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We’ve blamed pretty much everything else on global warming, why not increased shark attacks? The Guardian UK published an article linking the recent shark attacks to global warming. There’s been an increase on shark attacks in the last couple of years (especially in Florida). US has suffered the worst with 70% of the worldwide sharks attacks in 2007 occurring in US waters. The author suggests more people visiting the coast (due to higher general population), increased seal populations, and warmer sea temps potentially causing sharks into areas they haven’t been in the past. All the evidence seems anecdotal, and the scientists seem to be postulating rather than having any real evidence. Here’s a graph from the International Shark Attack File that shows how much shark attacks have increased in the past century. (more after the jump)

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After such a bad couple weeks of shark news, I figured it was probably time to add a little humor with Whitey.

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San Francisco surfer Adrian Ruiz, 24, was attacked by a shark while surfing at Troncones in the state of Guerrero, Mexico on Monday afternoon. He died later from blood loss. Troncones is a small town 45 minutes north of Zihuatenajo and Ixtapa. Ruiz was bitten on the right thigh and brought to the beach. A bstander took Ruiz to a local Naval hospital, after waiting for an ambulance. Ruiz did at the hospital from blood loss. Ralph Collier, a Los Angeles-area shark expert, assisted with the autopsy. He said the fragments indicate the shark was a great white 15 to 16 feet long. Shark attacks are rare in mainland Mexico. In 2006, only one was reported. (link)

I returned from my surf trip to Troncones on Sunday. For the first 5 days of the swell we surfed the point at Manzanillo Bay (in Troncones). From reports, this sounds like the wave Ruiz had been surfing (Troncones only really has one point wave and a beachbreak). The point is a left that seems to come up from deep water and break over a rocky shelf. There’s a steep take-off and the wave quickly mushes out and the shelf apparently dives back to deep water. There’s rarely a crowd at the point. It’s sad to hear about this tragedy. It’s also spooky to know we were surfing the same wave only days earlier. Pictured below is Manzanillo Bay with Troncones Point on the far right.

We’ve all had shark fears in the water. For $645, the Shark Shield promised us a future of worry-free surf sessions and explorations of waves and coasts no one would consider surfing now. The term “Sharky” would be a term of the past. Well, don’t hold your breath.

Turns outs one of the Shark Shields was eaten whole by a female great white in testing off South Africa. Shark Shield Test

Who hasn’t had shark jitters in the water while surfing? I was surfing Manhattan Beach last September during an epic combo swell right after Labor Day where the water was warm and amazingly clear when a shark swm right underneath me. I saw the shape, looked down and it saw right below me, turned slowly around in front of me and swam back underneath me. It was at last 5 feet (it honestly looked a lot bigger than that, but no one would be believe if I told them that I bumped fins with an 8 or 10 ft white shark at Manhattan Beach). Needless to say, I paddled straight in. I shouted to the guy 20 yards away from me, who that I was a kook. As I looked back over my shoulder, I saw its dorsal fin above the water heading away from me. I never expected to see my first shark surfing in SoCal especially after surfing San Francisco and NorCal for 10 years!

I know I’ve got a list of spots I’d want to paddle out to, where would you surf if you could have a shark repelling device guaranteed to work?

[via UberReview]