Shark stalking boat

[Gwydion]

Shark stalking fishermen, rather than fishermen stalking shark. Here a great white circles the boat and even slaps it with its tail! Shark fishing for people .

 

[crossunitedfate]

I wonder if that classic JAWS music was going through their heads as the shark was doing this.

 

[Esperahol]

If not someone should have looked up and started playing the Jaws music on their iPod. Its what I would have done.

 

[happyflowerlady]

That is a huge shark, and it just keeps going around and around the boat like it is trying to find a way to get them, I am sure that actually being there on the boat with that big guy circling it, must have been creepy !
If they had been catching fish before, it is possible that the shark was just coming around because he had heard the other fish fighting as they were being caught, and was looking for a fish dinner. They said that the other fish stopped biting, so they had apparently been catching fish before the shark appeared.

 

[Esperahol]

That is most likely what happened, although it has been found that sharks will sometimes begin to associate boats with food and thereby follow them. Perhaps this is a popular fishing spot and the shark considers boats to be an invite to get fed.

 

[turtlesong]

I saw a documentary on sharks once. Humans aren't the natural prey of sharks. Most likely the shark is attracted to the scent of fish, or it may be following the vibrations from the boat. Most sharks are just curious about what's going on. Unless the shark feels threatened, it's going to ignore them and swim away eventually.

Still I think most people do find the thought intimidating. I bet the jaws music would play in my head too.

In reality though, people are more dangerous to sharks than sharks are to people. More sharks get killed by people as opposed to the other way around.

 

[spikerfreelancer]

I just have to say, that is a beautiful animal. I have a fascination of what groups of things are called, ever since I was a boy and learned that a group of crows is called a murder. A group of sharks can be referred to as a shiver, gam, frenzy, school, or herd. How cool is that?

 

[Arthnel]

I saw a documentary on sharks once. Humans aren't the natural prey of sharks. Most likely the shark is attracted to the scent of fish, or it may be following the vibrations from the boat. Most sharks are just curious about what's going on. Unless the shark feels threatened, it's going to ignore them and swim away eventually.

Still I think most people do find the thought intimidating. I bet the jaws music would play in my head too.

In reality though, people are more dangerous to sharks than sharks are to people. More sharks get killed by people as opposed to the other way around.

Thank s for clearing that up. I was very concerned about whether sharks were really learning how to decipher easy food when they see small boats with humans. Clearly the next step would be to learn how to overturn the boat and then get in on the frenzy.

I do agree that sharks have learned to associate small boats with food and the scent of fish and in many cases just out curiosity they will come close to see what's going on. There's an old saying: "Everything bad that happens at sea, they blame the sharks."