Shark Attack! Do you think you could follow the advice?

I live on the Northern Atlantic coast. My children and I go to the beach often in the summer. Though it is really rare there has been shark sightings near the beach at times and noone will go to the beach. I have gone to the beach with the children and noone is there and wonder if there was a sighting and that is why people aren't there. When that happens I tend to stay closer to shore and watch where I step in the water. Once it was cloudy and I didn't stay in long. I think if I did see a shark I would probably panic like you too. I couldn't swim in deep waters because I would be afraid of what was there and freak out.

I don't like swimming in the ocean full stop, I know people will laugh at me but ever since I saw the film Jaws it sort of put me off swimming in the ocean, apart from that the sea can be polluted and you don't know what you are swimming in, and there's also jellyfish too which can sting and paralyze you. I think I would definitely panic and all the advice I have been told would have gone out of the window. its the fight or flight syndrome, faced with danger do you face it or do you run. I think panic would take over and I would be swimming for the shore as fast as my legs arms and heart could take me. I stick to swimming pools, no dangers of beasties in there!

Yes I could follow the advice and have actually had to! I used to be a surf lifesaver and when the motorized boat was not working properly we sometimes had to paddle on a kneeboard out into the ocean and follow a shark so that we could signal the tower when it had passed outside of the nets. It was always a very scary situation to be in and I used to fall off the kneeboard a LOT! Yes I did panic inside but on the outside I generally managed to stay pretty calm! I have also encountered sharks when surfing too; at first I used to race into shore like everyone else; but after this had happened a few times I ended up just ignoring the shark and kept surfing! They are far more harmless than most people realize and if you use common sense it is ulikely you will be attacked.

[b]hi cjay77!! i don't think i will be calm and still when a shark is near me. they say that it does not attract the noise that you make on water but it is the heart beat that they hear. when your heart beat is in a panic mode then expect you be attacked by a shark. this has been tested in one of the documentaries i have seen in animal planet. they tested it on bull sharks since these sharks are more into attacking. the lady was able to tame the bull sharks while under water and she is being surrounded like hundreds of them. if i were here for sure i won't come out of water alive even though i can swim fast hahaha! happy posting and happy mylotting![/b]