SAFETY ON THE WATER
During one of the Q&A sessions with the ship’s officers, I had an opportunity to ask how they handle potential pirate or terrorist attacks on the ship. This was not a theoretical question since a Seabourn ship was attacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia in 2005.
Pirates attacked the Seabourn Spirit that year firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, three of which hit the ship, and one of those ended up penetrating a guest stateroom. None of the passengers were harmed. But what a story THEY had to tell when they got home! I wonder if they were offered a future cruise discount?
I had been told by an officer on a Princess cruise last year that they use fire hoses to prevent anyone from climbing up onto the deck. They do not want to use any firearms if at all possible. On this trip we were told that they no longer use fire hoses or barbed wire (something they used to put along the deck railing when going through pirate territory).
What they do now is set off warning flares. They also have some devices that give off a loud acoustic bang which is a deterrent to coming any closer. But if needed, fire arms are carried on board. (That was reassuring!)
It can get a little tricky out there on the high seas. Maritime law states that ship personnel are obligated to help anyone in distress. So in the case of a cruise ship, they send out their security people in tenders or other small craft to check out the people in distress. Of course, they are ensuring that they are not terrorists or pirates pretending to be ordinary folk.
We saw this procedure first hand a few years ago when we were on a cruise off the coast of Algeria. During the day we noticed a small raft holding about 25 young men who were giving a distress signal. The captain of our ship sent out some security people to check them out. It turns out they were refugees trying to get to Italy, but ran out of water and food when their small engine quit and they started to drift.
It became clear that some of them needed medical help, so we took them aboard where they were treated by the ship’s doctor. We then had to wait for the Algerian Navy to come and get them. Their first naval ship broke down, so we waited several more hours till they could get a second ship out to us to take the refugees.
I hate to think of their fate once they got back “home”. Trying to escape is probably not looked upon favorably. Dehydration and starvation might have paled in comparison to what they had to face.
SAFETY IN THE WATER
We were fortunate to have a team of naturalists come on board in Tahiti and they gave some very interesting talks. Two of them are marine biologists and I found the following tidbits of information interesting.
Karlina began by asking how many people were afraid to go in the water because of possible shark attacks. Several hands went up. Then she gave the following statistics.
You are much more likely to be struck by lightning than be eaten by a shark (but we knew that). Some statistics show as many as 24,000 people are killed world wide each year.
Almost 3000 people die each year because of hippopotamus (hippopotami?”) encounters.
Having been to water camps in Africa, I can attest to how this would happen. When you’re in a small canoe and a 4000 pound hippo surfaces abruptly right under or next to you, it is probable that the tippy canoe will tip over. Although they are vegetarians, by the time they finish “playing” with you and flipping you over to investigate, you’d be a goner.
Approximately 150 people die as a result of coconuts falling off trees. (Remember to look up before you hang your hammock).
Around 22 die because of cows. (I’m not sure how to explain that one).
Worldwide there are an average of 81 shark attacks per year but only 6 fatalities.
Sharks have to come up close to check you out and they use their teeth as one of their senses to see if you are tasty or not. By the time they decide you are not tasty you may have lost an arm or a leg. Usually humans are not considered tasty morsels which explains why there are so few fatalities relative to attacks. Our marine biologist assured us that sharks where we are snorkeling are very shy and not interested in tasting us.
On the other hand, it’s the sharks who should be afraid of us, as 100 million sharks are killed by humans per year.
Karlina went on to tell us about some other marine life that can cause a bit of damage, or kill you.
Jelllyfish sting by firing their nematocysts on the tentacles that contain venom into their prey or predator when they sense something organic (like your skin). There were 67 fatalities from Box Jellyfish in Australia over the past few years.
There is an urban myth that if you get stung by a jellyfish you should urinate on it (the site where you got stung, not on the jellyfish itself). Peeing does nothing to relieve the sting, although it might get the attention from those nearby. And if they happen to have a cell phone camera you might go viral on You Tube.
What you should do is put vinegar on the site. But if it is a Portuguese Man of War or “Blue Bottle”, put hot water on it and definitely no vinegar.
So I guess the conclusion is, if you are going to swim with the jellyfish, bring a thermos of hot water, a bottle of vinegar, and a jellyfish identification book. Or just stay out of the dammed water.
Other things to watch out for in the water include the Crown of Thorns Seastar (COTS) which are venomous. And don’t step on fire coral (apply a cold pack in this case), and Lion Fish or Scorpion Fish (hot water goes on this one). A Blue Ringed Octopus has tetrodotoxin in its saliva. They bite with their beak and can kill 26 humans within minutes. (Don’t bother with the vinegar or water as you are probably a goner if you encounter this one).
Oh yeah, one more thing. If you think you’ll play it safe by staying out of the water and just walking along the beach collecting a few shells, think again. The cone snail has a beautiful shell, but it shoots venom out if its proboscis paralyzing its prey. This probably won’t kill you, but when the snail sheds its shell, a hermit crab will probably come along to claim it for its home. So we were told to be kind to the crabs and leave the shells on the beach.
Our lecturer finished with the following advice. “Don’t have FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). 71% of the earth’s surface is water. Get in it and enjoy!”
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