: Sage

: I'm just going to put this out for your consideration: color scheme and
: sharks.

: Here's the deal, (and all you other surf yakkers, pay attention.)

: Shape: The surf yak is small and wide, and mimics a large California sealion;
: a medium to large Stellar's sealion, a large northern fur seal and a
: medium sized northern elephant seal (this statement does not
: differentiates sexes; the females are smaller then males). All of the
: above are prey of great white sharks. To a lesser extent, the surf yak is
: a skinny version of many smaller sized dolphins, of which all are food for
: the great white, too.

: Location: The great white shark cruises along the inshore waters including
: the wave zone. In fact, so close that many attacks on humans occur in
: shallow water by surprisingly large sharks. However, normalizing attacks
: statistics, most hits occur in deeper waters found outside of the wave
: zone (in other words, the majority of people are inshore, and weighing the
: number of attacks to the numbers in the particular zone, the ratio is
: higher in deeper waters).
: The seals mentioned above are often found in the more productive areas
: searching for food (with the seasonal exception of the northern elephant
: seal, northern fur seal and Stellar's sealion which range far offshore).
: At rookeries and haul-outs, the wave zone and intertidal zone abound with
: seals, and often one will see a seal surfing or playing in the waves. In
: addition, many dolphin species surf waves with great passion, and contrary
: to the myth, dolphins and sharks are often found together in an
: interesting symbiotic relationship just offshore.

: Behavioral similarities: Seals frequently play and surf in the waves, the
: California sealion and to a lesser extent, the Pacific harbor seal is more
: apt to do this then other species. Many hits occur when the seal is so
: engaged and loses track of the surroundings, possibly due to the many
: sensory inputs and lower visibility of the water in that zone. In
: addition, all the seals described above will lounge about in and near
: haul-outs and rookery sites, wallowing lazily in the swells. The shape and
: movement similarities are to this and many other humans underwater and
: studying this connection, amazingly similar. That said, sharks are very
: much more tuned in, being exquisitely integrated, extreme-definition
: sensory platforms with a tail and mouth. That they would mistake a surf
: yak for a seal is probably highly unlikely judging from the lack of
: attacks.

: Attack patterns: In nearly all cases, great white sharks will sense the surf
: yak, sea yak, object bobbing in the water or human, investigate it and
: swim on without anyone even knowing that a shark was close by. Often a
: shark will hang out in the area for a number of conjectural reasons (and
: yes, I have a theory which I’ve been testing for some time now). Attacks
: take on separate and distinct patterns: The first, the dramatic one is
: when whatever the object is struck from below in a high-speed, high angle
: of attack with a rapid, devastating bite. The shark accelerates up to a
: speed of around 35 knots, it raises its snout and drops its lower jaw and
: extends its jaws for a massive gape to maximize the bite effectiveness. In
: fractions of a second, the shark detects what it is in its jaws and bites
: down accordingly. For actual prey, that bite force is intense, and often
: is rapidly repeated in a single second. The force is so great in large
: white sharks that a harbor seal and smaller pinnipeds are bitten through.
: For the very few actual hits to kayaks, the shark didn’t bite down with
: the typical force; in fact, the hit was often a hard bump with
: low-pressure bite causing moderate tooth penetration; in other words, the
: shark didn’t bite down as hard as it would have if it was food. The shark
: doesn’t waste its time, energy and its teeth in a useless attack once it
: realizes what it hit weren’t food.
: The second is a lazy approach and a tentative mouthing of the object. This is
: the typical bite on swimmers, surfers and divers: the shark swims up,
: bites down and releases for whatever reason. The same pressure is
: suspected when sharks bite each other in territory disputes and mating.
: For us mere mortals that’s still a series of knife wounds and a rapid trip
: to the emergency room, and can be fatal as it was recently at Avilla
: Beach. For our rides that’s a series of holes and fractures from that
: force (as occurred years back at Ano Nuevo).
: The third is a violent and determined attack as defense. If there is a food
: source or something being fed on nearby, the shark will attack rapidly and
: with great determination until the threat is gone or no longer a threat
: (often meaning dead). This is what occurred in the only fatal attack on
: kayakers, at Paradise Cove, Malibu.
: While I'm at it, if anyone ever sees a feeding event paddle directly away and
: don't stop till you're at least a couple hundred yards away. If possible
: paddle close together, too. Other definitive signs is if a shark suddenly
: is at the surface near you and acting aggressively, or there's a pool of
: blood in the water, or a breach occurs. Above all, stay away from
: rookeries and floating dead whales!

: Coloration: There are many around the world that use shapes as attractors. In
: California, there are legally three of us, all with DFG permits. Mine are
: dark foam and carpet creations smeared in tuna oil and then heated in the
: hot sun far from anyone in a sealed plastic bag. I attracted a white shark
: at Iverson Point (south of Point Arena, California) recently, but the
: shark apparently wasn’t interested in the shape and swam along under and
: around me instead. Its purely conjecture whether the shape or tuna oil was
: the attractor, or my biotic noises from paddling. Regardless, the shape
: wasn’t bothered. What has been found (for the NE Pacific group of white
: sharks) is that yellow (“yummy yellow”) and to a lesser extent off-white
: is colors that whites are attracted to and bite. I had a shape of marine
: plywood that was struck hard near the West End, north of the western Two
: Harbors on Catalina Island. Why the unusual color is a mystery to many.

: Conclusion: The color scheme should not be an attractor.
: That an attack will either be hard or an explorative nip, but I’ll bet
: dollars to donuts nothing more will happen then being checked out if
: you’re lucky enough to ever see the shark.
: Think about sharks when surfing though the little dudes at San Onofre won’t
: try to take on a surf yak at their current size.

: So Sage, let’s say there is a shark checking you out: Take pictures and
: document the incident! Try to stay alive long enough to get a large number
: of images, if possible write your observations down. Use blood if you have
: to. But most important, and this is truly something you must do right
: away, will me your Night Heron! Do it now, this very instant!

Will Mike the camera so he can post the great pics, too!