The only way that it has ever been possible for me to predict the future is to studiously observe the present, add to that my recollections from the past (including paying attention to history), and use an educated guess to prognosticate what will happen. Having always considered myself an amateur naturalist, I have spent many hours observing animal behavior and doing my best to understand the classification of our flora and fauna. Early on in my life as a scuba diver, this knowledge helped me realize that shark attacks on scuba divers were an extremely rare event and that these attacks were usually presaged by humans exhibiting dumb behaviors (e.g., grabbing the tail of a nurse shark). However, the most common reason for shark attacks on scuba divers is that the divers are fishing – typically abalone fishing or spear fishing. Shark sightings on scuba dives is relatively uncommon, unless...

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