I will NEVER go swimming in the ocean again

[Ava]

I'm watching "Ocean of Fear" which is part of Discovery Channel's shark week. I dont know why i subject myself to this torture, but I can't help it. Now I will never go swimming in the ocean again. :rofl:

Ocean of Fear is centered on the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, which had been torpedoed by a Japanese submarine on July 30, 1945 in the Philippine Sea. Of the estimated 900 men who survived the attack, only 321 were rescued after four days in shark infested waters. The Discovery Channel describes the event as "the worst shark attack in history."

YIKES!

[LynneSin]

1. I thought that after seeing Jaws

and yet I still spent 3am Sunday Morning frolicking in the Atlantic Ocean by Ashbury Park

[Ava]

4. you should see this though

i'm scared, very scared.

[soleft]

39. "By Ashbury Park"?

There was supposed to be some kind of big Road Show event in Asbury Park this weekend? Did you see anything good?

[LynneSin]

44. We got to Ashbury Park around 11:30pm on Saturday

and hit the Ocean around 3am early that morning

I hardly saw anything

[crim son]

2. I haven't seen the movie but I've heard the story.

There's another movie called "Open Water" about a couple who get stranded somewhere amongst the sharks while either snorkeling or scuba diving. I seriously don't like the ocean since Jaws, and that movie just made my fear worse. I'll be sure to see "Ocean of Fear" when I run across it!

[Ava]

5. i haven't seen open water

i don't think i will :rofl:

this one is on discovery channel right now :scared:

[crim son]

6. I don't have cable,

else I'd be watching!

[SPKrazy]

3. yeah that is a horrible thing

imagine knowing that you were likely to get eaten swimming around trying to survive until they came and rescue you. talk about your terror, :scared:


:hi: Ava!

[Ava]

7. i'd be freaking out like crazy

:scared:

[SPKrazy]

8. just the thought of it Ava

gives me a new surge of panic, and I've already got some of that going already so i'm going to exit your thread but wish you good vibes and a happy evening :pals:

[Ava]

9. sowie :-(

have a good night! :pals:

[Skittles]

29. imagine being the last one to be snacked on

:o

[fudge stripe cookays]

33. And no one even KNOWING to come and rescue you!

The worst part was that the mission was top secret (delivering bomb parts for the atom bomb) and no one knew they'd been torpedoed until a plane flew over and saw them!

[fishnfla]

10. The US Navy left them sailors out there

and then tried to scapegoat the Captain

They were in the water for how many days before they were noticed missing?

its easier to blame the sharks

[Ava]

11. well this isn't about the navy

it's about sharks because it's shark week ;)

[fishnfla]

13. thats too bad

because in the truth behind this story, there is a metaphor about some other war...with different lies

its easier to blame the insurgents,sharks, whatever kills 'em

:(

[hiaasenrocks]

12. Aww, don't say that.

There's way too much hype about shark attacks. In fact, you're more likely to be sent to Gitmo. :)

[Ava]

14. that doesn't make me feel any better

:rofl:

[hiaasenrocks]

15. OK, well let me try this.

If you ARE sent to Gitmo, and you manage to escape, your chance of getting attacked by sharks on your way to the Keys is less than the chance you had of going to Gitmo in the first place!

Or something...

:silly:

[Skittles]

28. oh come on

surely there are land sharks at Gitmo

[BreweryYardRat]

16. I'm watching it too.

Interesting.

But you'll be just fine to swim. Just wear a dive mask.

[Joe Fields]

17. I read the story in Reader's Digest and it was horrible and compelling,

at the same time. I did a little ocean swimming in my youth, but I won't anymore, Ava. I've seen to many reports on the news, where a helicopter will show an aerial view of a beach and show numerous sharks right there. Swimmers cant see them, but they're there. No, no. Not me. Ever again!

[hiaasenrocks]

19. Shark attacks are very rare.

In fact, during the so-called "Summer of the Shark" there were fewer attacks than in previous years. The MSM had to have a summer hype story.

There were more drownings than shark attacks at the beaches that summer, but how many news stories did you hear? I'm guessing none...because those stories aren't bloody.

[Joe Fields]

21. Thanks, but I'll take my chances in a cement pond from now on.

:toast:

[hiaasenrocks]

22. What about pool sharks?!

:)

[Ekirh]

23. OR WORSE LAND SHARKS!

The cleverest of all sharks!!!

[NewJeffCT]

38. Ah yes, the Bullette

[Joe Fields]

24. lol! Or kids throwing Graham Nash in the pool?

:toast:

[NewJeffCT]

37. That summer, however

There were a few high profile shark attacks in the US. That probably spurred the hype. If it happens in Australia or South Africa, most Americans wouldn't care unless it was a wealthy young blonde.

[hiaasenrocks]

46. "High profile" because the media made it so.

There was nothing unusual about the attacks.

[WinkyDink]

45. All it takes is one---if you're dinner.

[NewJeffCT]

35. A co-worker of mine went on one of those helicopter rides

he was shocked at how many sharks were out there and how close they were to land - I think he flew over the Florida Keys.

[elshiva]

18. Here's the solution: go to Maine!

Maine in August is beautiful and no sharks. The water is cold, but it's nice when you get used to it.

[LostinVA]

42. Lots of sharks there -- and, sharks prefer colder water

[cobalt1999]

20. I worked with George Burgess

Great guy and he scared me off night swimming for the last 20 years.

[kwassa]

25. Last year, worldwide, 4 people were killed by sharks.

and about 60 were injured, but not fatally.

according to the Washington Post.

[BlueIris]

27. That was the most shocking reveal of the hour for me; that and the mention that humans kill

40 million sharks per year.

[pokerfan]

26. From the saloon of the Orca

Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss): You were on the Indianapolis?
Brody (Roy Scheider): What happened?
Quint (Robert Shaw): Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, chief. It was comin' back, from the island of Tinian Delady, just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in twelve minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. Thirteen footer. You know, you know that when you're in the water, chief? You tell by lookin' from the dorsal to the tail. Well, we didn't know. `Cause our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. Huh huh. They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, chief. The sharks come cruisin'. So we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know it's... kinda like `ol squares in battle like a, you see on a calendar, like the battle of Waterloo. And the idea was, the shark would go for nearest man and then he'd start poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the shark would go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark, he looks right into you. Right into your eyes. You know the thing about a shark, he's got...lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eye. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'. Until he bites ya and those black eyes roll over white. And then, ah then you hear that terrible high pitch screamin' and the ocean turns red and spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin' they all come in and rip you to pieces. Y'know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men! I don't know how many sharks, maybe a thousand! I don't know how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday mornin' chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player, bosun's mate. I thought he was asleep, reached over to wake him up. Bobbed up and down in the water, just like a kinda top. Up ended. Well... he'd been bitten in half below the waist. Noon the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us, he swung in low and he saw us. He'd a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper, anyway he saw us and come in low. And three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and start to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened? Waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went in the water, three hundred and sixteen men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.

(note: the date is wrong, perhaps intentionally.)

Also: When Quint tells his story of surviving the Indianapolis, he states that their mission was so secret no distress signal was sent. That is incorrect. In fact, the naval base that received the distress signal ignored it, thinking it was a Japanese trick. Another fact is that they weren't reported until a week over due. That is also incorrect. The Naval Base of the Philippines waited until the Indianapolis was overdue three days before reporting. That also contradicts Quint's story about being rescued five days later instead of a week.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indianapolis_%28CA-35%29

[NewJeffCT]

36. It was a great scene in the movie, though

and, if Quint was a sailor on the ship, he might not have known a distress signal was sent because, well, nobody came to pick them up.

[bluecrush]

30. Don't 'cha just love SHARK WEEK?

I mark my calendar every year. :)

[flvegan]

31. Bull sharks can live in fresh water.

I watched hours of Shark Week yesterday while I was futzing around the house. I lurves me some Shark Week.

[Burma Jones]

32. You could go to Galveston, TX and contract Flesh Eating Bacteria

I would rather a Shark take me out quickly.......

[fudge stripe cookays]

34. Yikes!

We were there in 2004 and there was a shark attack right outside our hotel. We saw the ambulance, wondered if that might be what happened, and sure enough...next day in the paper, there it was! :scared:

[Maine-ah]

40. I haven't been swimming in the ocean up here since I was about

12 years old. Too freakin' cold. Nothing to do with sharks. Lived in Florida for a couple of years after I graduated high school.....every time I went to the beach I got nailed by stupid little purple jelly fish. I never went in past my waist down there, because I was afraid of sharks. :scared:

[LostinVA]

43. Just going to your waist doesn't save you

Waders are one of the top category of people attacked by sharks.

[Maine-ah]

47. nope, but in my mind it made me feel better

like I had a better chance of getting out if there was one spotted in the water as opposed to having to swim in....

[Midlodemocrat]

41. My dear deceased dad had this to say after seeing 'Jaws'

"I won't go in their habitat, if they won't come in mine"