Guest Post by Bob Tisdale
There has been a series of shark attacks off the Carolina coasts. As of last count, the number is 11 shark bites since mid-May.
As one might have expected, from mainstream media’s let’s-see-what-we-can-blame-on-global-warming department comes the CBSNews article “Strange” spike in shark attacks puzzles experts. The news report includes (my boldface):
The recent spate of shark attacks has left many beachgoers nervous.
Dr. Samuel Gruber, the director of the Bimini SharkLab research facility in the Bahamas, says the spike in attacks suggests something strange is going on.
“The trend is normally zero or one attack in that area in any one year,” said Gruber.
Theories as to why this is happening range from time of day, to bait fishing, sea turtle migration, lunar cycles and global warming.
Whose theories? The author doesn’t say.
Maybe, just maybe, there’s another factor at work. Let’s call it the dufus factor, which states anyone who goes swimming in North and South Carolina waters, where there have recently been shark attacks, is very likely a dufus…plain and simple, a dufus.
WHAT ABOUT THE SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES THERE?
Using the coordinates of 32N-37N, 82W-75W for the North and South Carolina coastal waters, according to NOAA’s new ERSST.v4 sea surface temperature dataset, the May 2015 sea surface temperature anomaly was +1.36 deg C referenced to 1981-2010. See Figure 1. But that’s not unusual there. Sea surface temperature anomalies have been higher in the past…especially in the 1930s and 40s. Note also how low the warming rate there has been since the start of the dataset in 1854.
Figure 1
Clearly, the sea surface temperatures off the Carolina coasts have cooled since the 1930s and 40s, so let’s see how far back in time we can go, in 5-year increments, until the data show no warming for that region. The results are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2
Based on the linear trend, NOAA’s new ERSST.v4 data show the surfaces of the waters off the coasts of North and South Carolina have not warmed in more than a century.
Once again, mainstream media has failed to do its homework.
SOURCE
NOAA’s ERSST.v4 data are available at the KNMI Climate Explorer
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CAGW is a phenomenon of inappropriate fear and misplaced guilt. AGW is and will forever after be understood as beneficial. And the greening? Oh, my Gaia, who’d a thunk it?
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This isn’t good
May I enquire as to what “this” is – that’s not good?
Is Sam Gruber related to Jonathan Gruber of the Obama Administration?
The Gruberization of the masses continues!
We’re going to have to change the name to Grubber.
Speaking of “Grubers”, I love how smug leftys mocks climate skeptics in a way that shows their superior intellect. Yet Jonathan Gruber basically admitted that the DNC elite thinks their base is stupid… And not to mention at least one peer reviewed science study that suggested that skeptics tend to be more informative on this issue.
What a crazy time we are experiencing.
Hang on. . . .
Mr Gruber was a good friend of the wonderful Paddington Bear.
And do – d o – D O – see the film!!
Auto
more informed, too.
No he’s related to Hans Gruber, from Die Hard
Bob, I think the sharks escaped from somewhere else where it became too hot for them, it must be global warming.!!! hahhahahah
Thanks Bob.
It may be that the holiday periods are celibrated by larger and larger numbers who find N. Carolina attractive to swim.
Looks like the sharks agree.
Why don’t they swim up north where it’s a bit cooler and feed on the swaths of dead polar bear carcasses ?
The “dufus factor”. I like it.
Examples of the dufus factor:
1. County building beach facilities next to the fishing pier at a place called Sharkey’s (Venice FL)
2. People swimming at the beach next to the fishing pier at a place called Sharkey’s. (Venice FL)
…yet Venice (and Sarasota Co as a whole) never seem to have people bitten by sharks. Not only do you have the fishing from the pier there, but you have the dog beach just south of that, and their swimming motion is supposed to attract sharks.
Yes, however, after living here for 24 years and spending much time in the Gulf the only shark I have ever seen while swimming was near Sharkey’s. I immediately recognized the dufus factor in me for entering the water there and never will again. Keep in mind that, what at one time was a world, record lemon shark was caught a couple of hundred yards off the pier as was a very large bull shark. Luckily there is not a lot of bait fish in the area and no outlets/inlets nearby.
Tom, I believe there is a correlation between the bait bucket margaritas from Sharkey’s, the county planners who frequent there, and the results.
Sharkey’s is a restaurant. Why would anyone expect to encounter sharks at Sharkey’s?
http://www.sharkysonthepier.com/
Why? Well, I encountered a man eating shark there just two nights ago.
Read that I said “next to the fishing pier at Sharkey’s”. Sharkey’s is on the beach.
I never go there, too expensive and too slow, but you can find shark teeth down the beach.
” the county planners who frequent there” these are the sharks you are all talking about is it?
I saw a shark at Siesta Key. It was a small shark, but a shark nonetheless.
A friend of mine was a lifeguard at Lido Beach and she said she has seen many sharks there. But the most scared she ever was was when she wasn’t lifeguarding, but was floating on a raft, when this lady started yelling at her to get out of the water, at first she thought “quite lady, I’m trying to sleep here.” After a while she realized that the lady was yelling “shark” still she didn’t panic because a lot of tourists think dolphins are sharks, but she looked around and saw a bull shark with its mouth about a foot from her hand. She said she never paddled faster over the 100 yards to shore.
For those who don’t know it is about 20 miles as the shark swims from Lido Beach to Sharkey’s and about 17 miles from Siesta Key to Sharkey’s.
The East Coast of Florida seems to have the most Sharks. At night if the lights are on (not turtle nesting season) I have seen maybe 100 circling about 200 yards off shore.
I saw a “lone” shark after payday.
Always check your data.
I suspect North Carolina is trending on the shark grapevine as a place for tasty morsels, or mortals.
It’s similar to flipping a coin and getting 11 heads in a row. Or not. Maybe beachgoers have been defying the odds and, given the ever-increasing number of visitors to the Carolina beaches, it’s been astronomical odds that all the years ’til now have seen fewer than 11 shark attacks.
Oh… it could also be that the latest and greatest improvements to sunscreen lotions happens to include an ingredient that is a powerful shark attractant. Oops!
Chum based sunscreen is NOT a good idea???
Dufus effect, or sharks have spread the word delicious morsels purposely put themselves on the table, or humans are allowing shark populations to grow. A shark’s gotta eat.
Here in Australia, a lot more sharks are eaten by humans than humans eaten by sharks.
Hmmmm. Flake,
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/great-white-shark-population-rise-years-decline/
The expected “unintended consequense” of shark presevation efforts. Those 4-6 foot sharks all the divers coo over become bigger on your next vacation.
It appears that the Atlantic fishery is healthy.
Please see the YouTube below from March, 2013.
Enjoy America’s 239th!
It is healthy, and the catch reductions have had a huge impact on fishermen, and now the swimmers. The Forage Fish Campaign of Pew Charitable Trust is more Eco Gruberism.
Basically I think this could be traced back to a National Marine Fisheries ban on migratory fishing off the outer banks in I believe 2007/2008. I reviewed the federal register on the ban which goes from Jan 1-July 31st each year, didn’t seem to be implemented with a whole lot of data to support it that I could find. Wonder if the lack of data quality is becoming the norm in enivironmental science. I was at the Outer Banks last week, those fishing piers have been there at least 20 years without incident. There were plenty of baitfish, dolphins and sharks in the water this year. These human attacks haven’t been test bites either, I suspect we became part of their food chain and there are now so many sharks they are probably aggressively scavenging/competing for food. Frankly, there are not that many people in the Ocean down there as they are well aware of the attacks which make the prob stats around this nothing like the 1 in 11M chance thats thrown out there by the media. More in the 1:5,000-10,000 Range is more likely right now.
It’s a standard practice now, when explaining ANY even or phenomenon, to tag “global warming” or “climate change” on at the end of the list.
I am surprised when I don’t see it there.
Of course what they usually mean is weather!
NatGeo has gotten so ridiculous about it I burst out laughing when I read it now. I think what amuses me is that their knowledge is stuck on 18 years ago, like no one has told them about The Pause.
http://www.funnyandjokes.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/shark-global-warming.jpg
A new species of shark– the Global Warming Dufus.
I don’t insist on it, but the following paradigm seems plausible:
Number of whales killed goes down from Green efforts, means less krill eaten by whales, means increase in food supply of smaller fish, means increase in food supply of sharks, means more sharks means more shark attacks.
And that works without temperature changes barely detectable by our most sensitive, sophisticates scientific instruments.
I the number of whales killed goes down…wouldn’t that mean MORE krill eaten by whales, as there would be more whales?…not less?
The real issue is that the more whales there are the more sharks there are. When a whale dies the main animals you see eating the carcass are large sharks. In Western Australia where I live there has been a huge rise in migrating whales along the coast. There has been a corresponding increase in dead whales and whenever you see footage of a whale carcass you see great whites eating the carcass
You’re right. Oops.
More whales = more sharks, albeit mostly great whites which seek mammal flesh after teenage puberty. There’s also evidence that their reproductive cycle is triggered by feasting on whale carcasses – i.e a full belly and plentiful food spark the hormones. See http://www.washarkattacks.net for a likely explanation of why Western Australia has in recent years been dubbed the shark attack capital of the world. From what I gather most of the Carolina attacks have been bull and tiger sharks, so the whale link isn’t quite as strong but is still possible. This isn’t humpback migration time in Carolina waters as they’re all feeding and humping in the Arctic at the moment, but other recovering whale species (usually calves and dead adults) might also be providing a lure for sharks off Carolina’s coast.
Sharks have decided to turn the tables on us on the endangered species lists.
Nah. It’s just publicity for that new TV show about animals getting fed up with humans and attacking them.
Doesn’t that sequence seem reversed?
Before they are fed, the attack comes first.
As food we humans are not ideal;
But sharks are not picky; a meal is a meal.
===|==============/ Keith DeHavelle
Tell a tale of turn tail,
A pocketful of sharks.
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C’mon Bob that’s not fair. They waited a couple days before pulling the trigger. No need to study menhadden biomasses or the Gulf stream eddys. Nothing to do with a booming tourist industry in that region and visitor growth or the fact of that stretch being known for high shark density especially at this time of year. No need to figure out what species either.
Another factor may be that it is cool now to report being nipped by a shark. Previous under reporting.
They’re not sharks. It’s a case of mistaken identity. They’re really environmental lawyers.
That’s horrible. Now swimmers will need rabies shots after being bitten.
There’s just no joy in anything they say or do….
Bait fish and turtles have made a huge recovery….along with shark populations
Anyone who takes the MSM at face value whenever CAGW / Global Warming / Climate Change is mentioned is a dufus.
The whole subject is like an ebola / influenza / ice epidemic that the MSM just cannot shake and are spreading like rats.
I think “doofus” is a more aesthetic spelling.
nothing to do then with the ban on shark fishing imposed some years back by the US government and the subsequent rebound in shark populations? nothing to do with an increase in turtles and other favourite shark foods closer in to shore? nothing to do with more people at the beaches? Ah no. Global warming is responsible as it is for everything else. This year my tomatoes have flea beetles; that hasn’t happened in past years -must be AGW…..
National Geographic has an article on this news item. They list four pretty good reasons why this is happening and then throw in a fifth, global warming. And they refer to a shark biologist who says “the link is plausible”.
It’s almost like the author wrote the article and then a “global warming officer” appended the required CAGW wording as per standing operating procedures.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/06/150629-north-carolina-shark-attacks-science/
I guess without any real research/data, we’re left with two explanations:
1) More sharks
2) More stupid people
I’m going with #2, which, btw, increases the nutrient-rich food source for #1…rinse, repeat. In an ideal world, the cycle should self-regulate; i.e. more people eaten, less food for sharks, less sharks.
… fewer sharks …
/pedantry
The climate obsessed are not really any different from ignorant peasants blaming witches for sour milk.