Shark!! (I think)

Yeah the Wife got sea sick the last time we were in Jamaica.
Went out to do some snorkeling and I asked Her if She was prone to Seasickness.
She didnt know since She'd never been far enough from land in rough seas before.
She was chumming in short order. I'd told Her to take some Dramamine before we went out since it's kinda useless once you start puking.
She declined.
While I'll occasionally get a little nauseous I've never actually puked.
Found the best cure is to start catching fish.
You forget all about being sick.
Although I have seen people puking over the side and keep on fighting a fish.
Found drinking a few beers before going out helps me.

 

Yeah, think I went 30 years without getting hit. More if you count playing in the water as a kid before I started surfing at 13.

It's weird 'cuz that spot where me and my buddy have taken multiple hits, I see throngs of people just stomping around all the time.

SO glad I've never really had a problem with motion sickness! (There are a couple types of spinny-flippy amusement park rides that have gotten to me)

Eating Ginger is supposed to be pretty effective from what I hear.

 

Interesting.
Haven't heard that before.
But again it usually didnt get to me to bad.
I'm surprised the Wife didnt get sick when we took the boat out on the lake.
The minute we'd go offshore She was susceptible to getting seasick.

 

I had an experience that scared the living crap out of me but I kind of laugh about it now. I was boogie boarding at Stinson Beach, which is known for high shark activity (lot's of great white sightings). I was chest deep in the ocean waiting for a wave and about 10 feet away a freaking sea lion popped up out of the water in between myself and the shore. I was not ok with that, and had no exit route. As soon as I felt comfortable I went in for the day. Those things are huge up close. LOL.

I really enjoy snorkeling, and try to do it whenever I'm in an area that is good for it. When I was in Belize a couple years ago, we were about 30 miles offshore where there are a bunch of small islands and a lot of really good snorkeling. We had a great day and swam for almost 8 hours. One highlight was swimming with a ton of nurse sharks. They're not huge and are mostly harmless. Being in the water with a few is really cool, but once there are about 15+ swimming all around you it gets a little weird. So back in the boat I went. Still a really cool experience.

 

Thats a Nurse Shark if I'm not mistaken.
Totally harmless.

 

That's literally what I wrote in the post.

 

Ah...yes you did.
Didnt read all the way to the end of your novel.
Sorry about that.

 

Awesome pics. Yeah, Stinson beach is right smack in the middle of "The Red Triangle".



Those Sea Lions still get me sometimes when they just pop up outta' nowhere.

Some of them are quite large, and they're LOUD... especially when they're right in your face and coming towards you.

I was trying to back up and give this dude space but he kept coming toward me. I just happened to have my camera in hand so I squeezed one off.



Even knowing Nurse Sharks are docile, a big crowd of "gray suits" all around would be a little spooky. Cool, but spooky.

The day after I saw the fin while surfing, Margo and I did a kayak tour at La Jolla Cove. It was her first time paddling through the caves.








Any of you who've been there know that it's Sea Lion central.





After we paddled through the caves we were out in about 40' of water and some of us jumped off the kayaks for a swim, and I thought very briefly about all the Sea Lions around and what my silhouette looks like from below.

 

The Marine Room - that place used to be a great restaurant. Is it still?

 

I’ve spent a fair amount of time surfing here in North Carolina and never had any shark encounters, that I knew of. I’ve run into many rays, nurse sharks and even several morays snorkeling in the Caribbean. The coolest shark encounters I’ve had was about 7 miles of Topsail Beach, NC. I was cruising at about 20 mph when I came over a swell and right I front of my boat was an 12+ foot great hammerhead shark, her dorsal fin was about 5 feet tall. I came off plane and got a good look at her as she swam off. What a beautiful animal.

 

It's still very popular, and books out WAAAYY in advance for the high tide brunch when the waves will be hitting the windows.

 

We were in your great state last month, my wife has family there in Lilington. Her aunt was mayor of Erwin for like 4 terms. Love the people there.

They rented a huge house on Topsail Island for a family reunion some years ago.

I really wanted to surf there, plant a pin in the map of places I've surfed, but I was recovering from surfer's ear surgery and couldn't go in.

 

I'd fight a shark. I won't fight a moose.

 

3 time world champion professional surfer Mick Fanning fought off a Shark 10 years ago in the middle of his heat in a contest in S. Africa, live and on camera.

I was watching the contest live on a webcast. His opponent in the heat was one of his good mates and fellow Aussie Julian Wilson.

Julian saw his friend being attacked by a Great White Shark and sprint paddled straight toward him. (and the shark) Pretty sure he'll never pay a bar tab again if out having beers with Mick.

SHORT VERSION:



60 Minutes segment:



Mick was back in the water a week later, and coincidentally threw out the first pitch at the Padre game I went to last Friday.

Yeah, fighting Moose doesn't usually go well...

 

Exactly. Never seen a video of someone fighting a moose and winning.

 

To be fair, a lot of the people in those videos are not very smart.

Hard to develop a sound fight strategy if you're stupid AND drunk.

*SOUND UP*

 

Yeah...the Dilaudid is your friend when you're in pain.
Shit hits you like a Ton of Bricks!!!
One second you're in extreme pain the next you're on Cloud Nine!!!
I can see how people get hooked on stuff like that.
They hit me with the stuff when my appendix burst.
At the time I was doing a lot of partying,as in Mandrax and other "recreational Drugs".....
Told them as much and that I had a high tolerance because of it.
The Dilaudid didnt care....instant relief.
Of course they had to hit me twice...

 

Yeah...unfortunately the Gulf of Mexico doesnt produce any awe inspiring waves.
You'll occasionally get some nice waves but they're few and far between.
We always kept an eye on the tropics during Hurricane season.
When everyone else left the beach we were their waiting for some good surf.
While they got big during a Hurricane they were usually sloppy.
Unfortunately the best waves were in the winter when the north winds helped hold em up.
Used to leave work when the Surf Report said they were good.
The best waves were around Bob Hall Pier....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_TzhfCg_70

 

Dammit....makes me want to get another Board!!!
Pushing 60 so I figure I better start getting in all the stuff I used to enjoy before it's to late.

 

Yep, tough place to be a surfer. I went to Bob Hall pier once looking for surf when we were down there 'cuz I knew that was one of the spots that occasionally works.
This was not one of those occasions... don't think I ever even saw a surfable wave. (and I find ways to have fun on some pretty shitty waves)

But when all the stars align, even Unicorn spots like Alabama can get good! (I'm not sure I even knew Alabama had a beach before I heard about this)

 

Damn!!
Would have never thought Alabama would have decent waves....
But I guess the same can be said about Texas.

 

The waves do get better the further South you go.
We'd take the trip to South Padre Island National Seashore every once in a while.
It was hard to base your trip on the waves for the most part.
It's a long drive from Houston and it takes a lot of prep time if ya wanna camp on the beach and be comfortable.
We're talking generators,A/C units for the tent and everything else you need for a couple weeks on the beach.
It is Bad Ass though.
60 miles of beach front thats totally uninhabited!!
The Wildlife is insane!!

 

"Yeah! Get 'im, get 'im!!"

Wish there was a follow up showing how bad he got his ass beat.

 

You're lucky to live in a place like that.
Southern Cali is about the only place in the Continental US you can see it.

 

Can't walk 5 feet on the sand of any of Topsail (North Topsail, Surf City, Topsail Beach) without tripping over 100's of shark's teeth.

As for hammerheads, had 3 follow us in the gulf stream about 40 miles off of Hatteras inlet for about 2 hours while we were tuna fishing. It was cool for about 20 minutes, kind of terrifying the rest of the time.

 

Was surfing at La Jolla Shores last Thursday. Lifeguard pulled his Tacoma right down to the shoreline, came over the loud speaker and suggested everyone get out of the water as there was a sighting of a shark in the water. I looked around and no other surfers were getting out, so we all shrugged it off and stayed out there. We all know they're out anyway, I just don't want to be the only guy in the water when they come around.

 

La Jolla area is known to have a pretty substantial amount of Great White activity, though the big boys are usually off shore a ways.

Shores has been one of my go to spots for at least 45 of my 50 surfing years.

The first Shark I ever actually saw was just up the beach, surfing Blacks. I was a freshman in HS and surfing with one of the "cool guys", a senior BMOC.

Long interval ground swell so there was long lulls with NO waves at all between sets... nothing to do but look for that shark he just spotted... shit.
It was just cruising, up the coast past him, then you wouldn't see it for awhile, and then I'd see it down by me.

That was back when I wanted people to think I was cool, and if you admitted you were scared you weren't cool.

When I noticed that even the cool senior was getting a little nervous about the whole thing and not cracking jokes anymore then I'd had enough.

Caught a wave when a set finally came and went in.

Years later I did a lot of fishing off Blacks and Torrey Pines, we'd launch my friend's little boat through the surf down at Shores launch and fish all up and down that stretch and we would see a TON of Thresher Sharks feeding on bait balls. Really pretty cool the way they hunt, stun the baitfish with a swing of the huge tail, then just come back and enjoy the buffet. Non Nom Nom

Can't believe I never saw them outside when surfing Blacks.

 

Read your post yesterday and thought about it during my dawn patrol this AM; then some dolphins swam by and I though it was a cool coincidence considering your first post.

After 45 minutes of some thigh-high-and-firing fun, I randomly cut my heel (maybe on my fin?). I decided to end the session when the blood started to flow- just in case it was an even stronger coincidence lol.

 

Lucky!! It was one of those warm, muggy, gentle summer rain mornings here today. I've had some magic sessions on days like that.

I'd have loved to be surfing this morning, instead I was going to work.

Apparently, they're changing popular scientific opinion about Sharks being attracted to blood.

Yes, they can smell a very small amount of blood in the water from a very long distance, but they seem pretty disinterested in human blood.

Now put some fish blood in the water, especially if it's from a distressed fish... they sense the vibrations, erratic movements, maybe even electrical impulses of struggling prey... couple drops of fishy blood and they're all over it.

Glad you got some nuggets this morning, hope the foot heals up quickly... fin cuts can be nasty.

 

@SD Surfer - Thanks!

Luckily it was just a flesh wound - I'll be back at it tomorrow AM.

If I'm not in early, life makes it pretty difficult to get wet any other time- so I'm with the first-light pre-sunrise crew most of the time.

Interesting fact on the attraction to human blood - I'll remind myself every time my clumsy self gets some random injury in the water!

We head down to San Diego for 10-14 days every year; my son and I had a few fun sessions at Old Man's about three weeks ago (after we got the parking situation handled - it's a little more crowded than I'm used to). I do love the warmer water though!