Two Narrow Escapes, One On Land, One At Sea

Watch what happens to the cyclists when the truck
to their right collides with another truck.  

Today we bring you two lucky escapes. Let's hope you have as fortunate a day as these guys.

The first involves a couple of bicyclists minding their own business peddling down a road when the trucks next to them collide.

It's unclear when and where this video was taken, and the video hasn't been independently verified, but Yikes!




Next we take you to just a tiny bit offshore of Cape Cod, where a shark decided it was lunch time and spotted a seal that would make a nice snack.

As you'll see in the video from the Atlantic White  Shark Conservancy, the seal makes a pretty damn athletic escape.

This might give you second thoughts on swimming at Cape Cod or elsewhere. The incident takes place just 30 feet from shore in less than 10 feet of water.

The video was shot by Greg Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.

As for the shark, he finally got his meal. He ate another seal a little while later.

Here's the video:

No Shark Bites: Emergency Surgery Frees Shark From Certain Death

There's an endangered aquatic animal, the grey nurse shark that mostly lives around the coast of Australia.

This poor shark along the coast of Australia had a cord
wrapped around it like a noose, which was going to
kill it. Watch what some humans did about this. 

As sharks go, this type isn't really the most likely to chomp a surfer's leg off, but you still want to be careful. Which makes the video in this post all the more interesting to watch.

The danger brought up a dilemna recently when one of the endangered grey nurse shark's was found with an elastic cord that somehow got wrapped around it like a noose. If that cord didn't come off, the shark would die a slow, painful death.

Not wanting THAT to happen, a team of divers and a veterinarian from Sea Life Museum went to work.

The divers went underwater and coaxed the shark into what was essentially a giant, clear sock, which they used to bring her to the surface. They put her on a stretcher, and brought the shark to the surface where the veterinarian was waiting with a pair of scissors.

The vet cut the elastic off and made sure the shark had no additional injuries. The vet grabbed a syringe, injected the shark with an antiobiotic, and the patient was then free to go.

So congratulations to the divers and the veterinarian for a job well done!

Here's the video from 7News in Australia of how the whole thing went. It's fascinating:

Ultimate DYI Guy: Shark Bites Man, Man Stabs Shark, Stitches Up His Wound, Goes Out For A Beer

I've always liked the kind of guy who takes care of his own problems, just solves the issues that comes up and moves on.

James Grant recovering nicely
from the shark bite that he fixed up on his own.  

Which is why New Zealander James Grant, 24, is my kind of guy.

According to the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald, Grant was spearfishing along the coast of New Zealand, in maybe about six feet of water when he felt a shark bite his leg.

Grant said he thought, "Bugger, now I have to try and get this thing off my leg."

Let's stop there for a second. Notice the lack of panic. I love it. He sounded about as alarmed as when us normal people would like to remove a non-biting fly that landed on our arm.

Grant had a knife, for his spearfishing, so he stabbed the offending shark, which then let go of its grip. Grant said his friends didn't notice, so he waded to shore and used the first aid kit he uses for his pig hunting dogs (!!!)  to stitch up the bite on his lower leg.

Eventually, his friends returned, and after their fun day retired to Colac Bay Tavern for a beer. The people at the tavern like Grant, but were slightly annoyed by the blood dripping on the floor, so they gave him a bandage to help contain the mess.

After his beer, he went to a nearby hospital where he works so they could improve upon his stitching a bit.

And so, after another enjoyable but routine weekend, he went back to work the following Monday.

I really do have to wonder what in the world, if anything, would alarm Grant. If an army of space aliens tried to kidnap him, would he just fend them off, while yawning, with his spearfishing knife?

If somebody decided to try dropping a nuclear bomb on Grant's head, would he just swat it away like a picnicker dispatching a vaguely annoying mosquito?

The Morning Herald article says Grant is a junior doctor. Maybe his real calling is to be some sort of superhero.