Just wondering if any of you kitefoilers have noticed a sudden interest in your person by our underwater "friends" ?

Here in New Cal we never had attacks on riders before the foils.

In two years we had two attacks with serious bites (one just yesterday by a tiger shark) and one foiler actually chased by a young tiger shark in shallow water....

I don't kite and just started windsurf foiling, so I'm no expert at all, but could there be something with the foil that attracts/irritates the sharkies ?


Sean

I guess it depends on the type of material the foil is made out of and what type of current it gives off to the Sharks ampulae (current detector - which you wouldn't believe how sensitive a current it can pick up!)

Their shape could pass off as any number of underwater animals plus reflections from the sun. Not to mention since it gives off no noise. Sharks are curious and their taste buds are actually half way down their throat so they don't know what it is until they've had a good go at it.
Sharks are actually quite smart and will learn something and can remember it up to a year - so those sharks that first had a taste, likely won't again for a year. (Which is why baited hooks are stupid) a foil compared to let's say a TT I would argue would definitely peak their curiosity a lot more (most boards don't give off an electrical current)

if all else fails, kite faster than 50km/h. You may just outrun it.

A foil underwater looks a lot like a ray.....
Sharks eat rays

I've heard foils take out a lot of turtles in maui, you'd have to expect they would clean up some lazy sharks every so often too.

Perhaps they just want revenge.

We have had 2 minor instances recently in Australia so with yours that's only 5 I know of worldwide .The stingray shape and humming is the latest theory.

Vibration of wings due to vortex shedding could perhaps be very similar to the vibrations given off by a fish in distress.

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LostDog said...
Vibration of wings due to vortex shedding could perhaps be very similar to the vibrations given off by a fish in distress.

My sister vibrates like a fish in distress

I would also say they don't like the micro vibrations, same reason bigger sharks have bitten the prop on outboards before.

Twin tips likely wouldn't give off those same vibrations, if anything a twin tip rider doing jumps would probably scare off a shark due to the slapping on top of the water. Gorge Greenough once told me that if I ever thought a shark was circling me, cup my hand and slap the top of the water as hard as I could. He's fairly mad but he's still alive after many shark encounters so perhaps it works. I think this would be a similar noise to the slap of a board with concave ontop of the water.

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sir ROWDY said...
Gorge Greenough once told me that if I ever thought a shark was circling me, cup my hand and slap the top of the water as hard as I could. He's fairly mad but he's still alive after many shark encounters so perhaps it works. I think this would be a similar noise to the slap of a board with concave ontop of the water.

Translation: I just wanted everyone to know that me and George greenough are good mates

Just kidding rowdy, thought I'd hassle you on the name drop

The foil through the water must be a similar effect to Trolling a lure like a rapala, have any pelagic's been after them? We could be onto something there !

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sir ROWDY said...
I would also say they don't like the micro vibrations, same reason bigger sharks have bitten the prop on outboards before.

Twin tips likely wouldn't give off those same vibrations, if anything a twin tip rider doing jumps would probably scare off a shark due to the slapping on top of the water. Gorge Greenough once told me that if I ever thought a shark was circling me, cup my hand and slap the top of the water as hard as I could. He's fairly mad but he's still alive after many shark encounters so perhaps it works. I think this would be a similar noise to the slap of a board with concave ontop of the water.

Is that why most people attacked lose their hands

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sir ROWDY said...
Gorge Greenough once told me that if I ever thought a shark was circling me, cup my hand and slap the top of the water as hard as I could. He's fairly mad but he's still alive after many shark encounters so perhaps it works. I think this would be a similar noise to the slap of a board with concave ontop of the water.

Translation: I just wanted everyone to know that me and George greenough are good mates

Just kidding rowdy, thought I'd hassle you on the name drop

The foil through the water must be a similar effect to Trolling a lure like a rapala, have any pelagic's been after them? We could be onto something there !

I haven't actually spoke with George for a while, I only used to see him when he was still Windsurfing at Lennox/Ballina. A more accurate description of our conversations/ relationship would be him talking at me, I think I've heard a few of his stories 10x plus .

p.s. I figure his insights could be relevant though as he's spent probably more time in the water filming Dolphins (and sometimes Sharks) than most other people.

Yeh despite his incredible influence to the world of surfing, George Greenough has a very narrow conversation range - sharks, big waves and windsurfing in the 80's from my experience.

It's hard to 'tap' though there is a wealth of knowledge there - and despite no formal training he has an understanding of fluid mechanics that a naval architect might have?

Don't think George is a fan of kiting - though if he knew he could get up close and personal with a white pointer on a foiling kite board - guessing he might give it a go?

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kookaburrahz said..

LostDog said...
Vibration of wings due to vortex shedding could perhaps be very similar to the vibrations given off by a fish in distress.

My sister vibrates like a fish in distress

So I'm told...

But strange that you should know this as well.

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Hausey said..
Yeh despite his incredible influence to the world of surfing, George Greenough has a very narrow conversation range - sharks, big waves and windsurfing in the 80's from my experience.

It's hard to 'tap' though there is a wealth of knowledge there - and despite no formal training he has an understanding of fluid mechanics that a naval architect might have?

Don't think George is a fan of kiting - though if he knew he could get up close and personal with a white pointer on a foiling kite board - guessing he might give it a go?

True, it's hard to get much more out of him but every so often I would hear something new.

I'm not sure if he understands it or is just observing nature and applying those theories to man made objects. Either way he's made a few decent things over the years (quite a bit of junk as well haha).

He doesn't really like kiting no. I think if he had been younger he would have been all over it, designing lots of weird pieces of kit.

Yeh agreed - been privileged to have visited the pyramid house a few times - unbelievable - shark jaws, bits of cameras, boards, boats and junk everywhere, snakes and leaches .... don't reckon it had been cleaned for decades?

Re: kiting - he's seen the early days mayhem and never changed his mind? His thoughts were that it was too dangerous (I agree it can be - but not necessarily so - the standards and equipment have improved) and he was quoting maritime rules for surf breaks re: distances and speeds as if a kite board was a boat.

Though maybe if he was younger like you said. I reckon he would have at least sorted a simple, smart and strong harness ..... and he would have probably thought a different solution to kite design too? Or at least invented the bridle kite before the French brothers??? Who knows ?

Few people know that George Greenough actually "thought of" kite surfing back in the early 70s. The sudden explosion of the thruster came a lot of ideas including the foil concept that he used on his fin designs back in the 80s. He won't admit it though. He thought, and I quote when I met him in Noosa back in the 1992's Longboard festival, "... I thought about a kite and a board just so I can get out to the surf line up better, but my brother told me off for using a bed sheet stapled to a wooden rig as a kite, so I gave up the idea entirely...".

Kid you not!

^^^That explains everything!

He was a kneeboarder. Public outcast!

no problems with sharks but surfacing turtles are a problem!

Ever been fishing?, looks and behaves like a big lure. That for sure would be why(Large!!) fish are attracted to the Foil,

G'day everyone, here's something to concider back in the early 2000's I repaired a fenn ski that had the ass end bitten off by a white pointer- yea no shxx - just behind the rudder. Initially I thought the rudder/skeg must have looked like a fish tail moving when old mate gave it a bit of steering input and it really made me a bit nervous when I was out on my own training on my ski but now probably 13 years on thats still the only occurance of this happening that I know of and concidering back in RSA there where weekly races with more than 200 participants heading anywhere up to ten k's out and back (aswell dudes training for these races every day) it makes me think if you drag pretty much anything through deep water (foil country not shallow water tt country in general) where johnny hangs out eventually he might give it a taste but that is mainly just bad luck- if you think how many doodle burgers you encounter on a daily basis its not unlikely the ratio is the same in the shark world (case in point I phoned a bloke last week to make a apointment, he informed me I had to phone him to make the apointment, I reminded him that he was on the phone to me and that is what I was doing so after a pause he took the appointment- old mate had forgotten he was on the phone) edit: I was wrong I went to find the news report and there have been two more similar hits in the same area since sorry fellas)

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Jared27 said...
I guess it depends on the type of material the foil is made out of and what type of current it gives off to the Sharks ampulae (current detector - which you wouldn't believe how sensitive a current it can pick up!)

Their shape could pass off as any number of underwater animals plus reflections from the sun. Not to mention since it gives off no noise. Sharks are curious and their taste buds are actually half way down their throat so they don't know what it is until they've had a good go at it.
Sharks are actually quite smart and will learn something and can remember it up to a year

I was thinking the other day that maybe sharks now associate humans with burley. Because of the cage diving now and throwing burley & tuna bait in the water to attract them , they think humans means yummy food? Just a thought.

Craig got attacked by a sharks here is photos from it. Judging on the bite marks it was a pretty decent size shark. www.instagram.com/p/-DwnbPED_K/ . He now rides with a shark shield: www.facebook.com/kitefoil/photos/a.443518892434973.1073741829.438239229629606/888377414615783/?type=3&theater