You guys are really so hysterical. How I wish I could have known you as teenagers. Of course if I had, I would probably have called you juvenile delinquents!!

You all had so many experiences as teenagers living in Kenya that the average teen couldn't even imagine. You should put your heads together and write a book!

Good point, Jan, but who will believe what we would write ???

The image we project on sharks is very wrong. They are by no means as dangerous as we assume. I once heard a statistic that I can not verify but it sounds realistic.

Per year about 40 people die of shark attacks but 150 die from a falling coconut.

2 years ago I went diving in a huge marine-aquarium in New Zealand to feed 3 meter long Bull-sharks (Zambesi-Sharks). I literally had to stick the fish into the mouth of the sharks. They seemed very irritated by my presence and bubbles.

In Egypt I was once taking macro-photos of small inhabitants of a coral. In order not to scare those tiny creatures I held my breath for about 2 minutes and took the photo. When I turned around I saw a grey shark (about 2 meters long) approaching me. I continued to hold my breath in order not to scare the shark but when he was about 4 meters close, I couldn't hold my breath any longer. The moment I exhaled (producing bubbles), the shark took off like a rocket and was gone.

If you guys ever write a book, the title should be "Death Wish"

Hehe, no Jan, when you grow up surrounded by such animals, you learn that most of them are not dangerous at all as long as you respect a couple of rules. As long as you give every creature the respect it deserves, you are very unlikely to get yourself into danger.

Carsten, I wasn't referring only to the animals but to your crazy life jumping off bridges, crazy antics on motorbikes, and yes, nearly flattening a lion

I give creatures the respect they deserve. But please, quickly within this week before I leave, teach me how to react when you are sitting innocently on a three-foot high veranda and a green or black mamba slithers up to within three feet of your bare feet, or you prepare to walk down steps and find a black mamba sunning there. Do you just freeze in your tracks and not move hoping they won't notice you, do you slowly back away, what do you do???? The suddenness of their appearance is what is heart-stopping for me and not knowing exactly what to do in the presence of these deadly reptiles.

Most animals you can see approaching and can act properly. It is the silent but deadly ones that I don't know how to properly react to.

HELP

jan
generally speaking humans are just not on their menue! if an attack occurs its pure bad luck because humans were just in the wrong place and behaved strangely or they were swimming were there are also seals. or sometimes - as you will know - surfers get cought because from the blue the surfers look like seals - that is what biologists assume.
e.g. kai has got more than 600 dives mostly in the pacific (australia, papua new guinea, fiji etc.) where shark encounters are a normal thing. no dive without shark encounter. kai never ever has a spear! it's just not necessary. they notice the diver and might come up a bit and realise its NOT food. then they turn and - regrettably - disappear!
within the last 5 years the shark population in the red sea went drastcally down so that kai didn't see one within 1 week in a live-aboard means during 25 dives in 2006!

there are only a handful dangerous sharks and one of them is the tiger! nico, you were quite lucky when you had these encounters - even in the small boat!

the great white e.g. is not as dangerously as his reputation! the bull shark is much more aggressive.

jan, if you are interested in that topic you should read some books written by ron and valery taylor/australians! very well known shark researchers which produced also good documentaries!

there is a phenomena in australia: up in far north queensland there you find inland in the streams sharks AND crocodiles! and up to 5 kms in the ocean you might see crocs as well!