Last week we had a story about Rob Konrad swimming nine miles back to shore off Palm Beach Florida.
His story ended up not being shark free.
Apparently he was circled by a shark and stung by jelly fish during his ordeal.
Maybe the shark was trying to figure out why he was swimming so far out(see below).
Anyways, we are all very thankfully he made it out OK.
Here is a link to the press conference
Shark science: Why circle??
Sharks do not circle in the water before they attack, it is simply their way of trying to form an image of what they are confronting in the water. According to my own numerous observations this motion is a sign of pure curiosity and not an incentive to circle its prey and feed. Most shark species must engage in permanent swimming maneuvers to breathe for they cannot pump water past their gills to extract oxygen as other fish with skeletal systems can. In addition, a swimmer or diver, in contrast to a shark, remains almost immobile, so the shark can only choose between two available forms of behavior, circling or swimming a figure eight – moving up and down around the object of interest. Circling has the advantage that the shark need not continually change the direction of swimming while being able to remain at a constant distance to the object. However, when the object is not located in open waters, for example in a reef, the shark cannot circle without risking the loss of eye contact. In such case, the shark has to swim a figure eight around the swimmer or diver, and in so doing will make sure to always keep his back towards open water.
Shark Info / Dr. Erich K. Ritter
I recommend reading the full report here
