Torres: Share your shark stories and photos with me
My old friend, Dr. Lance Maki, died in a surfing accident a few years ago at the age of 71, doing what he loved.
The well-respected doctor and former fighter pilot surfed all over the world and even started tandem surfing in his 60s. It wasn't his world travels, surfing exploits or even his friendship with the original "Gidget" that I'll always remember. No, it was something he told me about sharks.
I asked him if he was afraid of sharks while surfing. He scoffed and said "in California the sharks eat people. In Florida? They're just like nasty dog bites."
That bit of reassurance was not quite enough to get me to try paddle boarding or surfing despite his desire to teach me. I don't want to get eaten but I certainly don't want a "nasty dog bite" either.
Sharks. We love them, we fear them, we respect them and we may even hate them.
They are beautiful, scary, prehistoric, misunderstood, toothy, hunted and the apex predator.
The much-maligned, perfect eating machines will be the subject of a weeklong series of stories here at FLORIDA TODAY during ― when else ― Shark Week, July 7-14. And, I would love your help.
Email me your shark stories and locally taken pictures and videos. Don't forget to include your name and where your shark encounter took place so I can give you credit.
Why do this project? Well, other than the obvious fact that sharks are pretty friggin cool, our state leads the nation annually in the number of unprovoked shark bites.
And while Volusia County — just to our north — has the title of "Shark Bite Capital of the World," the Space Coast has seen its share of incidents over the years. There were two confirmed "unprovoked" shark attacks last year in Brevard County and there have been 158 since records started getting kept in 1882 and, alas, Florida has seen some fatal shark attacks over the years.
Still chances are nothing will happen to you as you cool off in the surf during the next few months. But there are some who never venture into the waters for that fear alone. I do remember one instance about 15 years ago when a bunch of kids fishing in the surf near Indialantic caught a Spanish Mackerel. One of the teens said, "leave it on the hook, they make great shark bait."
I was playing with my kids on the sand when suddenly a 5-foot shark started thrashing in the shallow waters maybe four feet from the shore line. That shark appeared no more than 30 seconds after the mackerel was caught! I probably spent more time in my pool that summer than I ever had before.
Now, the recent news that a massive (14-foot, 1,700-pound) tagged Great White shark recently pinged off our coastline might be a bit disconcerting to some.
But before you decide to forego the ocean for fear of sharks, consider this: only two of the 14 world-wide shark-related deaths in 2023 were in the U.S., and they occurred in Hawaii and California.
Compare that to the fact that more than 100 people worldwide were killed by tigers in 2022 and going for that swim should be a no-brainer. And while nearly 500 people globally were killed by tigers between 2014 and 2022, roughly 4,000 lost their lives in elephant attacks during about the same period.
During our weeklong shark event, we'll let you know what kinds of sharks inhabit our waters, what they eat, how to avoid an encounter, and what to do if you're bit. But we'll also be looking at what sharks are teaching us about cancer research and tumors and even boat designs.
More: Melbourne Beach neighborhood has conflict with shark fishermen
More: 2nd massive great white shark in 2 days pings off Space Coast ahead of Delta IV Heavy launch
We'll consider at other potentially dangerous marine life in our waters (I had a Portuguese man-o-war jellyfish scar on my leg for years before it finally faded) and maybe even have some fun talking with local chefs on how best to prepare a shark dinner.
Lastly, and maybe most important, we'll also be looking at conservation efforts and what overfishing has done to the shark populations. They are overfished in many Asian countries solely for their fins, which are said to help with sexual potency. I guess Viagra hasn't made much of an impact there.
A college professor in an ecology class once explained to me why we should selfishly care about sharks. He said overfishing of sharks will result in higher prices for shrimp. He explained in simplified terms that sharks eat the fish that eat the shrimp. Take sharks out of that equation and no more shrimp cocktail.
We hope you'll check back often to floridatoday.com and don't forget to send your stories, photos and videos to [email protected] and please write shark in the subject line.
Happy swimming!
Contact Torres at [email protected]. You can follow him on X @johnalbertorres or on Facebook at facebook.com/FTjohntorres.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Shark Week in Brevard, Florida: Share stories of bites, encounters