Post #394789 by Howland on Thu, Jul 17, 2008 8:28 PM

Our local news station here in Charleston, SC showed that pic today and the news crew debated whether or not it was a photoshop job. I new right off the bat it was real. I've seen sharks do the same thing here --not often , but a few times. Don't know if it was the same species but I've seen them do a complete breach nearshore. We have a lot of sand sharks here--could've been one of those.

The drama here is that there is a shark in the same picture as a surfer. You combine the 2 together and you get a good news story. The thing is that those spinners could care less if there were surfers or swimmers around. They don't want to eat us! For them to seek us out as a food source would be the same as any of us seeking out...say, a gorilla for food--just don't happen that much. When people get attacked by sharks, it's mostly accidental. That's excluding the tiger, bull and white sharks, mainly, which will eat a peeple just as a snack. Us right coasters don't really have to worry about the white shark much--not many around, no seals for them to feed on. (yay!)

I see sharks fairly regularly out in the surf but they're always chasing baitfish, mullet, etc. No big deal. You get out past the breaks and you can see all kind of stuff you can't see from sitting on the beach or wading in the inshore surf. You get that one photo of that shark with a swimmer or surfer in there---you're going nationwide, baby! Sensationalism is alive and well!

(knock on wood-I might be surfing tomorrow!)