Safety on shore...

[zakatak]

We are planning on taking my kids (ages 8, 6 & 4) on a Disney cruise in 2006. However, they are petrified of sharks and other sea creatures that they've seen on Animal Planet. Case in Point... the Cone Snail on Animal Extremes that can kill a human in 4 seconds flat.

How is the beach on Castaway Cay kept free of sharks, etc... Or is it? Any ideas on how to get them in the water?

 

[faireygod mother]

There is no direct access. CC is like a lagoon.

 

[chrisn]

Disney has installed a safety net around the family beach to keep predators out. I'm sure it does keep some of them out but not all. There is a resident Barracuda that lives there Barry is his name I think? Also, my hubby and DD's friend saw a 5 foot shark (either Nurse or Reef) on the snorkel trail from the Family Beach. This was inside the safety net. Not that big a deal but just be aware the it is the natural ocean habitat and the net is not 100% protective against the inhabitants.

 

[RickW]

I have the secret for staying safe at the beach...








Are you ready?








Here it is:
WEAR SUNSCREEN

If you take a look at the numbers, you will realize that you are about 1000 times more likely to die of skin cancer than from a shark. Sure, it's possible that something could hurt you at Castaway Cay, but compared to the dangers of other activities (like driving to the port), I barely even consider it.

Granted, logic doesn't work too well with 4 - 8 year olds, so for them, you could always try the "They're more afraid of you than you are of them" line. Which, for the most part, is true of most wild animals.

 

[WDWLVR]

As chrisn pointed out the family lagoon does have a safety net around it. They take safety very seriously. On our 10 day the net got knocked down overnight due to the storms that went through. Some predators got in and Disney closed the water for that day. It was cool and overcast anyway so not the best day for swiming. Many took hikes around the island or just played on the beach. Your kids will be fine!

 

[Corryn]

I remember checking out these boards last year and there was a post about sharks in the water....The DIS'er even posted a photo! He was snorkeling inside CC and maybe about twenty feet away from him was a shark. The photo was clear enough to definitely make out the shark. I absolutely remember this, I even forwarded the post to everyone in my group.

But, regardless of sharks or barracuda's, I'm still swimming...

Remember that newspiece, I think it was in September of 2002 or 2003? It was video taken from the air of a couple who were on a jetski down in Florida. They were just moving along, not knowing nuthin' and all around them were sharks! They were everywhere and they had no clue!

While I was pregnant with my second daughter me and my husband went out to Fire Island like we usually do. We're out in the water hanging out on a boogie board enjoying the ocean. Now, remember I'm pregnant. We were out a good distance because our feet were not touching the ground, just floating and talking. All of a sudden, about ten feet in front of us we see and hear a big Whoosshhh like a whale makes and we see a huge burst of water shoot into the air! I said to my husband, what's that!!!! knowing full well what it was...he said, ah, that's ah, nothing, nothing.....why don't we swim back to shore? Which we promptly did! It turned out there were Pilot whales in the water at the time, the lifeguard said.

Point is, when you swim in the ocean, CC or anywhere, there's gonna always be something swimming with you Just don't think about it.

 

[pdarrah]

Zacatac - My DS5 went into a bit of a panic when we took him snorkeling on our cruise last October. We had spent the summer preparing him and he had practiced in the pool and we read books about coral reefs, etc. Then when he finally got to a real coral reef and took a good look at it - panic! It took weeks to find out what the problem was - he suddenly was afraid there might be sharks there too. (And he hadn't seen anything on Animal Planet!)

We are trying to get him ready for our 2nd cruise this October by helping him learn a lot about sharks. It seems to be helping, the more non-sensational facts he learns, the calmer he seems to be. We have been getting books from the library (pre-screened to be sure they aren't sensational, scary stuff - I'm surprised how many of these there are in "children's" books - not just about sharks, but also books about dynosaurs that seem intended to cause nightmares!) Last month's Click Magazine (a science magazine for young kids) had a really good story/article about a little boy that was scared of sharks.

I am also thinking of taking him to the aquarium (we live near Chicago) since I would assume they would have a more ballanced approach to these animals.

I haven't seen much on Animal Planet, but I have seen some of Discovery's "Shark week" and it is enough to scare a "rational" adult away from the ocean. These shows are trying to get viewers by showing a lot of blood, attacks and gruesome scary stuff - they are not really a ballanced, rational study of these creatures.

Anyway, maybe you will have some luck with your kids if you work with them to learn more about sharks and they will find out for themselves that they aren't likely to be attacked.

Good luck,

pdarrah

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Here's a link to the photo I always post about when this subject comes up.

Shark Picture

I'm not sure if this is the picture the previous poster was refering about. This shark was spotted about 100 yards from shore off Serinity Bay (adult beach), and NOT inside of the lagoon. As others have stated, the lagoon is guarded by a net that doesn't keep out ALL sea life, but keeps out most of the really big things.

 

[Corryn]

Yup, that was the picture (!) I am sorry to get my facts screwed up - I did try to search for the post and couln't find it and it's been a while since I've last read the post.
But thanks for clearing that up!
BTW that picture is just the coolest

 

[HooKooDooKu]

BTW, for those that have not seen the picture, you have to look around the 8 or 9 o'clock position near the left hand side to see the shark in the picture. His color easily blends with the background, hence the reason he disappeared from my view in less than 10 seconds even though he's about 6 feet long, only 10 yards away, and casually swimming by.

I've also been lucky enough to see a 3-4 foot sting ray while snorkeling off the adult beach (he was too fast to get a picture of).

 

[jrabbit]

Remember that the FAMILY beach has the barrier and safety net. The adult beach (Serenity Bay) DOES NOT have any "protection". It's just open water over there.

 

[BethC1952]

I've also been lucky enough to see a 3-4 foot sting ray while snorkeling off the adult beach

We saw a beautiful sting ray right AT the adult beach in December of 2004. We were there at what must have been low tide (all the water just seemed to vanish!) and there it was--less than three feet from us. This was only minutes after DH commented that we really hadn't seen much sea life on this visit to CC!

Beth