Mom-agination: Sharks, Please Don’t Eat my Kids!

Maybe I watched JAWS once too many times and as a result I have a curious love/hate relationship with these animals. At the beach, I incessantly scan the horizon for fins and constantly try to get my kids closer to shore, yet every time a shark/human encounter makes headlines, I obsessively tune in!

The good news is shark attacks are rare and infrequent. Sharks are generally not bloodthirsty maniacal killers. Considering that tens of thousands of people come in close contact with sharks each year while swimming, surfing, or boating, numbers of shark attacks are negligible. Still, if you are concerned about your kids in the ocean, here are some simple tips to avoid a ‘close encounter’ with a shark:

• Avoid sandbars and sharp drop-offs where fish congregate. Most shark attacks occur on the inshore side of a sandbar or between sandbars because fish congregate there and because sharks can become trapped at low tide. Sharp drop-offs also attract lots of fish and, therefore, sharks.
• Keep close to shore.
• If you venture out into deeper waters, do not splash a lot, since it attracts sharks. Seen from below, swimmers or surfboarders are often mistaken for seals or sea lions, whose fatty bodies are a favorite treat for sharks. Human splashing creates irregular ripples in the water below, which to a shark may indicate an injured seal or fish.
• Stay out of the water at night, dusk, or dawn. Sharks are most active at night.
• Swim in a group. Sharks prefer to attack lone victims.
• Contrasts attract sharks such as bright swimsuits and uneven tanning. If you intend to swim in deeper waters, you might want to bring along a dark, nondescript swimsuit to slip over your highly visible one.
• Stay out of polluted or murky water.
• Be wary of feeding birds, or porpoises, which indicate the presence of fish.
• Do not throw food scraps into the water.
• Do not swim if you are bleeding. Sharks can detect tiny amounts of blood.
• Do not wear shiny jewelry. Shiny jewelry that gleams like fish scales, multi-color swimsuits, and irregular tanning, especially on the bottom of the feet, could also confuse a shark into thinking a person is an animal.
• Keep pets out of the water. Erratic movements attract sharks.
• Avoid areas being used by fishermen.

Now you can enjoy the ocean even more, knowing that your children most likely will not be swimming with sharks!