In light of the recent shark attacks…

[CentralFlGal]

I offer you candidates for the Darwin Award:

A sunny Saturday in Cocoa Beach, Florida draws families to the water. Enter some guys with fishing gear…

They cast out 2 lines right in the middle of all the kids on boogie boards. Mistake #1.

One rod bends – must be a good one. No kids appear to be wincing in pain or screaming bloody murder. Whew. Guy finally reels it in. It’s a 1 ½ to 2 foot hammerhead. Cute little booger.

Other guy rips out hook. Shark is now bleeding profusely. Kids gather ‘round to look at it. Guy #1 announces it’s time to toss baby hammerhead back into the water. Mistake #2.

They are convinced by others that it’s not really a good idea considering how much sharks love blood. Baby hammerhead – who is really freaking out at this point – gets placed in a bucket of water to see if bleeding will subside.

Bleeding appears to subside and baby hammerhead is unsuccessful in its attempts to jump out of the bucket – much to my daughter’s relief. Guy #2 wades waaaay out into the water to toss baby hammerhead into the trough. I wonder aloud if any its relatives are nearby.

Guy #1 wants to pour the bucket of blood into the water. Mistake #3. He is finally convinced to dump it out in the sand as far away from the water as possible.

They didn’t stay long after that, but did leave me craving fish and wondering if there’s any hope for the future of humanity (and we won’t get into the dug-up sea turtle nests on Sunday before the proper authorities could get to them, either…).

[Windsong]

LOL! I've seen some equally crazy things on Cocoa Beach as well. I can't count the times a car load of tourists would pull up, pouring out little kids who run to see all the "purple ballons" on the beach! Or the time some tourists were surf casting, caught a shark and spent 20 minutes trying to figure out what it was.

A week or two ago, there was an alligator floating in the surf. The tourists were in denial (that can't be an alligator maw...that's salt water!) Authorities finally came and rescued it from the Darwin nominees.

Thanks for sharing.

Windsong

[alicia-w]

that's one heckuva shallow gene pool!

[HurryKane]

wondering if there’s any hope for the future of humanity.

Sure there is, as long as there's big critters like sharks and gators willing to eat the stupid among us. With them weeded out we'll do just fine.

[Hurricaneman]

I cant believe anyone would do that, ok maybe i can