2008-03-01 [Tickle Me Emo]: Well, considering that we have actually explored an inifinitesimally small portion of the Earth's oceans, we thankfully haven't been all that thorough. Yet.

I've been trying to find reliable sources for statistics on sharks, especially in regards to attacks, but it's been hard because a lot of sites are complete bogus. Does anybody have a good source or two? Any media.

Did you hear about this researcher who was filming a show on bull sharks for a Shark Week, and when he was discussing how unlikely it was to be bitten by the sharks (even though they are one of the most aggressive species, especially towards humans) he got bitten in the calf. Which was incredibly ironic. But the point is, he was invading the environment in which creatures besides ourselves are more comfortable and (quite frankly) more dominant. The nice thing was they pointed that out in the program.

2008-03-01 [The Monochrome Rainbow]: yeah, but people will still only see what they want to see, and with so much misinformation about, they never will know the truth.

2008-03-01 [The Monochrome Rainbow]: i wish i did have some statistics for you, I can look in a book i have, encyclopedia of fishes....

hmm, "each year 30 people (worldwide I'm assuming) are killed by sharks, and people kill 700,000 tonnes / 771,400 tons of sharks and rays.

2008-03-01 [The Monochrome Rainbow]: the book is Encyclopedia of Fishes second edition, published in 1998 by Fog City Press. i can get the rest of the info you need for proper citation, if you like.

2008-03-01 [Tickle Me Emo]: No, no, I just want some reliable sources I can do some research. Education is essential after all. People listen to you much more when you are knowledgeable and have (appropriate) statistics. I'm taking a stats class this year, so I'm becoming increasingly able to accept or refute, and some of the stats I've seen in some sources are just plain awful.
Problem is... remembering statistics is definitely not my strong point :P

2008-03-01 [The Monochrome Rainbow]: that and many of them could be easily.... slaughtered. I could say something like "So and So is the #1 New York times bestselling author" (I work in a bookstore) and many books have that printed on the cover, by several different authors. and all of them are NYT bestselling authors. I wondered at the use of the word "The" Singular. They are usually referring to a single week or two that they topped the charts.

2008-03-01 [The Monochrome Rainbow]: stats are twisted a lot. Hopefully, you'll be able to decipher the more truthful ones from the ones that have been mutilated for personal gain.

2008-03-01 [Tickle Me Emo]: That is one of the reasons I took the class. It has a direct application to life outside a math major, haha... it can be used in the context of sharks, even.
But the whole bestselling author scenario isn't about statistics, it's about claims, but both should be under equal scrutiny, and oftentimes statistics are included in claims, or the two overlap.

2008-03-01 [The Monochrome Rainbow]: it was just one example of how information can be skewed.

another would be the stats concerning what percentage of Americans are overweight. They never tell you what their basis is for establishing those parameters, or what scale is used to measure it. you know what i mean.

2008-03-01 [Byne]: If you want reliable information on shark attacks, I'd recommend you check out the International Shark Attack File.

I've seen that clip. That was a provoked attack, as they had baited the water to attract the sharks. It was his own stupidity that got him bitten. >_<

There are only around 5 unprovoked attacks each year. Most of the others reported are almost completely the humans fault. And generally, fatalities occur when sufficeint medical attention is not given to the victim.

2008-03-01 [The Monochrome Rainbow]: Was boating in the gulf once, and saw another boat throwing chum in just before sending their divers in. I thought it was a bit ludicrous. We were going to do some diving that day, but decided to put some distance between ourselves and the idiot boat. I've swam with wild sharks and rays, and they have never bothered me. People just have to remember to be respectful of them.

2008-03-01 [Tickle Me Emo]: Speaking of being respectful, an 18' great white was just caught off the coast of my home state. The guys who caught it were actually fishing for other sharks. If I'm not mistaken, it was killed for a trophy. Which is a bit ludicrous, if you ask me.

2008-03-01 [Byne]: ...Great whites are always tagged as horrible creatures. Its one of my goals in life to dive with them. <3

I know that its common for there to be shark fishing competitions in Florida. .-.

I've been on a cage-free shark dive where they baited the water. Nowever, the area we were in only attracts reef sharks, and on RARE occasion, a tiger. I was surrounded by over 40 sharks that were 3-7 feet long. It was an amazing experiance. FOund a few teeth after it too. 8D

2008-03-02 [Tickle Me Emo]: That does sound amazing... if there's any shark I want to dive with most, it's the whale shark. They are so amazing, but there is so little known about them.

2008-03-02 [Byne]: -Flails her arms around.- I might have the opportunity to dive with them. <3 I'm flying to Thailand to work on a marine conservation project, and the most common shark species there is the leopard shark, and it is one of the best places to spot whale sharks. -Spasms.-

2008-03-03 [The Monochrome Rainbow]: trophy hunters...ugh. Hunting for food is one thing, and i believe that everything in the animal that can be used should be. Killing for trophies just irritates me to no end.

Jealous, [Byne] promise to take a lot of pictures an bring back to ET!

2008-03-03 [Byne]: I will. I just bought a digital camera with under water housing so I can get pictures when I'm diving. Hoping to get some shots of leopard sharks, I am. :3

2008-03-04 [The Monochrome Rainbow]: I can't wait to see!

2008-03-04 [Tickle Me Emo]: I am majorly jealous! I imagine a good photo might make a great banner... 0.0

2008-03-04 [Byne]: Exactly what I was thinking. 8D
I'm off to Hawaii this week, so I'll be back with some good pictures, I hope. 8D

2008-04-09 [Trist]: i'll support this cos im an environmentalist. animals = love.