We had just arrived in Sydney when the shark attack in December occurred. It scared the living daylights out of my daughter who refused to the dolphin swim with us when we went to Sorrento Bay in Melbourne. She just sat on the edge of the boat looking down and simply refused to get in. She was also petrified that I was going to get eaten, poor thing. We have spoken about it a lot since then and have urged her to try to get used to swimming in the sea again (which was never a problem before). We have said (rightly or wrongly) that the water is too cold for sharks in Victoria, so the chances are very slim of a shark attack. Hearing this news is going to make her even more afraid, despite the chances being very slim.

One thought I'm holding on to: In this shark attack, the diver was 2km out to see (and in the one with the bloke on a surf board being towed there were also out at sea).

Whenever I swim in the sea, I swim parallel and very close to the shore (basically where I can still stand up if I need to). Sharks don't come *that* close to the beach. And your daughter won't be swimming 2km out at sea, I should think.

Gina

Some sharks very much do come in that close. Surfers have been taken 50m offshore. Some smaller sharks, though not necessarily dangerous sharks, can come in really close, say 2m water depth.

If they're small and not dangerous, then I have nothing to worry about, do I

Gina

Read my post properly. Surfers/swimmers have been taken 50m offshore not 2km. Don't worry anyway, shark attacks are extremely rare, although I know someone in South Africa who lost a leg to a shark.

With Australia being the third most dangerous place for shark attacks, does anyone know what part of oz gets more attacks. I know that when i last went to Brisbane there were 2 attacks the week we got there.

I think it's WA & SA. Just watched the report on BBC News24. They still have not found the body & don't think they will. One guy managed to get back into the boat. They think it was a great white. Tragic.

Here you go

http://sharks-attacks.netfirms.com/a...scuba/All2.htm

As you can see - attacks are VERY rare.

As some has said, it is there domain so i hope they don't go on the rampage and try to go after it. Is it true that bull sharks kill more people than any other shark

You could be right, I thought it was the great white.

what are you hoping to look like in it after youve been to the gym? a veggie burger??

I used to dive in South Africa a lot and even had the privilege of shark-diving during the ragged-tooth mating season (you are not in cages) and to be honest, it never really scared me (well, the shark dive did have me p-ing in my wetsuit, but every other time I dived, it was ok). Shark attacks are very rare in SA (although they are becoming more common in the Cape where great white bating, i.e. cage diving, occurs). However, I think I would be very nervous about diving in Australia. The warm open waters are just what sharks like and to them, humans are just as fair game as any other sea creature. It is simply a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and your chances of getting chomped are increased slightly because the australian waters probably carry more sharks than elsewhere in the world. Also, SA has shark nets that protect the swimmers. This is a debatable practice though as other creatures get caught in the nets (turtles, rays, even dolphins) and die. I don't know if Australia has these, sounds like they don't.

I suppose you could look at it and say that when it's your time to go, it's your time to go. My first husband died doing a routine dive on his advanced diver's course. A cross current caught him off-guard and pushed him into a rock very hard, he fell unconscious and drowned - not a shark in sight. The sea is a formidable force of nature and every person that enters it needs to treat it with the utmost respect, regardless.

LOL

Those stats, are for Divers ,in Australia add surfers to the equation, and it gets really scary........... mm

I remember reading some time ago that most shark attacks happen in water less than three feet deep!!!