NYP: Who’s attacking whom here?
Marine experts and advocates in Australia are urging the public to refrain from using the word “attack” in reference to sharks, declaring that the majestic predatory fish has been unfairly stigmatized as a deliberate killer.
Instead, officials have suggested that violent run-ins with sharks be dubbed with more neutral words — such as “interactions.”
Others have suggested swapping the word with the terms “negative encounter,” “incident” or simply “bites,” the Sydney Morning Herald recently reported.
” ‘Shark attack’ is a lie,” said University of Sydney language researcher Christopher Pepin-Neff, who argued that a majority of what people call “attacks” are merely nips and minor injuries from smaller sharks.
He also told the Aussie outlet that such phenomena were once called “shark accidents,” prior to the 1930s when prominent Sydney surgeon Victor Coppleson began calling them “attacks.”
The change marked a shift in mood as shark nets were also being implemented on Australian beaches at that time. more here
“Mouth Hugs”
I vividly recall summer 2001 as the ‘year of the shark attack’. There were nearly 100 in the US. Which is typical, the vast majority are ankle bites in murky water on the east coast, and 2001 wasn’t far from normal. But the press needed something to talk about so they exaggerated the hell out of sharks. Then, of course, came September 11.
“Mostly peaceful fish dismemberment and death.”
Tell this to the woman that had the “encounter” last summer in Maine.
Help!
I’m being “interacted” by a shark!
Global annual statistics (numbers are small so there is some variance):
About 100 ‘attacks’, of which most require a few stitches around the ankle area.
About 5 fatalities – of which 4 were unintentional (shark released once it realized it wasn’t a sea lion or whatever it thought it was) and about 1 a year where the shark intentionally stalked the victim. But that last one was almost certainly near Australia or South Africa.
I have spent a lot of time in the ocean. I think about sharks but I don’t worry about them – and have chased (small) sharks and dolphins when I saw them.
As long as I have my Holy Handgrenade for the negative encounters with rabbits
Sure, they’re cute an cuddly till they rip your torso in half.
“negative encounter”?
I bet the shark thought it was positive.
That’s like changing the name of the Jewfish to the Goliath grouper. I was watching a Roland Martin fishing show and he was out to catch Jewfish and I’m sure he was told by sponsors to call it “Goliath grouper.” He said it the first time, but after that he said “Jewfish” about four times during the show. Good for you, Roland.
Changing the language doesn’t change the real world.
The map is not the territory.
Their gonna need a bigger brain.
Ah, so Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland merely had BLM encounters….
…how enlightened.
Many humans need fear to pay attention, I doubt if any sharks are offended by what human adjectives are used to describe them. Like the fools who want to pet bison and be pals.
They’re just getting their new teeth,they are expected to get a little nippy.
Oh, Good Lord!
Just swim when Orcas are around as they like to eat shark livers.
Play date?
“Attack” or “interaction” — you’re still either maimed for life or dead. I’ll stick with “attack”, thankyouverymuch.
The Nation destroying behaviors of democrats to be described as “human interactions”, without use of such discriminatory terms as “negative”, “harmful”, “treasonous:, “totalitarian” in 3… 2… 1…
My dad was a Corsair mechanic in the USMC and was stationed on Midway Island. He and his buddies made a boat from belly tanks and would go out into the lagoon. There, they would spot tiger sharks swimming in the clear Pacific water and drop grenades onto them. About a year and a half ago, I found a box of photos my dad took. Sure enough, there was a photo of my dad and four other Marines in the boat and another photo of a huge tiger shark on a trailer on the beach.
Lefties have a tenuous “interaction” with reality.
So relieved that Bull shark didn’t mean to take my leg off, he was just unfairly stigmatized and misunderstood…
People are fucking looney tunes.