, what I was trying to do was nothing but getting out of the water he said. He also shared his experience: when he was bitten, he didn't have a feeling that two of his body organs has gone. He was swimming with one leg and one hand, and didn't notice his casualty until he got to the boat. But rather than concern an

d moan about his loss, he tried focusing on something different. In terms of neu robiological, it was an absolute right decision, it not only prevented him from having a vital shock might kill him, but also allowed his bleeding mechanism to work. As a soldier, he didn't want to complain about his situation, nor discuss about his problem... He tried to get on with his life, and considered the accident was a part of his career. The myths and facts about shark attack Although the fear of sharks is a common phenomenon, having been fuelled by the o ccasional instances of serial attacks, and majority, by the media, the number of shark attacks is actually relative rare. Most shark experts feel that the dange r presented by sharks has been exaggerated. Admittedly, contrary to popular belief, the issue of being attacked by shark was n't very critical. The research of Statistics on Attacking Species of Shark by Int ernational Shark Attack File of University of Florida pointed out during the pas t 339 years, the United States has a total of 1,049 attacks, in which 49 fatal. In compare, the annual number of people who drown is 3,306, whereas the annual n umber of shark fatalities is clearly less than 1. Author Rodney of the Romow Travel Directory analyses the mechanism of sharks' bi tes: Sharks are considered as predators in their oceanic environment, yet they have li ttle fear and curious of any creatures they are unfamiliar with. Lacking any lim bs with sensitive digits such as hands or feet, the only way they can explore an unusual object that they encounter is to bite it; these bites are known as expl oratory bites. Generally, shark bites are exploratory, and the animal will swim away after one bite. He goes on Exploratory bites on surfers are thought to be caused by the shark mis taking the surfer for the shape of prey. Nonetheless, a single bite can grievous ly injure a human if the animal involved is a powerful predator like a great whi te or tiger shark. This mechanism explain the way Nick Edwards was attacked. There is a probability of the shark mistaken him with a prey, it then approached and an exploratory bi te was performed. But that "exploratory bite was sufficient to put an end to the life of the poor victim. Despite a few rare exceptions, it has been concluded that feeding is not a reaso n sharks attack humans; as stated on Howstuffworks.com: "Humans are not on the menu. In fact, humans don't provide enough high-fat meat for sharks, which need a lot of energy to power their large, muscular bodies". Shark attacks may also occur due to territorial reasons or as dominance over anot her shark species, resulting in an attack" On the different occasion, Elizabeth Keller, PhD, published her work on ExtreamS cientist.com. Sharks normally make one swift attack and then retreat to wait for the victim to die or exhaust itself before returning to feed. This protects the shark from inj ury from a wounded and aggressive target; however, it also allows humans time to get out of the water and survive., she explained sharks' behaviour. Indeed, these two research works can arguably interpret the case of Paul de Geld er. The shark that bit Mr. de Gelder probably retreated after irs attack, which gave chance for him to get to boat. In addition, after the attack, the government investigated the seabed of Sydney Harbour, which conclude the region of the Harbour was a privilege territory of a bull shark tribe. The operation of the Navy at that time, potentially, might pr ovoke the tribe. A bite to Paul de Gelder, perhaps it was meant to be a forewarn the opponent. Conclusion Again, the research of Statistics on Attacking Species of Shark the list of precau tions, which reduce the possibility of a shark attack when swimmers are in the w ater. Some of them basically involve: avoiding wearing shiny properties avoid the water at dawn, dusk, or night, when sharks tend to feed;

avoiding areas where sharks generally locate themselves, or have less fish. avoiding swimming alone, always being near a group of people "Attacks are basically an odds game based on how many hours you are in the water . The longer you are underwater, you add zero percent of chance of potentially c aught by sharks". George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack Fil e, concluded.