There are marine creatures that can be hazardous to your health. They are usually small, timid creatures who will gladly leave you alone as long as you return the courtesy. Sometimes, just being able to identify them is helpful. Creatures such as jellyfish and Portuguese man-o-war have tendrils with stinging cells that are not fatal, just awfully uncomfortable and painful. They float or drift along, so just be aware and don't get caught in their tendrils. Others such as the beautiful lionfish, scorpionfish, and the much less attractive rockfish, have poisonous spines. Avoid them and they will avoid you.

Barracudas

Another maligned predator, are attracted to shiny things, which includes jewelry. Don't wear any in the water and you may soon find they are just another fish, one that comes close to divers as many other do, and is no more to be feared than a clownfish. The tiny damselfish is much more likely to peck at you that the barracuda is to bite you, yet these tiny little fish do not inspire terror. Maybe if Hollywood made a movie titled "Damselfish: the tiny terrors" that would change and they would be more feared than the less aggressive barracuda. I have learned in my diving experiences that if you charge a barracuda it will turn tail and take off. I will caution that if juvenile barracudas are present with adults, the adults are more likely to attack.

Sharks

Sharks bring out some of man's greatest primordial fears. To be attacked by a shark is many people's greatest fear of the water, especially after watching the movie JAWS. The motif of being eaten alive by a brainless killing machine has been a major Hollywood success, much to the sharks disfavor. While there have been some documented and highly publicized cases of people being attacked and even eaten by sharks, most sharks do not deserve the title MAN-HUNTERS. In fact, most sharks are entirely incapable of this feat. The largest fish of all, the Whale Shark, which can reach sizes of up to 59 feet and weigh 88,000 lb., is a very calm and approachable plankton feeder. There are many species of sharks which can inflict severe bodily injury and require the utmost of respect. The most feared of all, the Great White Shark, has been responsible for most of the fatal shark attacks off the California and Australian coastlines. While the Great White gets all the notoriety, pound for pound, the Bull Shark is probably the most ferocious. The Great White generally attacks a person because it has confused it with its favorite food, the seals and sea lions, but the Bull Shark will attack a person just because they are there. Even with these dangerous animals roaming the ocean, your chances of getting attacked by a shark are very remote.

Worldwide, there are only about three hundred documented shark attacks a year. The chances are much higher that you will be hit by a drunk driver while driving to the beach then they are that you will even encounter a dangerous shark when you get there. There are some activities that will greatly increase your chance of a shark attack, such as carrying speared fish with you while diving or collecting abalone in turbid waters. Statistics of 1,652 shark attacks show that males are much more likely to be attacked than females (10 to 1 ratio), this is probably because males are much more active in the water, surfing and going to deeper depths where sharks are more common.

The presence of large numbers of fish, or fish behaving in an unusual manner, has been reported preceding many attacks. In 40 percent of the reported shark attacks, people were pole-fishing or spear-fishing in the area of an attack. A comparison of the number of people swimming to those fishing and spear-fishing seems to show that these two pastimes have by far the highest risk of inducing an attack. While swimming, the chance of drowning is more than 1,000 times greater than that of dying from a shark attack.

Most shark attacks occur in shallow water, where most bathers are, and in 94 percent of the cases the attack was by an individual shark acting alone. About 10 percent of reported shark attacks are on divers; since the number of divers in the water at one time must be much smaller than 10 percent of beach bathers, the odds of being attacked must be significantly greater for divers.

Close passes were seldom made before the attack, and in the majority of the cases there was only one strike. Few attacks involved more than one bite. This indicates that in many cases the attacking shark mistook the victim for a more usual kind of food and did not attack any further when the error was discovered. It is fortunate that sharks, in most cases, do not consider humans to be suitable food. This information also refutes the long-standing notion that fresh human blood is a powerful attractant that excites sharks into a feeding frenzy. If this were so, the presence of blood would certainly have induced that attacking shark to strike the victim repeatedly. Most wounds occur on the appendages- the hands, arms, legs, and feet. Lacerations of varying severity are the most common types of injury. About 25 percent of attacks kill the victim. The most usual cause of death is shock, combined with a severe loss of blood.

Reducing The Risk

Swimmers and divers can reduce the chance of being attacked by following a few simple rules: Never swim in areas where sharks are known to be common. Never enter the water where people are fishing, either from the beach or from inshore boats. If there are a number of people in the water, do not separate yourself from them. There is safety in numbers. Avoid swimming near deep channels, or where shallow water suddenly becomes deeper. Do not swim alone, or at dusk or after dark, when sharks are feeding actively and are likely to be closer to the shore. Do not enter the water, or if in the water leave immediately, if large numbers of fish are seen, or if fish seem to be acting strangely. Be alert for unusual movements in the water. Do not wear a watch or other jewelry that shines and reflects light. Do not enter the water with an open wound, and women should not swim during their menstrual periods.