Surviving a Shark Attack: Poke its Eyes Out and its Jaws Will Loosen.
Mon, May 12, 2008
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Great White Attacks its prey. Image by 126 club
Jason Cull, 37, is a lucky swimmer that managed to escape a ferocious shark attack. A 16 foot Great White, attacked him while swimming at the
“Initially I thought it was a dolphin but when it came up and banged straight into me, I realized what it was,” Jason said.
Escaping a shark attack is not an easy thing when you consider that fear takes over your mind and reactions are partially restrained. Jason probably took the best solution and poked the shark directly in the eye. “I just remember being dragged along backwards. I was trying to feel its gills but I found its eye and I stuck my finger in and that’s when it let go.”
Though the shark let him loose, half of Jason’s calf was ripped off and he was left with deep lacerations to the knee and thigh.
The shark kept circling the prey, but Jason managed to reach the surface and got to warn the other swimmers who eventually started to panic. Risking her life, Joanne Lucas, a 50 year old volunteer lifeguard heard the noise, went into the water, and brought the injured swimmer to the beach. “Thankfully she took me into shore,” he said. “I don’t think I would have made it the rest of the way by myself”.
Jason Cull was given first aid on the beach and then sent to a hospital in
A sea rescue plane that was investigating the area managed to see not just one, but a total of three sharks. The reason why they got attracted so close to the shores, was probably school of fish. Actions to lure sharks away from the area turned out to be unsuccessful and the authorities had to close the beaches.
Out of the total 71 shark attacks worldwide in 2007, twelve were on
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May 13th, 2008 at 4:05 am
Dang. haha… that’s really all I have to say.
May 13th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
This is interesting.
I always figured the best, in fact possibly the only way to escape a sharp once it had hold of you would be to jab it in the eye. Nice to know my reasoning was spot on.
Jason was extremely lucky, both to get away and to keep his head enough to try to escape in the first place.
That said, I do hope the shark wasn’t seriously injured or blinded. It was only following its nature and not trying to hurt anyone. In fact, it is possible that the shark was simply curious about the strange ‘object’ it had found and wanted to explore it with its most developed tactile sensory tool – its mouth! If it was simply looking for an easy meal, I doubt such an enormous great white would have given Jason the chance to fight back and not crunched him up immediately or dragged him under to drown him.
Of course there is another solution: Jason might have been doubly lucky – this shark might have been a really crap hunter!
Interesting story. Thanks.
Steve N. Lee
author of eco-blog http://www.lionsledbysheep.com
May 13th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Well Steve, as much as the shark was only following his natural instinct. So was Jason when he thought to jab it in the eye, survival instinct means you’ll do pretty much anything. It’s different than the coast guard hunting that specific shark down and specifically exterminating it. Then it’s an issue on “It was only doing what it was born to do”
May 13th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
To Steven N. Lee
If you were joking, forget what I’m about to say:
If you are actually worried about the shark in this case, you are an asshole! I hope the swimmer comes and pokes your eye out next! Go hug a tree jerk!
May 13th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
It’s a great white shark. They’re the apex predators of the sea. Biologically, it’s in their dna to be exceptional hunters! If it’s survived past birth, which it has, there’s no such thing as a crap hunter great white!
May 13th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
I’m not sure if anyone has seen the movie Sharkwater. I met the maker of the documentary who was trying to change perceptions of sharks. Generally they don’t attack humans and have gotten a bad reputation because of movies like Jaws. I wonder if food supplies weaken for sharks, we’ll see more attacks similar to mountain lions who have lost their habitat.
Dagny McKinley
http://www.onnotextiles.com
organic apparel
May 13th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Idiot.
May 14th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
This is NOT an environmental news piece. This is just a horrendous echo of the mass-media hysteria about sharks.
A number of species of sharks are endangered, and many are over-fished. We don’t need “news” about people getting attacked by sharks. It’s be happening for millions of years. It’s not news. What is news it the realisation that exterminating the ocean’s top predators is a recipe for disaster for the world’s ocean ecosystems, and following that, the rest of the land-based ecosystems on the planet.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
well done to this bloke for being quick-thinking enough to go for the eyes and gills. they’re bloody scary critters; i’d hate to think of what it’d be like with 16 feet of hell ripping off the back of your leg!
middleton’s been known to have sharks in the area, but this is a reminder to all regulars that these buggers are out there and will occasionally take a nip outta you! i love it how he stated that he “thought it was a dolphin, right up until….” yikes, i’ve been in a boat with one swimming around having a snoop, and can testify how pants-browningly scary they are up-close *shudders*
open-ocean swimmers can keep their salt water and waves, i’ll jump back in the lap pool next time i’m feeling like taking a dip, thanks all the same!
December 5th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
did this really happen if it did thats so cool well to me maybe not to jason
June 13th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Re Dagney”Dagny McKinley Says:
May 13th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
I’m not sure if anyone has seen the movie Sharkwater. I met the maker of the documentary who was trying to change perceptions of sharks. Generally they don’t attack humans and have gotten a bad reputation because of movies like Jaws. I wonder if food supplies weaken for sharks, we’ll see more attacks similar to mountain lions who have lost their habitat.”
That movie sounds awesome. I share the same message as the documentary maker. I constantly tell people how Jaws and hollywood created and irrational phobic fear of sharsk. Sharks are beautiful, highly misunderstand animals. Damn speilberg!!! lol :D But seriously, Sharsk are More beautiful and misunderstood than dangerous.