134 Man Against Shark 



Then they came closer. "We'd do a lot of yelling and the sharks 

 would back off and look the situation over," Brown said later. "We don't 

 know how many there were. I don't know how big they were. They 

 seemed to be attracted to anything of light color. We were wearing black 

 socks and our flight suits, which was a help." 



One of the sharks seemed to single Brown out. It charged him. "The 

 shark had me by the shoulder and was shaking me," Brown said. "We 

 yelled, thrashed and kicked about in the water trying to get rid of it. 



^''Finally, I beat on its head with my fist and it let gor 



Brown's last act of defense worked. The shark swam off, though it 

 remained nearby in the water, along with others, until, after 12 hours 

 amid the circling sharks, the three survivors were rescued. 



The desperate yet purposeful defense Captain Brown and his com- 

 panions put up shows the only kind of thinking that gives a man a chance 

 in the water against an attacking shark. No defense guarantees survival, 

 for the odds are against a man who is facing an onrushing shark. 



Shadows beneath the surface are what we most often see when we 

 are privileged to see a shark or a skate or a ray. When you see a shark's 

 dorsal fin cutting a wave above the surface, beware! That shark is hunt- 

 ing and he may be looking at you for a meal. Unless it is the fin of a Basket 

 sunning himself and lazily straining plankton, it is probably one of several 

 species of sharks that are known or suspected to be aggressive hunters. 

 It may be wary in its approach or it may be direct in its attack. Do not 

 be lulled into security if you see no fin. Many shark attacks have been 

 made by a foraging shark that was not seen until the moment of its at- 

 tack—and often not until after it attacked. 



The authors subscribe to the beUefs of some of the leading explorers 

 of the underwater world who have made long observations of the be- 

 havior of sharks in their own habitat, that all must be considered as 

 individuals. This does not preclude the observation that there are species 

 that are peaceful in their way of life and species that are more aggressive. 

 But, it does imply that individuals of any species should be treated 

 with respect and caution. 



In its instructions to its frogmen and divers, the U.S. Navy gives a "dan- 

 ger rating" on 12 large sharks. The ratings range from "minimum danger" 

 to "maximum danger." As long as you remember that any shark can be 

 dangerous, especially when provoked, the Navy guide is not a bad index 

 to the relative known ferocity of the larger sharks. But the index should 

 not leave the implication that sharks not on it are harmless.^ 



With the admonition, then, that the Navy is describing only how dan- 

 gerous some sharks can be, we reproduce the guide on pages 132 and 133. 



1 The sharks mentioned in the Navy guide are described in Chapters 11 and 12. 



