2. Go Swimming in the Red Triangle During the Months of September through November
The Red Triangle
is a plot of sea off the Northern Coast of California where Great White
Sharks love to hang out and where a number of Great White attacks on
humans have taken place. McCosker suggested that if you were really
anxious to tangle with a White, the months of August and September
might be best, as salmon are swimming down from the Oregon Coast, the
pinnipeds are following the salmon, and the Great White Sharks are
following the pinipeds. It's like one big, moving buffet. "That would
be a really fantastic time," McCosker assured the audience.
3. Be an Abalone Diver off the Farallon Islands
Strangely
enough, when McCosker asked the audience if there were any abalone
divers present, about five people raised their hands. (Some people knit,
others dive for abalone.)
Abalone divers sometimes dive to depths of 20 or more feet to obtain
the prize meat and when you do that in an area where pinnipeds like to
hang out, you're also doing it in an area where Great White Sharks like
to hang out. The Farrallon Islands
used to be a favorite spot for abalone diving. It's also one of the
Great White Sharks favorite places to gather, which is why most people
gave up on abalone diving at the Farallons a long time ago. Every time
McCosker mentioned being an abalone diver, he chuckled to himself like
he'd heard a really hilarious joke he just couldn't get over.
Expounding
on shark attacks is a good way to get people in seats, but McCosker's
love for the Great White was apparent, and he stressed that despite the
tales of gore he was spinning for the audience, the actual numbers of
unprovoked shark attacks were spectacularly low when kept in
perspective. When he strayed from the sensational topic at hand and
launched into a spirited description of how the sharks heat their
massive bodies, the eyes of half-drunk squirming hipsters on dates
started to glaze over.
"Really, it's fascinating. Just look it up on Wikipedia when you get home," he said. It pays to know your audience.
