Surfers Too Awesome To Be Scared of "Dinosaur-Sized" Shark

Beaches have been closed in South Africa after a 37-year-old Zimbabwean man was apparently eaten by what has been described as “dinosaur-sized shark” off Fish Hoek beach in Cape Town. “We saw the shark come back twice,” British beach-goer Phyllis McCartain told the Cape Times. “It had the man’s body in its mouth, and his arm was in the air. Then the sea was full of blood.” Another witness, Dennis Lundon, said, “I never want to experience this again. I’m going to block it out of my mind.”

People are freaking out. This is the second fatal shark attack in South Africa in a less than a month; a lifeguard was killed off St. John’s Second Beach in December. But surfers need those beaches open, so they can surf, so people can film them and make awesome videos for great new rock songs. Hoping to stem the public panic, South African surfing site Wavescape quotes Save Our Seas Foundation scientist Alison Kock about yesterday’s incident. “Why the shark apparently consumed the person we cannot say for sure,” says Kock. “All we do know is that it does not happen regularly. There were numerous shark sightings over the holiday season in False Bay with 1000s of swimmers, surfers, divers in the water. If sharks saw people as food there would be many more attacks and that simply is not the case.”

So we’re more like amuse-bouches then. Good to know.