"To clear up some controversy, we had nothing to do with the death of this whale nor was this an act of disrespect," she wrote on Facebook. "I look at this optimistically, as an opportunity to see this beautiful creature up close. I'm sorry if some of you take this as rude or disrespectful, but everyone's entitled to their own opinion."
Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident for Krimson and her cohorts:
"If you are anywhere near a whale carcass in white shark territory, you are taking a big risk of being bitten," says predator-prey ecologist Michelle Jewell. "In my experience, different scents make white sharks act in different ways, and in the case of whale blubber, they are very dopey and bitey."
Just last week, in fact, sport fisherman Keith Poe shared photos and video of his boat after it was damaged during such an encounter off the coast of California:
"Want to save a paint job? Don't anchor in a whale blubber chum slick," jokes Jewell. "His boat is big, black and grey and could easily be mistaken for a floating dead whale, especially with the scent everywhere in the water."
The same could be said about flailing humans who have toppled off a whale-carcass-slash-dance-stage – they could easily be mistaken for a number of potential prey items.
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Top header image: nicoleym/Flickr
Just last week, in fact, sport fisherman Keith Poe shared photos and video of his boat after it was damaged during such an encounter off the coast of California:
Image: Keith Poe/Facebook
"Want to save a paint job? Don't anchor in a whale blubber chum slick," jokes Jewell. "His boat is big, black and grey and could easily be mistaken for a floating dead whale, especially with the scent everywhere in the water."
The same could be said about flailing humans who have toppled off a whale-carcass-slash-dance-stage – they could easily be mistaken for a number of potential prey items.
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Top header image: nicoleym/Flickr
WTF!?
Sharks
In The Field
