The Cellar Image of the Day

When we think of shark infested waters, we don't usually think about tourist destinations like Frazer Island - the largest sand island in the world which is also world heritage listed, but here is an example of why not to go for a swim in the ocean.

These pictures were taken by my Dad when we were on a family holiday at Frazer Island many years ago. I just found them the other day when I was going through some old photos.

What's that dark shadow on the water out there?

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You guessed it. It's a Shark! about 4 metres long swiming in knee deep water.

If you guys didn't have really good beer, nobody would want to visit.

Or did you put those big blokes out there on the coast to keep the Pommy Bastards away?

Statistically, you're more likely to be killed by a vending machine than a shark.

My kids hate it when I tell them that.

Quote:

3-NEVER, EVER, TRY TO GET A FREE DRINK BY ROCKING THE MACHINE. Do not ignore this piece of advice! Attempting to obtain a free drink by rocking the machine back and forth can result in serious personal injury or death! An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Nov. 11, 1988, p. 2697) documents 15 cases in which men trying to get a can out of the machine were crushed. 3 died, the other 12 required hospitalization for injuries such as fractures of the skull, toe, ankle, tibia, femur, and pelvis; intercerebral bleeding; knee contusion; and one punctured bladder. The article states that because the sodas are located in the upper half of the machine (so that they can fall into the dispensing slot), the center of gravity of the machine is abnormally high and the machine will fall after it has been tipped only 20 degrees, a deceptively small angle. A large, fully loaded machine can weigh in excess of 1000 pounds. I strongly advocate the policy whereby all Juice Machines must display the label "WARNING: Tipping this machine or any other unstable object weighing in excess of 1000 pounds onto yourself can result in serious bladder injury or death."

I am more likely to kill a vending machine than I am a shark, too. That effer the other day that stole my beverage...growl.

Aussie sharks are also poisonous/venomous aren't they? Probably, hell, they have trees that can kill you fifty feet...

Seriously, you guys just don't seem to realize how scared we are of being eaten by a bear in the US or Canada and yet it's just a part of life if you live in an area where bears live. There isn't really anything much we're afraid of in the UK though. They only have wussy animals there don't they?

It's what you're used to I guess.

Pretty much everyone that goes to Frazer knows you don't swim on the ocean side of the island because there are lots of sharks, particularly during fishing season when the Tailor are biting which is when more people are in the water.

In my memory and Dazza's, no one has ever been taken by a shark on Frazer and yet fishermen/women stand in the water up to their waist in waders to cast out beyond the break.

At least you don't have to worry about the sharks knocking over your garbage cans, or climbing into your car because you left half a donut under the front seat.

I've been to Frazer Island and yes, there were shark reports on the seaward side.
I had a great time, hitch-hiking and sleeping rough in the campsites or behind dunes (no tent, just a sleeping bag and groundsheet wrapped over).
About a year later a 12 year old boy was killed by dingoes in broad daylight at a campsite where I stayed.

Perhaps he was glazed with a jelly filling?
Nope, damn, that was the donut wasn't it.

We have dangerous birds over here. Just go to any town centre on a weekend at closing time...

There have been a lot of problems with dingos on Frazer island. I'd say there's been one or two attacks per tourist season every year for the last 5 - 10 years.

They're getting too 'friendly' with people and coming into campsites because they're just not as shy as they naturally would be with regard to humans. Obviously this is because Frazer is becoming so much more accessible and therefor there's so many people there all the time.

They've even built a 'dingo fence' around one of the residential areas which it seems a lot of the locals weren't happy about, but on the other hand, it's always the squeaky wheel you hear.

Dingos on Frazer are among the purest in Australia, and yet some people are calling for their extermination or relocation.

I think people should be more sensible about securing their food and rubbish and STOP FEEDING them.

Righto, long time lurker, first time poster.

Couldn't bear to watch someone burble on about the intricacies of Fraser Island's ecosystem who can't even spell it correctly!

S, not Z. Fraser.

Cheers

jackzon2, it's an inzide joke. I guezz you didn't get it.

And, welcome to the Cellar.

I was just copying Ali, after the 1776 incident I didn't want to undermine her confidence.

Hi Jackson! Where ya from?

Quote:

....[T]here are six species of stinging tree in Australia, but only two of them are the tall woody types - the other four are lowish shrubs......

SNIP

Even though they don't hunt in packs, these stinging trees are pretty vicious. The sting is delivered through tiny silicon hairs that cover the leaves and the fruit of the plant. You can think of the silicon hairs as tiny fibres of non-transparent glass. Dr. Hurley found that the only way she could handle the leaves safely without getting stung, was to wear incredibly thick and bulky welding gloves. These silicon hairs penetrate your skin, and then break off. They're so tiny, that often the skin will close over the hairs. So sometimes, once you've been stung, you can't remove the stinging hairs.

The silicon hairs cause pain, because they carry a neurotoxin. One scientist, Oelrichs, purified the poison and injected himself with it and suffered intense pain. He proved that the toxin, not the silicon hairs, caused the pain. If you have stabbed yourself with the hairs, you can release the neurotoxin from the hairs by heating or cooling your skin, or just touching it. This neurotoxin is very stable. Experiments have been done with hairs that were collected nearly a century ago, and they can still cause pain.

The reaction depends on what species of animal gets stung, and how many hairs get stuck in the skin. But we humans feel something between mild irritation and intense pain and death. The pain comes immediately after touching the plant, and it gradually increases to a peak after about 20-30 minutes. The Dutch Botanist H. J. Winkler made the only official recording of Death By Stinging Tree, for a human. It was in New Guinea, back in the early 1920s. There have been other anecdotal stories from soldiers in WW II suffering intense pain, and of an officer shooting himself because of the unrelenting pain - but these are just word-of-mouth.

But you can suffer even if you don't touch the plant. The plants continuously shed their stinging hairs. Stay close to the stinging trees for more than an hour, and you can get an allergic reaction - intensely painful and continuous bouts of sneezing. You can even get nose bleeds from these silicon hairs floating in the air. But Dr. Hurley found that if she wore filter masks, which she replaced regularly, she could work near the plants for a few hours at a time.

SNIP

So what's the best way to get the hairs out of you, once you've accidentally got stuck on a stinging tree. Don't even think about rubbing the affected area with the sap of nearby trees, or the ground-up roots of the tree that stung you. No, it was a student from James Cook University in Cairns who discovered the best way - you can remove these hairs with a hair-removal wax strip. In fact this is now the official recommendation in a Queensland ambulance journal.

What the hell are you talking about, HLJ? When a new member signs up and supplies an accurate correction, you tell him he's out of the loop. What kind of greeting is that?

jacksonjackson, welcome to the Cellar. I think you'll find we're quite tolerant of Aussies here.

I guess I can't be perfect all the time, but I'm damn close.

Confidence? Hmmmm...I don't think it's been damaged too much Zen.

jackson, welcome to the Cellar. By the looks of things you'll fit in very nicely here. BTW, did you have anything to add to the discussion aside from the correction of my spelling?

I don't think "our fair Ali" needs any defending, she's proven adept at taking care of herself.
I also think she's intelligent enough to appreciate having an informational mistake corrected.

But, as long as you're not noob bashing, carry on.

Well it was a mistake, but the mistake comes due to the fact that you yankies put Z's - pronounced zeds - all over the place instead of S's.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it...and of course because I can't spell anymore.

Hey guys, sorry if my initial post seemed rude and abrupt. I was in a shitty mood for a reason I can't even remember.

Just trying to help, didn't mean to troll the conversation. Carry on

This reminds me of this sign I saw when I was in Puerto Vallarta two weeks ago.

And around the corner was a "zushi" bar.

It seems it's a common substitution.

Quote:

Sushi - (soo-shee)- Technically refers to the sweetened, seasoned rice. The fish is sashimi. Wrap the two together in portions and sell it as sushi, and the name still refers to the rice, not the fish. Sushi is the term for the special rice but it is modified, in Japanese, to zushi when coupled with modifiers that describe the different styles of this most popular dish. In Japan when one says “sushi” they are referring to the whole package, the sushi rice plus the neta. And this holds true for all kinds of sushi. When one wants to say “sushi rice” they say “sushi-meshi.” Also, in Japan when someone suggests going out for sushi, they are referring specifically to nigirizushi.

Thanks jinx, that was interesting.

And we've brought the topic back around, too.

I used to be a surf life saver on a very popular Northern Beaches beach called Dee Why. On a few occasions I spotted sharks out in the surf. We just had to inform the swimmers and keep an eye on which way they would swim, and try to guide them out to sea again with the IRB's. I also swam over a few hammer head sharks not knowing they were there, we only found out after we returned to shore, and the person who spotted them told us, mind you he was sitting safely on a large rescue board and decided not to make us panic. Honestly, I think he knew we'd all try and get his board from under him. I lived through that luckily and so did he.

We've got a whole toolshed of sharks out there...hammerheads, sawtooths, shovelnoses...

I was snorkeling in the reef off Lady Musgrave Island and saw some kind of gray shark. It was pretty small, only like 1.5 meters long. I thought it was really cool, and swam after it for a while until it took off. Only time I ever saw a shark in the wild.

It might have been a white/black tip reef shark. They're pretty common in the areas where people are likely to be snorkeling on the reef. You should be careful of them though, they can leave a nasty bite if they are surprised.