Who else was affected by the movie 'Jaws'?

[Ripsnort]

I used to vacation (and lived for 6 months) in Florida, snorkeling the Boca Raton errosion rock piles off the beach, and visit the Keys now and then...then I saw the movie "Jaws" and found myself doing less and less of this...anyone else affected by that movie?

Today, this press release comes out:
 

Shark attack reports break record

 Thursday, 8 February 2001 12:58 (ET)


 Shark attack reports break record


  GAINESVILLE, Fla., Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Reports of shark attacks hit an
 all-time high of 79 worldwide in 2000, including 10 deaths, the
 International Shark Attack File showed Thursday.

  The increase was caused primarily by better reporting, particularly on the
 Internet. The attacks were the most frequent since the file was established
 in 1958, said George Burgess, director of the file.

  The figures, compiled at the University of Florida, compared with 58
 attacks in 1999 and the average during the 1990s of 54.

  The biggest increases were in the United States, where they jumped from 37
 to 51, and in Florida where they rose from 25 to 34.

  In addition to better reporting, Burgess said the increase was partly a
 result of increased intrusion on shark habitat by a worldwide population
 that spent more time in the water.

  "Attacks are basically an odds game based on how many hours you are in the
 water," he said. "Some of these attacks are beginning to pop up in far-flung
 corners of the Earth as tourists can afford to vacation in areas they
 wouldn't normally have gone to in the past.

  "Unfortunately, lots of these tourists gleefully enter waters that natives
 -- who learn over the years where to swim and not to swim -- might choose
 not to go into," he said.

  He said some of those locales were Kiribati, the Galapagos, Fiji and
 Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. He said many victims help with the file
 by looking for information on shark attacks on the Internet and finding the
 file's Web site. He said they often e-mail their experiences.

  Internationally, Australia had seven attacks followed by South Africa with
 five, the Bahamas with four and Reunion Island, New Guinea and Tanzania with
 two each.

  The 10 fatal attacks compared with six in 1999, but matched the average
 for the decade of 12.7. Three deaths were reported from Australia, two from
 Tanzania and one each in Fiji, Japan, New Caledonia, New Guinea and the
 United States.

  The only U.S. fatality was Thadeus Kubinski, who was attacked Aug. 30 in
 St. Petersburg, Fla. He jumped off his dock and landed near a feeding shark.

  Other states reporting attacks last year were North Carolina with five,
 California with three and Alabama, Hawaii and Texas with two each. Reporting
 one attack for the year were Louisiana, South Carolina and Puerto Rico.

  Swimmers and waders were the most frequent victims at 46 percent, followed
 by surfers and windsurfers with 32 percent, divers and snorkelers at 18
 percent, body surfers at 3 percent and people just entering the water at 1
 percent.

[LJK Raubvogel]

I never surf or snorkel unless there are plenty of people around. Anytime there is a shark attack here, it seems that the "bitee" was by themselves, or with only 1 other person.

Jaws didn't effect me, but does anyone remember a TV show called "Cliffhangers"? I still hate anything vampire related because of that damn show  

[Fatty]

Heh, I was going to post about this after seeing it last night, but forgot.

I don't remember when JAWS first came out, latter 70s I think?  Anyway, I was less than 10 at the time, and it scared the hell out of me.  I grew up in Florida, and was in the ocean all the time, but regardless I have always been a pansy about it, at least in part as a result of Jaws.

I used to do a lot of openwater races, and I was always rationalizing the likelyhood and chances of actually getting attacked (there's a lot to think about swimming alone in the ocean for 10 miles).  The absolute worst is when you find yourself running into a school of baitfish.  Such a situation for paranoia couldn't be scripted any better  

When I'm ahead I figure I'll just stir it up and it'll get the ones behind me.  When I'm in the pack, I figure it'll get someone else before me, and when I'm behind, figure it'll get someone already by the time I get there, or something like that.

[This message has been edited by Fatty (edited 02-09-2001).]

[Eagler]

I remember the movie every time I go to the beach. Not so much in the Gulf of Mexico as the Atlantic Ocean. Something about losing touch with he bottom between sand bars feels a little creepy  
Not to mention we used to catch sharks just off the mouth of the St Johns River in the Atlantic, that were longer than the 15' boat my dad, brother and I were fishing out of ....
Certain times of the year, you could catch 1 to 2 foot baby hammerhead sharks by the bushel not 20 ' offshore between the shore and the 1st sand bar. Always wondered where their momma was ....

Eagler



[This message has been edited by Eagler (edited 02-09-2001).]

[Yeager]

All Jaws did was increase my desire to KILL sharks.

Yeager

[Mighty1]

I remember right after I saw Jaws a friend of mine took me camping with his family and we went to a lake here in Indiana.

Well late one night we decided to scare the old folks by swimming across the lake and coming in from behind them(their camp site was right next to the water).

Well I got about 1/2 way across when something brushed up against my leg and the first thing I thought of was Jaws. Scared the toejam out of me and I had a problem swimming the other 1/2 way.

We got the the old fart camp but I was still to shaken to scare anyone.

Even today I have a problem swimming in open water.

[AKDejaVu]

Jaws came out in '76 or there abouts.  I know that even if I was going into a pool, an inspection for anything big enough to allow a shark in was performed prior to entry.

I'd say it took until about 1990 to completely get over that phobia.  I can't think of a single other film that had that kind of psychological impact on me.

AKDejaVu

[Tac]

"St. Petersburg, Fla. He jumped off his dock and landed near a feeding shark"

ROFL, talk about bad luck.


If you folks ever fly in an ultralight plane over the beach, or weasel your way into being the copilot of one of those planes that tow signs over the beaches, bring along your video cameras and film the water.

You will see hundreds of swimmers on the beach and sharks ALL AROUND THEM. The sharks are there, they are just not hungry or not pissed off.

JAWS? Heh, when I was 14 I was scuba diving with my folks and a group in the pacific ocean near a reef, having fun and stuff, checking out the entrance of a well known oasis cave... poke my head in (was a BIG cave entrance, about 3 meter high, 2 meters wide)... andout comes this Mpotato peeling big tiger shark at full speed and swims away through the whole group.

That day we knew how the schools of fish feel when they are hunted. I think I swallowed my breather that day..!

[Ripsnort]

Whew! Glad it was not just me!

Mighty, you probably brushed up against a submerged log or tree stump...LOL, so you were going to pull a prank, and the prank pulled you! LOLOLOL!

(Psst...come back to the dark side, miss tanking with you!)

[funked]

LOL Mighty!

I've had that experience too.  About 200 yards out off Santa Cruz and something brushes your leg.  Instant pucker factor.  

[StSanta]

Most divers, when asked "aren't you afraid you're gonna meet a shark?" reply with "No, I *hope* I will.

"Jaws" really made bad guys out of sharks, and led to a widespread hunting and killing of these majestic creatures.

Attacks do occur but are very rare indeed. More are killed by domestic dogs than sharks, and elephants kill more humans yearly.

We must not forget that it is *us* that go into *their* domain - they can be no other place, we can. So if we have to do something, it is stay out of the water because we have that choice.

But in our usual egocentric way, we overdramatize the danger and go out of our way to kill beings that have inhabited the oceans for millions of years.

"Jaws" doesn't scare me, it pisses me off. Common sense removes most of the danger, and the rest is up to us to accept. Wiping out sharks is not the answer.

------------------
Baron Claus "StSanta" Von Ribbentroppen
9./JG 54 "Grünherz"
"If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up space"

[Eagler]

StSanta you're sounding like Jacques Yves Cousteau­ now  

True though, ignorance leads to useless slaughter. They are a blast to catch (and release) on rod and reel. Ticks you off though when one bites a keeper kingfish in half as you are reeling it in ..

Eagler

[Jigster]

I've gotten to go snorkling in a 1 acre shark tank...that kinda killed the "Jaws Phobia" for me.

Sharks feel really cool  

I'm more worried about jelly fish and crabs. I've had to get stichs from stepping on crabs, and been stung more times then I can remember by moon jelly fish...and 5 or 6 times by PMOW's.

It really sucks that you can't see your feet off the coast of Galveston .. the ships stir the water to much. Oh yeah, I once got stabbed by a 4 foot long Red fish. That damn thing was only in 1 1/2 foot of water and I thought the damn thing was a shark, before he jabbed me with his fins.



[This message has been edited by Jigster (edited 02-10-2001).]

[StSanta]

Eagler, lol, I'll take that a great compliment  .

I'm a bit of a tree hugger when it comes to the seas, I gather. On land we can sort of control hte population of the animals we consume, but when it comes to the sea, mostly we have no idea of the size of the population and even more frequently, we don't care and just fish away. Not to mention leading untreated sewage straight out into the water and whatnot.

The fishies and other water living animals are our friends, mostly. I think we can have a sensible, yet productive, relationship with the sea. I mean, I enjoy fishing, but I just wish there were as many of them today as there was before our big trawler fleets and industrial age set in :/.

Btw; ever seen the devastation on single trawler can cause? It's amazing. So everytime I dive a wreck and find it entangled in nets, I smile knowing the fisher must be pretyt p'd.

Heh, what's he doing fishing on MY wreck destroying it with his ugly nets?  

------------------
Baron Claus "StSanta" Von Ribbentroppen
9./JG 54 "Grünherz"
"If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up space"

[Udie]

 

Originally posted by Jigster:
I've gotten to go snorkling in a 1 acre shark tank...that kinda killed the "Jaws Phobia" for me.


Sharks feel really cool    


I'm more worried about jelly fish and crabs. I've had to get stichs from stepping on crabs, and been stung more times then I can remember by moon jelly fish...and 5 or 6 times by PMOW's.


It really sucks that you can't see your feet off the coast of Galveston .. the ships stir the water to much. Oh yeah, I once got stabbed by a 4 foot long Red fish. That damn thing was only in 1 1/2 foot of water and I thought the damn thing was a shark, before he jabbed me with his fins.

[This message has been edited by Jigster (edited 02-10-2001).]

 Ugg I hate Galveston, but alas it was the nearest ocean to me growing up so I played there all the time, thoough 90% of the time I wore shoes in the water.  I cut my foot on a piece of wood the weekend after hurricane Alicia.  It was a piece of a broken peir of a washed out beach house.  I used to catch baby hammer heads off the pier at St. Louis pass just W of Galveston, then we'd go swimming in the same damned water.  Kids have no sence I guess  

 The worst thing that ever happened to me, besides stepping on that wood, was running into about 100 cabbage head jelly fish.  A buddy and me were swimming out to the sand baar abotu 1/2 mile from the beach. There was a good surf that day w/ 3'-4' waves.  We were having a blast swimming against them.  As one wave crested and we were at the top, starting to get sucked down the back side of the wave I hear my friend say "oh toejam look"  I looked and saw this HUGE white/grey mass about 20ft in front of us at the bottom of the wave. The undertow was pulling us right to them!!!!!  There must have been 50 or 60 of them all bobbing up and down in the water.

 We ended up getting to within 5' of them before we managed to reverse our course. WHEW!!!!  that would have hurt and probobly would have caused us to drown had we got mixxed up in the middle of them.  I'll never forget that fealing of paralizing fear.


BTW,  I haven't been back to Galveston since I went to Jamaca 8 years ago...  


Udie