Sharkbait, Hoo ha ha!

Earlier this week I saw a clip on the news about this site. Of course my animal stalking habits sparked my intrigue.  I enjoy, when I can, watching live feeds of animals in the wild via webcams. From Emma the Hummingbird to  Eagles4kids which is a class project I started viewing after a local Richmond Nest cam was taken off air. I even peek in on the Lemurs down at the S.C. Aquarium.  All are great time passers as well as educational. You could even call it Wildlife Reality TV, better than the garbage they pass off as "Reality" on TV these days.

So Naturally I was interested to view the Shark Tracker. Though not a Live View in the habitat it has Live updates of locations, which can be a bit alarming. The site it's self is more viewer friendly than Turtle Tracking site I have often visited. Though a majority of the sharks tagged are currently based of the southern coast of Africa there are a few off the east coast of the United States. It is interesting to view where they have been, rather than their most recent ping point.
 To do so simple click one of the blue, green or orange dots on the map. Then on the bubble click view more and a bar will slide out to the right with information on that shark. Then you click the "Where have I been?" Button and ta-da you can see the journey that shark has been on. Hoovering over each dot/ping mark will tell you date and time at that location. You can also collapse and open the side menus by clicking the arrows at the top. The rest I will leave you to explore.

Growing up at the beach it was always said, if you were chest deep in the water then there was at least one shark between you and the shore. Fret not for despite my frequent trips to the beach not once had I witnessed or even heard of a shark attack on a human there. Still to see proof  from these few sharks they do come mighty close to the coast is jaw dropping nonetheless. Such information may very well had prevented me from going in open water now, if not that years back I had already declared to limit if not prevent going in. Has nothing to do with the natural inhabitants but rather a silly phobia of what man made may be in the water and a dislike to my feet touching surprises on the waters floor.

Visiting the Tracker site my mind will ponder upon what causes the shark to take a certain route or why so erratic. What does the shark find so interesting both close to shore and out in the middle of the open blue ocean? I am sure primarily it is food base but the mind still stews.

Take a look for yourself and let me know what your thoughts are!