Kayaking in the ocean w/ a shark following you.

[ZooJunkie]

I thought this picture sums the fear of being tailed quite well.

Wow. Hold on to your pantyhose.

[viatierra]

Hope that guy has something a bit more satisfying than a bag of trail mix! Think he has a leg of lamb stashed in that kayak somewhere??

[pskhaat]

I'm no expert at all, but can someone chime in if that is indeed a Great White? Looks like a reef shark to me.

[kbellve]

It says a great white and appears to be true:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/sharkkayak.asp

[ZooJunkie]

Some more excellent photos from the research team in S.A.

http://www.whitesharktrust.org/pages...e/media25.html

[ZooJunkie]

I'm no expert at all, but can someone chime in if that is indeed a Great White? Looks like a reef shark to me.

Reef sharks have a black tip and don't usually grow up to be 4 meters long.

[Spikepretorius]

Yup the sharks down here are getting very active.

Regardless of your opinion on sharks or what the various interest groups might say, my personal experience as a lifelong surfer is that the activity has increased alarmingly and I no longer surf!

Kayaks get chased or chomped fairly often and attacks on swimmers and surfers has increased. In season a helluva lot more sharks are sighted and their behavior is more curious and threatening than it used to be.

[Martyn]

Yup the sharks down here are getting very active.

Regardless of your opinion on sharks or what the various interest groups might say, my personal experience as a lifelong surfer is that the activity has increased alarmingly and I no longer surf!

Kayaks get chased or chomped fairly often and attacks on swimmers and surfers has increased. In season a helluva lot more sharks are sighted and their behavior is more curious and threatening than it used to be.

Spike

I would agree, and heard similar reports from surfing friends in Kommetjie.

It was interesting surfing at the Beach at Muizenberg and being in the water with the shark spotters up on Old Boys Drive scanning the sea for sharks, and the shark watch flags fluttering on the beach.

It seems a little foolish thinking about it now to have been in the water, but after catching the first wave it seemed to be worth while.

My 12 year old daughter leant too surf at Gary's Surf School. She is extremely Shark phobic but after she caught her first wave we couldn't get her out of the water. Must be genetic.

Phobias are very strange. The thought of walking through the bush in the Transkei seems insane when you think of all the Mambas that are about. But while you're actually doing it the fear is very subdued.

[Spikepretorius]

Martyn are you ex-Capetonian? I used to know a Martyn Davies in my school days. Brother of Callan.

[pskhaat]

Reef sharks have a black tip and don't usually grow up to be 4 meters long.

Granted reading the rest of the stuff is a Great White, but I'm pretty positive the reef sharks I've seen against our boat in the West Indies weren't exactly black tipped, and were pretty dark colored too. The locals definetely called them reef sharks.

My wife and I suprised a 12-14' tiger shark swimming in a reef and I had no idea how omnious that size of a shark could be when you're right in the water next to 'em, but it was an experience I'll never forget.