You are MUCH more likely to be in a car accident caused by the idiots who drive down here than being attacked by a shark! Keep your doors and windows locked and drive very defensively - hardly anyone even uses turn signals! Oh, and by the way, go swimming!

i am from panama city beach and i am afraid of sharks. my husband and i are going down there this weekend and im trying to psyche myself up for it-i know it's too hot NOT to get it the water. the good thing about pcb, is that they have always done flyovers-you can tell when there are sharks close to the shore b/cthe flyovers get more frequent and the sherrifs dept usually drives around with a loudspeaker telling people about it. Don't swim alone, that's also b/c the rip tide can be very strong too, don't swim after dusk or early in the am, and if you see a bunch of little fish, get out. i've seen my fair share of sharks b/w the first sandbar and the shore. As for the skeeters, it's quickly spreading (already in GA and AL and MS) around the country-just use DEET-i just read a story that said the disease that is spread is flu-like and usually passes in a day or two, unless you are very young or very old. just be aware of your surroundings.

Hmmmm, has anyone stopped to consider the miles of beach that Florida has compared to all other states in the union? Hawaii probably has more. Maybe Alaska too. <BR> <BR>To the people who talk about all the dark shapes you can see from the air, have you taken into account that most of the water around Florida is more clear than elsewhere in the US?

S: <BR>43 percent of the confirmed shark attacks in the entire world last year occured in Florida(34 of 79). And the University of Florida says this figure is rising. They don't have THAT much beach front. In the same period that Florida had 34 attacks Hawaii had 2 and Alaska none. That's what I find scarry.

That's surprising considering how many swimmers there are in the waters off Alaska.

Staying-How many people go in the water in Florida?? My hunch is it's probably a million or so. 34 attacks out of a million swimmers? More people DIE from bee stings in this country! There are inherent dangers every where you go. More people fall and are killed in their own homes. You can't hide from everything. You need to GET A GRIP or get some serious psychological help to deal with it.

Didn't we already do the shark thing last week. This all sounds so familiar. Are you guys doing cut and paste?