I'm guessing there was alcohol involved...

[Birdman666]

So, yeah, imagine you are on a boat down under, and you come across a dead whale carcass. And you also see that there are several large (Tiger, great white) sharks feeding on the dead whale...

Do you (a) Calmly steer the boat away from the feeding frenzy;
(b) Observe/Film the feeding frenzy from a safe distance; or
(c) Steer the boat alongside the whale carcass and dare your stupidest friend to DIVE IN THE WATER IN THE MIDDLE OF A SHARK FEEDING FRENZY and "surf" the dead whale.
(d) Videotape your friend doing one of the stupidest things imaginable, and then post it on Utube.

The obvious answer in this case is (c & d). And the guy actually managed to stay on the whale while the sharks hit it... which probably means alcohol was involved, but not in the quantity that it would take for you or I to ever do anything that stupid!

Australian admits 'surfing' on dead whale was bad idea - CNN.com

He ADMITS it was a bad idea, and THAT'S the headline! Uuummmmm, how could anyone possibly DENY with any credibility that it was a bad idea?!

 

[Kiwibird]

Shame he wasn't eaten. Then he could have been nominated for a Darwin Award. Probably the only award he would ever be eligible to win...

 

[Scott]

Shame he wasn't eaten. Then he could have been nominated for a Darwin Award. Probably the only award he would ever be eligible to win...

Indeed! There are not enough figurative splashes of chlorine in the gene-pool!!

 

[Birdman666]

Yeah, after 25+ years of surfing, my first instinct when I see a shark feeding frenzy is NOT to jump in the water with them.

I've done my share of "kinda out there" stuff, especially when I was younger, but this is lucky to still be alive and intact kinda stupid...

 

[Delfin]

There are lots of stupid people in the world and when you add alcohol to them, then what little sense they have left, disappears into an alcohol stupor. Personally I would take video of the feeding frenzy from the boat.

People do stupid things all the time, in fact I would say that everyone, at one time in their life would have done something really stupid that could have ended their life or at least seriously been injured.

This was clearly done without any malice or intent to hurt any of the sharks and while this bloke was clearly stupid for what he did. I believe the comment "shame he wasn't eaten" is inappropriate and unwarranted. Imagine how his parents would have felt If he had been eaten. It probably bad enough for them that their son's stupid behaviour was videoed and put on the internet for all to see. But it could been his death that was filmed.

I'm not condoning his stupid actions but I just don't see the need to feel that it was a shame he wasn't eaten. There are far worse people out in the world. Like the person who puts a bird into shipping container and leaves it there for years or mistreats and abuses the bird or any other animal. These are the people who should be the focus of your contempt, not a harmless idiot who acted before he thought through his actions.

By the way there are people that go swimming with white pointer sharks off Western Australia and South Australia without a shark cage. These people do this on purpose.

 

[Kalidasa]

The best thing to come out of this situation is the golden line "mum thinks I'm an idiot, and dad isn't too proud either". That had me rolling!

 

[Kiwibird]

TI believe the comment "shame he wasn't eaten" is inappropriate and unwarranted. Imagine how his parents would have felt If he had been eaten. It probably bad enough for them that their son's stupid behaviour was videoed and put on the internet for all to see. But it could been his death that was filmed.

It wasn't meant literally (though I feel it's safe to assume you are not a big fan of the Darwin awards?). He made a dumb decision, and by comparison, a few jokes at his expense on the internet are a far more favorable consequence for his actions than the alternative... Every choice we make in life has a limited number of outcomes. This man's outcome was relatively favorable. Hooray!

'm not condoning his stupid actions but I just don't see the need to feel that it was a shame he wasn't eaten. There are far worse people out in the world.

Again, not said literally, statement has been taken WAY out of context and WAY too seriously. The idiots of the world are the ones you make a joke about, laugh and everyone moves on with their lives. The evil ones are the ones you actually do something about... I have encountered both types and definitely been in the "idiot" category, nearly removing my genes from the collective gene pool, more than a few times myself:54:

 

[Delfin]

Jokes have a funny Punch line, been eaten alive by sharks is not a funny punch line.

 

[Kiwibird]

I think we will have to agree to disagree on this one. Vastly different views here and no need for this particular debate to progress any further as nothing beneficial will come of it.

 

[EAI]

Honestly, the only thing that got me boiling was the fact that he was climbing on the rotting part! I mean another way to get on is to NOT go on in the first place. But I have to admit. He has a lot of guts to do that.

 

[Birdman666]

To be fair, my friends and I could have easily been nominated several times for the "Darwin Award" in our younger days. I very nearly drowned a few times in my "surfing" days.

When I was young and indestructible, I was up for nearly anything. (Though I think I'd draw the line at swimming with the sharks in a feeding frenzy. That was too stupid even for me... )

A few of my friends actually won that award already. Base jumpers and wingsuit base jumpers have a significantly shorter life expectancy than the rest of us. Like Icarus, sooner or later they try to fly too close to the sun (or in this case, the side of a cliff.) I've lost 8 friends to base jumping/skydiving accidents. We seem to lose one a year.

Looking back, I don't know how we didn't have more trips to the ER than we did...

 

[RavensGryf]

Base jumpers and wingsuit base jumpers have a significantly shorter life expectancy than the rest of us. Like Icarus, sooner or later they try to fly too close to the sun (or in this case, the side of a cliff.) I've lost 8 friends to base jumping/skydiving accidents. We seem to lose one a year.

. I saw somethig on tv about that. Emphasized how dangerous it is and how many people die. The guy they followed on the show lost his fiancé, but kept on doing it.

Losing one (of the group) per year... THAT would probably be my cue to stop. Then again, that's just me :52:

 

[Birdman666]

Base jumpers and wingsuit base jumpers have a significantly shorter life expectancy than the rest of us. Like Icarus, sooner or later they try to fly too close to the sun (or in this case, the side of a cliff.) I've lost 8 friends to base jumping/skydiving accidents. We seem to lose one a year.

. I saw somethig on tv about that. Emphasized how dangerous it is and how many people die. The guy they followed on the show lost his fiancé, but kept on doing it.

Losing one (of the group) per year... THAT would probably be my cue to stop. Then again, that's just me :52:

If it's the person I'm thinking of, then I know both of them. And I distinctly remember hanging out at the airport bar at Skydance, and getting an email saying she hit the cliff and was dead.

I'd still be jumping if I had the money to do it, and didn't have a blown disk in my back...

You don't quit. You take all the precautions, and realize it could happen, temper your recklessness, and err on the side of caution...

I don't base. I don't have any desire to base. Wingsuit? Yeah, but out of an airplane! Not off a cliff.

 

[RavensGryf]

It was a long time ago. All I remember is he had dark hair. Attractive but eccentric.

 

[Birdman666]

Six years or so ago, now.

 

[veimar]

OMG, scary stuff… This guy just didn't have the basic common sense. :/ People have not enough adrenaline, so they do crazy things. I prefer to play on stage - it's no less scary, but way much safer. But I love sailing in a moderate storm (yellow/red flag) on a small boat (with my hubby in charge of course!) in lake Michigan.
But if life takes you to a life threatening situation in reality and you barely escape, you really don't want to repeat that experience. When I was 16 went to swim in the stormy Black sea in Crimea on the last day of our summer vacation. Being used with calm Baltic sea I didn't know how strong the waves could be elsewhere. It was would have been my last swim if I wasn't a good swimmer and didn't go underwater to get to the shore. Lesson learned.
This guy knew what the danger was, but still went there - that was just being stupid.

 

[RavensGryf]

Yeah, when I said 'a long time ago' lol, the tv show was probably less than 6 years ago.

 

[Birdman666]

Yeah, when I said 'a long time ago' lol, the tv show was probably less than 6 years ago.

Well I was jumping at the drop zone the day it happened... we were reading their email from the day before - describing the high of flying the swiss Alps, heading for the Fjord's of Norway, when word came she hit the cliff...

She was a great flier, but had a reckless streak according to those who had flown with them... She was turning a corner in the mountain pass, and a gust of wind threw her off her line and she didn't make her turn. Hit the cliff... If that didn't kill her instantly the 2,000 foot fall did.

He was flying directly behind her, following her when it happened. Can you imagine?!

They spent 6 months of the year as skydiving/rigging instructors at skydance, and 6 months of the year Wingsuit/Base jumping all over the world.

 

[RavensGryf]

Veimar, I've had a few of those kinds of experiences in my lifetime. I cannot swim in anything but a swimming pool. If there is a current (ocean or river) someone who can swim well better be watching me lol. I've been told how to swim with a current, but I could never get it.

I learned twice how to surf (longboard) but learned too late probably... I'd feel seasick as the board went up and down sitting out there waiting for a wave. Then I couldn't get the timing, then the water was WAY too salty...:26:

I loved (stand up) jet skiing when I was with my ex, but being in the fast moving river you really need swimming skills or people with you who can save you!

 

[Birdman666]

Another friend of mine died a year or two ago at San Marcos. Just never opened... never even tried to open. No one ever figured out why. Passed out? Medical complication? We don't know.

I have a picture of him, and another friend of mine just tearing it up, riding an inflatable alligator out the back of a skyvan in costume at the drop zone halloween party...

The highs in that sport are indescribable.... but the lows are as low as it gets.

Skydiving itself is actually pretty safe.

Base jumping?! Not so much... A lot of the base jumpers I know live very recklessly, and are "cheating death" kind of people. Those are the sort of folks who eventually get you killed. So, no. I pass.