If you have never seen the movie Open Water, it is about a real life couple who were left behind in the water when their scuba boat took off without them. The couple, who were left off the Australian coast presumably were eaten by sharks. Not a pretty story, but worth watching. Sorry if I ruined the ending. You don't actually get to see them being eaten. It is just assumed. Anyway, the same thing happened again at almost the same place. This time it was just one guy and not a couple. But, he was American. Hmm, maybe Australians are feeding sharks with Americans now. Well, we are probably tasty. The dive boat left the guy behind, but he was saved from death when another boat happened by and he was able to call them. Seriously, how hard is it to count? Oh, well it turns out the guy in charge of counting did not actually count. He just thought everyone got back on board. Yeah. Makes you really think twice about snorkeling or scuba diving.
Open Water is TERRIFYING. Enty's right -- nothing is overtly shown, but the implications are so, so creepy.
ReplyDeleteI got drunker than hell my last night in Oz and went skinnydipping all by myself off the coast of Northern New South Wales.
Dumbest thing I've ever done in my life, probably.
What Ida said. Open Water seemed like just a little indie movie (which it kinda was), which took terror to a whole new level. But..psychological terror in that it felt incredibly possible. Really recommend. I'd like to know who wrote it, the conversations between the couple seemed REALLY well written and realistic for their situation.
ReplyDeleteYou pay your money, you take your chances. Really scary stuff!
ReplyDeleteIf you watch any of the bonus "making of" stuff about Open Water it tells how this happens quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteThey just don't advertise that it does, of course, because it's bad for tourism.
I always said that if I ever go scuba diving in/near shark infested waters on one of those tours, I would flash my titties to the guy who counts before we went in the water.
That way, when we were leaving he'd think "hey, where's that chick who flashed her titties at me?".
Insurance.
@RQ: I think it was done by a couple. Just the two of them and a "shark wrangler", I'm pretty sure they did most or all of the writing for it as well, if I remember correctly.
ReplyDeleteThe best is that they were actually in the water with the sharks so a lot of the reactions and stuff are real.
CRAZY!
LOL@pwner. That cracked me up.
ReplyDeleteHa ha. My first day in Australia, my program advisor assured us that there was generally only one shark attack per year. Uh huh. Right.
ReplyDeleteThe NEXT day, a young surfer was gobbled up by a great white. And then someone in a factory found a human head in a CARP. Not to mention the dozens of croc attacks, box jellyfish fatalities, funnelweb spider victims...
Fun times. God, I love that place.
we need to get Lindsay Lohan and all of the Kardashians scuba lessons!
ReplyDeleteI thought the couple in Open Water were eventually rescued. I never saw the movie all the way through; the girl's voice annoyed the hell out of me.
ReplyDeletelol pwner!
ReplyDeleteOpen Water 2 not so great.
ReplyDeleteLOL at pwner. But what do you do if, as in this case, you're a guy??
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's what happened. He flashed his penis and everyone left him behind.
LMAO Momster
ReplyDeletethat's the funniest thing I've read all day
LOL - Pwner!!
ReplyDeleteMy theory on the shark feeding .. I figure rather than tasting like chicken [h/t Eddie Izzard] we - Americans - actually taste like yummy, yummy bacon fat!!
But back to the serious .. very scary "Open Water" .. very scary what seemingly keeps happening to Americans on these tours in Australia.
@Wil -- in Australia's defense, they place clearly defined warnings *everywhere*, and fully disclose the fact that the continent is teeming with creatures that can kill you.
ReplyDeleteIt's sort of a "don't say we didn't warn ya, mate!" kinda deal.
It is absolutely horrifying as an Australian that this keeps happening. What's worse is there are no repercussions for these operators.
ReplyDeleteThe real life incident that Open Water is based on saw a water proof blackboard found on an island weeks after the couple were left behind. There was no trace of the couple and it is assumed that they were taken by sharks/drowned or a combination.
What is really horrifying is that these are all preventable incidents. There is no excuse for anyone to be left behind.
I have seen part one and two and believe me, I will NEVER go scuba diving. Those movies scared the bejeezus out of me.
ReplyDeleteDidn't this come out four years ago?
ReplyDeleteSomeone got left behind a few years ago near Long Beach CA. The dive boat checked him off when he wasn't on board and when they finally realized he was missing, they sent the rescue crew to the wrong location. He was only found through dumb luck by a group of Boy Scouts.
ReplyDeletehttp://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/24/local/la-me-scuba-verdict-20101024
"Open Water" is a scary movie. Sadly, "Open Water 2" is so bad you can't even laugh at it.
ReplyDeleteAll you have to do is watch 'Shark Week' each year and you know where to go and, more importantly, where NOT to go when scuba diving.
ReplyDeleteSeriously. If you decide to go in Oz or anywhere near South Africa, do your homework people!
Safety is only a Google search away.....
...and I agree with Ida
ReplyDeleteI lived in Australia for just over a year and they DO warn you.
Seriously people. Watch Shark Week on Discovery Channel.
Don't go scuba diving where Great Whites or Bull Sharks are hungry. Thailand and the Caribbean are great places to see the stuff you want without having to worry about this shiz. :)
Open Water SKEERED me! I could not believe it. I was so pissed that they basically took off the vests, and let go of life. I would hope that they would fight more. They need a better system, and counting is not one. They need a polaroid photograph of every single person that flips in the water. Then when they come back, they move their own photograph back in. Counting is stupid.
ReplyDeleteMy husband & I went on this excursion in the Bahamas years ago...the captain of this boat feeds you Bahama Mamas with 151 rum all day and you cruise around & then they stop & he drops down these buckets w/ fishy food and voila - sharks appear. So then you jump in the water and "swim" with them (above them) while they are distracted with food. I stayed in the water less than 5 minutes. These were not even the huge sharks y'all are talking about.
ReplyDeleteMy days of that kind of recklessness are over. I don't understand how these companies aren't sued for this kind of stuff (if it happens in real life)??
Pwner, I think you shouldn't limit yourself with this "insurance" plan of yours.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't want to pay a lot for that new muffler, flash those titties!
Need some landscaping/pool maintenance? Flash those titties!
Better seats at the concert? You'd better believe that's a titty-flashin'!
It's like "the Secret", only there are two of them, and they'll get you neat stuff!
I see an Oprah appearance in your future, pwner.
"Don't go scuba diving where Great Whites or Bull Sharks are hungry."
ReplyDeleteOr WHEN they are hungry. Those tours are like a smorgasbord for those fish!
I went diving at the Great Barrier Reef several years ago and there were sharks all over the place. I'm a surfer, so I'm somewhat used to them. I actually felt safer from them diving than I do when surfing.
ReplyDeleteThe company we went with on the dive was very strict about keeping track of who was on and off the boat; we had to sign in and out (no one could sign for you) and they counted heads multiple times. I did see "Open Water" and it scared the living daylights out of me. Thank heavens that fellow who was left behind was rescued; being left out there would probably give me a heart attack before a shark could get me.