Playing with Fire (and getting burnt)

Just a short post to air my disbelief in regard to a particular news article that I heard on the radio on the way into work this morning. I can only describe the guy, a 40-something year old British immigrant to South Africa as a dumbass of note! Firstly, why would you knowingly enter the waters off Fish Hoek beach, noted for being a shark hotspot (and for its famous fish-food) during a period of heightened shark activity, with several sharks being spotted on the day you choose to go swimming?

'See-food' and eat it promotional flags

Secondly, heed warnings! Shark spotters had on the same day (28 Sept 2011) spotted several sharks swimming offshore in clear waters, raised shark warning flags and sounded a siren to ensure people were out of the sea before closing the beach to swimmers. There is no confusing the white flags with black shark emblems for a seafood promotion, but if you didn’t happen to see these maybe being in the only person in the water would be a dead giveaway?

If you thought the day was a little on the hot side, go home and take a cold shower or hell, knock on a stranger’s door if you thought your house was too far away and ask to use their shower! The outcome would probably be a lot less painful. And if you really wanted to be in the sea, at least restrict yourself to a short paddle in ankle-depth water – Jaws can’t sneak up on you then. Entering the water after a beach has been closed and then swimming 40m offshore is just asking for trouble. It’s not manly or macho to bathe with big fish that have a set of teeth to match their reputation.

Fish Hoek beach is famous for its seafood

Whilst you can’t help but be a little sympathetic towards any person who loses limbs in a shark attack, the sheer stupidity of the guy was ultimately his downfall. I’m sure he knew what he was doing at the time….and so did the 4m-long shark. Life 101: the hard way!

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