Interesting little article I found on Surfline.com
SUMMER SHARK FORECAST What is this summer looking like for shark activity in SoCal?
What is this summer looking like for shark activity in SoCal? Does the previous activity make it seem like it's going to be more dangerous? -- asked by Numerous SoCal surfers The Shark Research Committee's Ralph S. Collier has been watching this kind of stuff for years. Here's his take:
Those of us that have, or do, venture into the marine realm, know that there is danger involved with any activity therein. Are the numbers of encounters and their locations something to be concerned with? If we compare two like periods; January 1 to June 3, 2007 and January 1 to June 3, 2008, the answer to that question is somewhat compelling. During the 2007 period, four shark encounters were reported with no attacks. For the same period this year, 2008, there have been 22 encounters, including two attacks, one fatal. However, you need remember that ocean user groups populations have also increased, providing more potential observers. Could the increased number of incidents be the result of more people in and on the water? Yes. Should you be alarmed at these statistics? No. Should you be more observant of the environment when surfing? Yes. Can you reduce the likelihood of an encounter? Yes. Should you be alarmed at these statistics? No. Should you be more observant of the environment when surfing? Yes. -- Ralph S. Collier, The Shark Research Committee
Here are a few things you can do that will reduce the likelihood of an encounter. Don't surf those areas that are utilized by grunion during their spawns - larger predatory fish will frequent these areas. Don't surf after sunset and before dawn - sharks are known to migrate towards land at night. Don't surf a beach where a recent shark encounter or attack has occurred - this one is obvious, the shark could still be in the area. Don't surf near pinniped haul-out sites - they are a primary prey species for adult white sharks.
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Orca Whales Killing Dolphins
posted May 22, 2008 7:09 am
Crazy article I just read about Orca whales seen hunting dolphins for the first time. You think I am full of it, check out the following article:
Lynchings in Congo as penis theft panic hits capital
posted April 24, 2008 8:18 am
Lynchings in Congo as penis theft panic hits capital
Reuters Tue Apr 22, 1:24 PM ET
Police
in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black
magic to steal or shrink men's penises after a wave of panic and
attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft.
Reports
of so-called penis snatching are not uncommon in West Africa, where
belief in traditional religions and witchcraft remains widespread, and
where ritual killings to obtain blood or body parts still occur.
Rumours
of penis theft began circulating last week in Kinshasa, Democratic
Republic of Congo's sprawling capital of some 8 million inhabitants.
They quickly dominated radio call-in shows, with listeners advised to
beware of fellow passengers in communal taxis wearing gold rings.
Purported
victims, 14 of whom were also detained by police, claimed that
sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or
disappear, in what some residents said was an attempt to extort cash
with the promise of a cure.
"You just have to be accused of
that, and people come after you. We've had a number of attempted
lynchings. ... You see them covered in marks after being beaten,"
Kinshasa's police chief, Jean-Dieudonne Oleko, told Reuters on Tuesday.
Police
arrested the accused sorcerers and their victims in an effort to avoid
the sort of bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 suspected
penis snatchers were beaten to death by angry mobs. The 27 men have
since been released.
"I'm tempted to say it's one huge joke," Oleko said.
"But
when you try to tell the victims that their penises are still there,
they tell you that it's become tiny or that they've become impotent. To
that I tell them, 'How do you know if you haven't gone home and tried
it'," he said.
Some Kinshasa residents accuse a separatist sect
from nearby Bas-Congo province of being behind the witchcraft in
revenge for a recent government crackdown on its members.
"It's
real. Just yesterday here, there was a man who was a victim. We saw.
What was left was tiny," said 29-year-old Alain Kalala, who sells phone
credits near a Kinshasa police station.
(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ )
