Parents let child swim with sharks. Is it okay?

[Wynnyelle]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...6pLid%3D176630

I read this article about a family who let their five year old daughter swim with sharks on a family vacation. Supposedly, she was never more than five feet away from her parents and only came within 20 feet of the sharks, but some people are freaking out saying that this is child endangerment. The parents believe that she was never in danger at any time, and there were professional instructors around the entire time.

What do you guys think? Is this okay? Would you let your child do this?

[Warpaladin]

Technically it's the parents decision, but I still say no.. that's is just stupid. IMHO.

[Khaza-R]

This is no more child endangerment than driving your child along a freeway. Perhaps even less so.

[Hooky]

to be honest, I do not buy into the whole "sharks don't attack humans" bs that we get from the "professionals". shark attacks do happen, and to be honest the parents probably did endanger the child because of the chance that an attack could happen. BUT..it is their decision.

[Waniou]

Looks like the parents knew what they were doing. Plenty of parents do far more dangerous things than this far more regularly.

[Deleted]

This is no more child endangerment than driving your child along a freeway. Perhaps even less so.

Indeed. Also looking at the video of the sharks http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...=a4ThoO1Rq2c#! it seems like they weren't even remotely aggressive and that the parents had it under control. I find nothing wrong with what they did, other than perhaps being a little bit odd. But it's perfectly acceptable.

[Darnash]

Seriously? I was 12 when I spotted a 6 foot reef shark on vacation in Hawaii. I didn't freak out, because I've lived by the beach my entire life and learned enough about sharks to know that sharks that size won't attack unless you seriously piss them off. With experts nearby, and the type of sharks they were with... yeah, the person above summed it nicely, that child was far more likely to get hurt in a car wreck or a plane crash on the way home than to be harmed by those sharks. Maybe if we were talking about great whites or tigers this would be justified (actually, without a doubt). But these are nurse and lemon sharks people.... sheesh.

TL;DR: people with no knowledge about sharks freaking out over nothing.

[Yautjalv426]

I love sharks with all my heart and my ring tone is the screaming from a real shark attack because I hate our species. Even after all that I am undecided. I think sharks can make choices they are not dumb animals. I don't think? A 6 foot shark sees a 6 foot human swimming along and I would not doubt the thought could cross its mind.. That odd looking this is as big as I am. It could be a risk if I attacked it. I will play it safe and eat something smaller. Now a 6 foot shark seeing a 3 foot human. He may be like oh I can take that weird looking thing on easy. But if those same sharks are around humans and little kids all the time so that they are well fed or won't have any need to take a curiosity bite. I say let the kid swim. That is that part of me that is trying to think logically. But I say let her swim covered in little cuts alongside starving great whites =)

[Deleted]

to be honest, I do not buy into the whole "sharks don't attack humans" bs that we get from the "professionals". shark attacks do happen, and to be honest the parents probably did endanger the child because of the chance that an attack could happen. BUT..it is their decision.

Sharks only hunt for food of if they are threatened though, in this case they had already been fed full and no one tried to hurt them or get too close.

[s_bushido]

to be honest, I do not buy into the whole "sharks don't attack humans" bs that we get from the "professionals". shark attacks do happen, and to be honest the parents probably did endanger the child because of the chance that an attack could happen. BUT..it is their decision.

How many instances of people swimming unmolested with sharks would it take to convince you? Hell, Jeremy Wade swam with piranhas and their reputation is pretty terrible as well.

Obviously sharks attack. Planes and cars crash too. Doesn't mean you should be afraid of those activities if they're performed responsibly.

[Adam Jensen]

If she never got closer than 20 feet, then what's the problem? And it sounds like they had professionals on the scene to keep the worst from happening.

[Rocket Surgeon]

to be honest, I do not buy into the whole "sharks don't attack humans" bs that we get from the "professionals". shark attacks do happen, and to be honest the parents probably did endanger the child because of the chance that an attack could happen. BUT..it is their decision.

There's a difference between a shark attack and a shark bite. Most incidents involve just one bite after which the shark loses interest because the human either isn't what the shark expected to eat or it was just curious. It's pretty rare for the shark to come back for more, and if they are well fed there is really no danger in swimming with them as long as you don't pose a significant threat.

[Gandrake]

I wouldn't.

Because when "shit happens" I wouldn't want to be the one who was responsible for it.

[Larynx]

In this situation, in my opinion it's okay. Like someone said, the freeway is probably more dangerous.

[Zesapharel]

Why not? Who cares what other people do. :|

[vizzle]

If they want to be risky, let them be risky. I won't be the one crying because my daughter died from my own idiocy.

[Kasierith]

No. There were professional instructors there observing, so unless they make an error the child was safe (and even then, it would be a fault of the instructors, not the parents). If the parents had been there alone? Good freaking god yes.

This reminds me of a story I heard about some American campers. They w ere having a picnic, and a black bear wandered by. For those of you who don't know bears, black bears aren't that mean or vicious, they'll wander around a campsite snuffling at things, but in general you could do as little as clap your hands and they'll probably take off; as bears go, they're pretty peaceful. So, the parents decided it would be a good idea..... to put honey on their 2 year old baby's hand and let the bear lick it off.

.....bears don't lick. I'll leave it at that.

[vizzle]

No. There were professional instructors there observing, so unless they make an error the child was safe (and even then, it would be a fault of the instructors, not the parents).

Does it matter whose fault it is? If something goes wrong, the child is still fucked, and finding out whose fault it is won't change the fact you've got a half eaten 5 year old bleeding on the shore. As low as the chances are, you don't have to let your child swim with sharks, and doing so is just asking for it, even if there are "professionals". Let the "cool" people do their shit, but there are many ways to entertain your kid without putting him in needless danger.

[karrad]

i work at a pier and see probably close to 100 people swim within 20 feet of sharks every day. These are fairly small sharks, not giant 20 feet maneaters. To me this is on the same level as not letting your kid pet a cat because it might scratch her throat and rupture an artery causing her to bleed out and die.

Would i let my kid do it? Probably not, but im not going to tell anyone else they cant let their kid do it.

People are retarded.

[myhomeboy]

she was surrounded by 4-5 people it looks like, the child was in no danger at all