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Should killer sharks be killed.

Should killer sharks be killed?

  • Total voters
    38
Goshin said:
The ocean is the ocean. It is kinda big. Humans use some of it. Sharks use some of it. Going into the ocean-in-general is not logically equivalent to deliberately entering a coyote den.
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You are 'walking' into where they live, where they breed, and where they hunt. (and they believe some shark attacks are due to a female clearing the area where she's going to give birth or lay eggs)

Perhaps. I am not necessarily advocating that we go out and kill a thousand sharks every time there's a shark attack. However if we do happen to catch an identified man-biter, unusual tho that might be, I think it should be killed.
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There's no way to identify a 'man eater'. It's not like the person who was attacked sticks a radio transmitter on the shark that attacked them. ;)

I know that they don't ALL go on a humanivore spree if they get away with killing one human... but many are MORE LIKELY to attack a human again if they get away with it once, in the general sense. More than enough reason to kill any animal that makes an attack on a human, absent egregious provocation.
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Personally, I think going into their hunting, living, and breeding grounds is "egregious provocation".

Besides, shark attacks are so fricken rare and sharks are VITAL (I cannot stress this enough) to our fisheries.
 
Your Star said:
On land, I can agree with this. But in water, were in their domain, and they are top dog.
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Exactly. So when Top Dog gets near me, I'm gonna kill him. I ain't gonna just roll over and accept that just because some dumb-ass shark can't tell me from a seal I have to die for it. I will kill that thing quicker than a rattlesnake. (Unless, of course, it takes me a long time to reel it in. LOL!) I have also been known to throw a stingray or two up under the bow.
 
Coronado said:
It appears that humans don't taste good to sharks, so I wonder if it is actually less likely that a shark who has bitten a human would try to bite one again.
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Not as long as it keeps thinking you're a seal. LOL!
 
Goshin said:
That's because we ain't played Cowboys and Sharks yet. :mrgreen:
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:lol:

Is there proof-positive that there's no such thing as a serial maneater shark? If so I will recant. Otherwise I stick by it: if we do happen to catch a known man-biter we end his "tale" right there.
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All of the cereal eating sharks prefer lucky charms.

In truth, people who surf are imitating seals. It's a risky venture, like skydiving. the known risk of imitating a seal on the ocean is that sharks will potentially chomp on you.
 
ludahai said:
Sharks have far more to fear from humans than we do from sharks, sadly. In this part of the world, shark fin soup if a popular dish.
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That is a horrible practice that I hope will be banned in the near future.

As for animals killing humans, I am on the fence. In many instances, people's stupidity are to blame for wild animals attacking/killing, yet many will face an inevitable death because of it. I think with some species, they must be put down because more than likely, they will attack a human--given the opportunity--again.
 
Captain America said:
Exactly. So when Top Dog gets near me, I'm gonna kill him. I ain't gonna just roll over and accept that just because some dumb-ass shark can't tell me from a seal I have to die for it. I will kill that thing quicker than a rattlesnake. (Unless, of course, it takes me a long time to reel it in. LOL!) I have also been known to throw a stingray or two up under the bow.
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While the shark is attacking you, I have no problem with someone attacking it. But to go afterwards, and kill sharks just because one attacked someone isn't right.
 
rivrrat said:
You are 'walking' into where they live, where they breed, and where they hunt. (and they believe some shark attacks are due to a female clearing the area where she's going to give birth or lay eggs)


...Personally, I think going into their hunting, living, and breeding grounds is "egregious provocation".
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I don't agree.

When I walk out my door, I am entering Nature. I live out in the country. Sometimes there are raccoons or possum in my yard or on my porch. A fox once attacked my son on our porch.

Maybe they considered my front yard part of "where they live, breed and hunt". I don't give a ****. If they frack with me or mine, I shoot 'em. If they inconvenience me, I shoot 'em.

When I go hiking or camping in the State forest, I am most emphatically going where bear, coyotes and other potential people-biters live, breed and hunt. If they frack with me or mine, I will shoot them in their own "front yard".

It is nature's way. frack with a wolf, and he'll probably bite you. Wolf fracks with me, I shoot him. Same diff. Strange dog in my yard growls at me or acts aggressive, he gets shot dead on the spot.

Coyote gets hungry, he kills him some fluffy bunny. I do likewise. If coyote can't find some fluffy bunny, maybe he tries a bite of Baby Human. When this happens, we hunt his ass down and kill him... it's our little polite way of saying Don't Do It Again, We Don't Like It and We Are Bigger BadAsses Than You.

Okay, maybe going out in a gazillion boats and killing 1000 sharks in reaction to one bite attack is a bit much, I can see that. Contrariwise, I recall a case where a modest-size shark attacked some children in shallow water. Mommy went hyper-adrenaline and dragged the shark out on the beach by the tail. She then got a 4x4 post with a nail in it and beat the shark to death.

Should she not have done that? Should she have gotten her children out of the water, scolded them for infringing on the shark's hunting grounds, then pulled the shark back into the water and let it go?

I say no, if we have our hands on a known man-biter, kill it.


Besides, shark attacks are so fricken rare and sharks are VITAL (I cannot stress this enough) to our fisheries.
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Not my area o expertise, I'll take your word on it. I'm not talking about exterminating sharks as a genus or even reducing their numbers drastically, just saying that in principle known man-biters should be killed if opportunity arises.
 
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Goshin said:
I don't agree.

When I walk out my door, I am entering Nature. I live out in the country. Sometimes there are raccoons or possum in my yard or on my porch. A fox once attacked my son on our porch.

Maybe they considered my front yard part of "where they live, breed and hunt". I don't give a ****. If they frack with me or mine, I shoot 'em. If they inconvenience me, I shoot 'em.

When I go hiking or camping in the State forest, I am most emphatically going where bear, coyotes and other potential people-biters live, breed and hunt. If they frack with me or mine, I will shoot them in their own "front yard".
It is nature's way. frack with a wolf, and he'll probably bite you. Wolf fracks with me, I shoot him. Same diff. Strange dog in my yard growls at me or acts aggressive, he gets shot dead on the spot.
Coyote gets hungry, he kills him some fluffy bunny. I do likewise. If coyote can't find some fluffy bunny, maybe he tries a bite of Baby Human. When this happens, we hunt his ass down and kill him... it's our little polite way of saying Don't Do It Again, We Don't Like It and We Are Bigger BadAsses Than You.
Okay, maybe going out in a gazillion boats and killing 1000 sharks in reaction to one bite attack is a bit much, I can see that. Contrariwise, I recall a case where a modest-size shark attacked some children in shallow water. Mommy went hyper-adrenaline and dragged the shark out on the beach by the tail. She then got a 4x4 post with a nail in it and beat the shark to death.

Should she not have done that? Should she have gotten her children out of the water, scolded them for infringing on the shark's hunting grounds, then pulled the shark back into the water and let it go?
I say no, if we have our hands on a known man-biter, kill it.
Not my area o expertise, I'll take your word on it. I'm not talking about exterminating sharks as a genus or even reducing their numbers drastically, just saying that in principle known man-biters should be killed if opportunity arises.
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It might be just a small point...but 'man' is part of 'nature'...we are just more advanced predators.
 
VanceMack said:
It might be just a small point...but 'man' is part of 'nature'...we are just more advanced predators.
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Thank you, that was part of my point.
 
16 to 0, speaks well for the poll responders, this poll anyway.
Some sharks are close to being endangered; man is not.
 
Goshin said:
Thank you, that was part of my point.
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Oh I got it...I just hear it all the time form folks here how delicate the food chain is and how we have to preserve all the animals in the food chain and if you remove even one you destroy the food chain...as if we arent a link IN that food chain.

I laugh when the nature lovers build their cabins in the mountains and THEN decide there shouldnt be any more building...because its important to balance 'nature'...and then they want to kill off the predators that threaten their little children while they are off walking in 'nature'. I recall a few incidents in California not too long ago when mountain lions attacked hikers...and people were shocked...shocked I say!
 
VanceMack said:
Oh I got it...I just hear it all the time form folks here how delicate the food chain is and how we have to preserve all the animals in the food chain and if you remove even one you destroy the food chain...as if we arent a link IN that food chain.

I laugh when the nature lovers build their cabins in the mountains and THEN decide there shouldnt be any more building...because its important to balance 'nature'...and then they want to kill off the predators that threaten their little children while they are off walking in 'nature'. I recall a few incidents in California not too long ago when mountain lions attacked hikers...and people were shocked...shocked I say!
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Yeah, I know, its funny as hell isn't it, when Yuppies realize that "Nature Bites" :mrgreen:
 
Captain America said:
Exactly. So when Top Dog gets near me, I'm gonna kill him. I ain't gonna just roll over and accept that just because some dumb-ass shark can't tell me from a seal I have to die for it. I will kill that thing quicker than a rattlesnake. (Unless, of course, it takes me a long time to reel it in. LOL!) I have also been known to throw a stingray or two up under the bow.
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That's different than going out and killing every shark in sight in some feeble attempt to "get the one that got you".
 
Goshin said:
I don't agree.

When I walk out my door, I am entering Nature. I live out in the country. Sometimes there are raccoons or possum in my yard or on my porch. A fox once attacked my son on our porch.

Maybe they considered my front yard part of "where they live, breed and hunt". I don't give a ****. If they frack with me or mine, I shoot 'em. If they inconvenience me, I shoot 'em.

When I go hiking or camping in the State forest, I am most emphatically going where bear, coyotes and other potential people-biters live, breed and hunt. If they frack with me or mine, I will shoot them in their own "front yard".

It is nature's way. frack with a wolf, and he'll probably bite you. Wolf fracks with me, I shoot him. Same diff. Strange dog in my yard growls at me or acts aggressive, he gets shot dead on the spot.

Coyote gets hungry, he kills him some fluffy bunny. I do likewise. If coyote can't find some fluffy bunny, maybe he tries a bite of Baby Human. When this happens, we hunt his ass down and kill him... it's our little polite way of saying Don't Do It Again, We Don't Like It and We Are Bigger BadAsses Than You.
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First off, self defense is entirely different.

I remember once up at my grandparent's cabin in the mountains, I was riding around on my 4-wheeler and encountered some bear CUBS. They are ****ing cute, and damn curious. I knew better than to approach them, I knew mom wouldn't be far away. But I DID stop, because they're cute and I wanted to see them. After a few seconds, I backed the 4wheeler up and went the other direction. I didn't want to encounter mom. Not because black bears themselves are so uber dangerous and mean in general, but when defending their cubs, they are going to be vicious bitches. With good reason!

Now, had I encountered her and had she attacked, and if I had the means, I would absolutely, without a doubt, defend myself to the death if necessary. That's not what I'm talking about.

What I'm talking about is IF she had attacked and/or killed me, I think it would be completely and totally wrong for some "posse" to go out hunting female black bears in some attempt to get the one that got me. I was in HER territory. I came between HER and HER CUBS (hypothetically). There's no reason she, or dozens of other bears should be hunted and killed because of that and after the fact. None.

Okay, maybe going out in a gazillion boats and killing 1000 sharks in reaction to one bite attack is a bit much, I can see that.
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Going out and killing ANY is a bit much. You are not going to get the one that killed, and even if you did, you'd never fricken know it. Many sharks would die for no reason.

Contrariwise, I recall a case where a modest-size shark attacked some children in shallow water. Mommy went hyper-adrenaline and dragged the shark out on the beach by the tail. She then got a 4x4 post with a nail in it and beat the shark to death.

Should she not have done that? Should she have gotten her children out of the water, scolded them for infringing on the shark's hunting grounds, then pulled the shark back into the water and let it go?

I say no, if we have our hands on a known man-biter, kill it.
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Self defense is different.


Not my area o expertise, I'll take your word on it. I'm not talking about exterminating sharks as a genus or even reducing their numbers drastically, just saying that in principle known man-biters should be killed if opportunity arises.
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But you cannot know which are "man-biters". Sharks swim on average - even at their leisurely pace - 5mph. A shark that attacked someone on some beach is going to be over 200 miles away by the time some shark posse gets out there hunting for it. It's pointless and only diminishes their numbers unnecessarily.
 
VanceMack said:
Oh I got it...I just hear it all the time form folks here how delicate the food chain is and how we have to preserve all the animals in the food chain and if you remove even one you destroy the food chain...as if we arent a link IN that food chain.
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The fact that we are a link in that food chain is the whole point. If the sharks disappeared, so would much of the fish and other seafood we eat.
 
Middleground said:
That is a horrible practice that I hope will be banned in the near future.

As for animals killing humans, I am on the fence. In many instances, people's stupidity are to blame for wild animals attacking/killing, yet many will face an inevitable death because of it. I think with some species, they must be put down because more than likely, they will attack a human--given the opportunity--again.
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I agree it is horrible, but don't expect it to be banned any time soon. It is too ingrained in the culture in countries like Taiwan, China and Singapore for that to happen.
 
rivrrat said:
The fact that we are a link in that food chain is the whole point. If the sharks disappeared, so would much of the fish and other seafood we eat.
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Im not suggesting we should eliminate sharks, nor hunt down killer sharks. But fishing for..and eating sharks? Ive got no problem with that-except its a bit greasy and Im not sure why anyone would want to eat it on purpose. Not endangered species of sharks tho, or any other animals...we should be responsible stewards...kind of comes with being the more advanced species

I guess as to the OP, if we ever were sure we had a killer shark...one that was specifically targeting humans...well..who could blame the shark...but I think we should still try to catch it and move it and if that doesnt work, kill it. Even if it is just operating on instinct.
 
Your Star said:
While the shark is attacking you, I have no problem with someone attacking it. But to go afterwards, and kill sharks just because one attacked someone isn't right.
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I hear ya. But I'm the kinda person that is proactive rather than reactive. I swat the mosquito BEFORE he bites me.
 
Humans are not part of a shark's diet. Not having limbs to manipulate potential food items they have to taste everything. If you go in the water doing seal impressions then on your leg be bit.
 
So this thread reminds me of the time I drunkenly tried to break into Sea World to kill the whales since they were killing trainers. Some one has to remind these bastard sea creatures who is number one.
 
Captain America said:
I hear ya. But I'm the kinda person that is proactive rather than reactive. I swat the mosquito BEFORE he bites me.
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you're more likely to get hit by lightning than attacked by a shark, so are you going to put lube on the clouds to stop the friction that causes lightning?
 
The funny thing about this thread, to prove the shark killed the swimmer, you have to kill the shark to examine its stomach.

HMMMM! Conundrum!
 
No, of course not.

The human killed by sharks made the choice to enter the shark's environment, and the shark is the top natural predator in that environment. He's doing what comes naturally to him, and the easy wayfor people to avoid betting bitten by sharks is to swim in the public pool.
 
Scarecrow Akhbar said:
No, of course not.

The human killed by sharks made the choice to enter the shark's environment, and the shark is the top natural predator in that environment. He's doing what comes naturally to him, and the easy wayfor people to avoid betting bitten by sharks is to swim in the public pool.
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Try doing a triathlon in a public pool... seriously, I don't like to swim too far off the shore ... partly due to sharks, but more due to jellyfish... I was at the beach swimming last year in January and almost swam into two fairly large (and very beautiful, colorful) jellies that came in far closer to shore than usual... Needless to say, good thing I didn't actually get tangled in it as there weren't many people on the beach at the time and my wife can't swim... and for the record, I prefer tris with the swim leg in a lake or river...
 
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