Shark attacks predict economic bubbles, says boffin
Tonsko
Quick! #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 12:59 GMT

Get him a job at Number 11. He seems ideal!
Adrian Jooste
Good news for people who like bad news #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 12:59 GMT

Well, this doesn't make me feel any more at ease about going for a 2 month long surf binge in South Africa next week. The Great White "nip" is pretty potent I hear.
Matt Bryant
Another less fortunate side-effect.... #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 14:17 GMT

.... is the reduction in the number of estate agents removing themselves from the genepool by wrapping their Porsches around trees. As with the last downturn, most of these equivcators-of-the-turth have been forced to hand back their leased flashmobiles and trundle around in much safer diesel Golfs or A3s, unfortuanely allowing them the chance of breeding with some equally befuddled member fo the opposite sex.
Anonymous Coward
Lame article, only mildly funny #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 14:17 GMT

If the downturn makes people go less to the beach, it should automatically result in less accidents in the water (shark-based or other).
Just read what the person said.
Correlation does not equal causation, especially not causation in a direction that makes no sense at all.
There should be a two thumbs down button.
Oz
What no pictures.... #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 14:17 GMT

... to accompany the article? I was looking forward to seeing the "'Provocative' surfer sluts"!
Steve Gill
@ Adrian Jooste #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 14:17 GMT

With the economy in freefall you should be totally safe. Hope you're going to surf Jeffries Bay, it's great there.
Rob
I for one... #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 14:17 GMT

... welcome our peckish elasmobranches overlords, let's hope they do a better job than Brown did with our countries finances, they can't be any worse, Brown is eating us alive as well.
Anonymous Coward
Predict? Surely you mean confirm... #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 14:17 GMT

How on earth can they predict economic bubbles, if the reason people are not going on holiday is actually due to a recession in the first place!?
Surely then, they can just confirm an economic slump rather than predict it!
Maybe El Gordo the Clown will use this to prove he actually did save the world...
Kevin Whitefoot
Great White is a protected species off SA and California #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 14:17 GMT
According to the web sites I have consulted in my extensive research on the subject (two minutes) less than forty attacks a year are attributable to Great Whites and very few are fatal.
Anyway there are plenty of surfers.
Anonymous Coward
In other news... #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 14:17 GMT

Increased sales of umbrellas 'predict' when it is raining...
al
Math : 71-59 = 12. #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 14:58 GMT

12/71 is not big enough a margin to be "sure" about the trend.
maybe he is right.. but did he jump the gun in creating sharkonomics too soon ?
What about affects of global warming ?
What about effect of animal planet where they've created some sort of awareness in people about shark atttacks. (eg timings; seasons and shape of surfing boards.. ie what if people are getting a little smarter after all) ?
Paris, coz she can be a maneater.
Marvin the Martian
How about the obvious explanation? #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 16:51 GMT

The Chinese having finally eaten almost all the sharks, the number of attacks is down?
Too obvious explanation?
J-Wick
@Math... #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 20:56 GMT

No, he jumped the shark, not the gun.
steven kraft
The math behind this story.... #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 20:56 GMT

Is at least as good as that used in the models employed by our esteemed global financial industry!!!
Wait a second....
Iam Me
Nice one #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 20:56 GMT

The way the day has been going for me this is just the kind of light news I need to keep me going through the rest of it. Nice work Lewis, in these days anything to lighten the mood surrounding all of our economic woes is welcome by me. Please report to the nearest bar for a drink on me :-).
MnM
clever sharks #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 20:56 GMT
bear with me kids (especially those who want causation, I'm all over it)
1 sharks eat a small number of people
2 economy improves
hence 3: sharks must be eating those responsible
hence 4: sharks can somehow tell who's responsible
expect McFall to conduct sub-aquatic treasury select committee next week. I'm off to spend the w/e fishing the little snitches out of the water before they can dish it up.
/week
JT2008
More attacks ... #
Posted Friday 20th February 2009 23:19 GMT

would be successful by the sharks, if they just had a frikkin laser beam!
raving angry loony
pros #
Posted Sunday 22nd February 2009 21:40 GMT

The sharks can't be biting stockbrokers then. Professional courtesy and all that.
Yeah, with the sharkfin soup in the pocket.
Anonymous Coward
Why bother looking at GDP #
Posted Sunday 22nd February 2009 21:40 GMT
and standard of living per head of population - oh right, they don't often look at that one in the UK.
You can find all you need to know about economics from shark attacks.
Player_16
Well, here in Australia... #
Posted Monday 23rd February 2009 10:27 GMT

...the economy must be booooming! Just recently we had 15 known attacks during the 3 month slump; one in Sydney Harbour where a Navy Seal lost a hand.
I think that bloke needs to get out (of the USA) more. It's winter time over there.
Here's your wet-suit.
foo_bar_baz
@ac and marvin #
Posted Monday 23rd February 2009 10:29 GMT
I thought about this, too. Sharks are under threat of extinction at current rates of fishing. They are important to the oceans' ecosystems, shame upon the shark fin industry for the slaughter and media for fanning the fear of sharks. I blame Spielberg. :/
Rubber chicken
Well my day is now complete #
Posted Monday 23rd February 2009 20:15 GMT

Every day I search for a new article with the word "elasmobranches" in it. Woo - I can go home now....