Global warming causing shark attacks

I kid you not:

Three decades have passed since the movie Jaws sent terrified bathers scrambling out of the ocean. But as any beach lifeguard knows, there's still nothing like a gory shark attack to stoke public hysteria and paranoia.

Two deaths in the waters off California and Mexico last week and a spate of shark-inflicted injuries to surfers off Florida's Atlantic coast have left beachgoers seeking an explanation for a sudden surge in the number of strikes.

In the first four months of this year, there were four fatal shark attacks worldwide, compared with one in the whole of 2007, according to the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.

'The one thing that's affecting shark attacks more than anything else is human activity,' said Dr George Burgess of Florida University, a shark expert who maintains the database. 'As the population continues to rise, so does the number of people in the water for recreation. And as long as we have an increase in human hours in the water, we will have an increase in shark bites.'

Some experts suggest that an abundance of seals has attracted high numbers of sharks, while others believe that overfishing has hit their food chain. 'I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it's a convenient excuse,' Burgess said. Another contributory factor to the location of shark attacks could be global warming and rising sea temperatures. 'You'll find that some species will begin to appear in places they didn't in the past with some regularity,' he said.

You know... this morning, I woke up with some back stiffness and a sore butt... never mind that yesterday, the missus and I spent nearly 8 hours on our Harleys as we rode to and from D.C. to have dinner with our oldest... I'm thinking my physical condition has everything to do with global warming...  and I think some of you people who read this blog are to blame... so I think those people should send me money so that I can further study the ill-effects, determine how best to let the world know from whence comes stiff backs and sore butts, and so that I can best determine how to milk your gullible asses for more.

Sigh.

Comments

[Fausta]

Better yet, apply for a NIH grant to study the effect of global warming on sore butts.

[blewsdawg Rick Caldwell]

'As the population continues to rise, so does the number of people in the water for recreation. And as long as we have an increase in human hours in the water, we will have an increase in shark bites.'

This part is accurate. It should have ended there.