A Little Late?
I thought maybe I'd missed it. I guess not.
I saw the news reports of this shark attack that took place over at Moonstone Beach last Thursday in at least three other newspapers around the state-- last Friday.
Wonder why it took so long to show up here? Both the Eureka Reporter and Times- Standard published the story today, five days after it happened.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 8:07 AM
21 comments
21 Comments:
Hmmm, tough question Fred, but I'll take a crack.
This shark attack is not news anymore than when someone falls off a ladder, breaks the ladder, but does not get hurt.
An answer more likely to satisfy you is that (I'm guessing) the earlier AP story was generated from a news release by the Shark Research Committee. Maybe the Shark Research Committee didn't inform Humboldt County media.
A better guess is that an AP reporter monitors the Shark Research Committee's reporting page so that it can be the first to jump on salacious fear-mongering shark attack stories. They're so much more exciting than the more deadly coconut-falling-on-your-head threat facing flatlanders around the world today.
Maybe it took a couple of days for the local papers to get the permission of Sue to photograph her and her surfboard. She was lucky or she could have ended up like this!
Either that or it just slipped through the newspaper's info screening.
I actually first heard of the attack on Jennifer Savage's blog where she made mention of someone telling her about it. Showed up in some other papers, including the Santa Rosa Press Democrat after that.
Permission to photograph? No. Newspapers are not TV stations. They don't hold back competitive hard news stories waiting for a pretty picture.
This has everything to do with how the AP and local newspapers found out about the story. It came from two different sources, or one source who contacted different media outlets at different times.
Well, thank goodness that Sue is OK.
Do you know her personally Carol?
Conversely, there is a poor shark going hungry today.
I have been acquainted with Sue for years. Even lived in the same neighborhood for awhile.
A hungry shark minus a few teeth is going hungry today.
and now she hit the cover story in each newspaper.....
We all know that if you surf in this neck of the woods--you will be playing with all that is out there and then some...
And I am sure she is ready for another adventure as we speak...
you go girl--may thy nature be with you......
CNN had a short story on this today.
I saw it on MSNBC today, too. I was also surprised how long the T-S and ER took to report on it, but perhaps Sue didn't want to talk about it right off. Being in the water with a shark is certainly terrifying – I'm glad she's OK!
Couple things I'm curious about after reading the papers (and will try to find out about tomorrow).
One, my understanding is that sharks do not actually mistakes surfers for seals, which is why the bites/bumps/encounters are rarely fatal; if a shark were to hit a surfer the way it would hit a seal, the bites would be exponentially worse. The prevailing theory (from what I've read and discussed with the Shark Research guy) is that the shark hits out of curiosity or as a territorial instinct.
Two, I've never heard of anyone around here being attacked by anything other than a great white, but the Marine Lab person quoted theorized the shark could've been a blue or some other kind – how likely is that, really?
I'll come back if I discover anything useful. In the meantime, Carol, give my best to Sue, please!
Well, here's this.
Mistaken Identity
The most common myth is that great whites, with their poor vision, attack divers and surfers in wet suits, mistaking them for pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), their main prey. In this scenario, once the animal realizes its mistake, it releases the victim and swims away.
"Completely false," said R. Aidan Martin, director of ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research in Vancouver, Canada. A shark's behavior while hunting a pinniped differs markedly from its demeanor as it approaches people—suggesting that the animal does not confuse surfers for seals.
"I spent five years in South Africa and observed over 1,000 predatory attacks on sea lions by great whites," said Martin. "The sharks would rocket to the surface and pulverize their prey with incredible force."
By comparison, sharks usually approach people with what he calls "leisurely or undramatic behavior."
Both papers reported the story in brief over the weekend. But, as suggested above, neither got the interview or pretty pictures until Monday.
And who do you people think AP is? In this neck of the woods, it's the TS and the ER sending stuff in. The CNN video yesterday was from our own KIEM.
I don't think the late follow-up is a big deal (I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation), it's just unusual. Typically when there's been a shark encounter – we have one a year or so – it's in the papers immediately.
Oh my - this lady is a little goofy if she thinks she is going to surf AFTER shark season is over. Newsflash dearie...shark season is 365 days long.
Why are you guys so dumbfounded that our local press didn’t pick this up quicker? They are too involved with the “regressives” bullshit about the Glass/Arkley cluster f@#k.
Fifty percent of encounters take place during three months: August, September and October.
There's (obviously) a likely correlation between the number salmon at the river mouths during those months and the increase of shark interactions.
More here.
That is interesting information about sharks, Jen. I think I will send Sue a card and pass your good wishes on to her and Rich's, too.
Thanks :>)
50 percent take place the other 9 months = no shark season.
But I would agree that you will see them in any area depending upon what food is available. You would notice more activity around the rivers when the salmon come in (not unlike bears). You will also see them in other areas at different times. For instance there is an increase in sharks and shark sighting in the spring in areas which are seal and sea lion breading grounds.
I heard she was acting like a kook out there. Allegedly she dropped in repeatedly on two more experienced surfers, and couldn't stay out of their way. They were better surfers from SoCal, and if she wasn't a betty they would have punched her in the nose. I think she needs some tips on how to stay out of the way so she doesn't seem like some barney to the new locals.
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