Deckchairs: the terrifying truth is out
Good week, bad week By Roxanne Sorooshian
It’s been a good week for ... beach democracy
TOWEL wars have broken out on Italian beaches. Authorities from the coasts of Tuscany to Sardinia are clamping down on holidaymakers who try to bag prime beach territory by leaving their sunbathing paraphernalia out overnight, with perpetrators facing fines of €200 (£170).
The Italian forces behind operation Safe Sea say using deckchairs and umbrellas to reserve top spots is unfair to others who follow the rules. The Livorno coastguard has already seized 37 beach chairs, 30 umbrellas, towels and some swimsuits. The Tuscan city of Cecina has declared it a crime to leave any unattended equipment on the beach before it opens at 8.30am.
Seizures of beach equipment were also reported in Tortoreto, an area in Abruzzo, and on the beach of Roseto Capo Spulico, in Cosenza and Salerno.
It is not the first time Italian authorities have been forced to take action. A few years ago, coastguard officials at a resort in Liguria fined six tourists about €1,000 after they unrolled 10 towels before 6am to reserve spaces on the beach. The wrongdoers were presumably old hands at sunbathing subterfuge. They were all over 60.
It’s good to know that age is no barrier when it comes to sun, sea, sand and sanctions. Viva l’Itowelia!
It’s been a bad week for ... sharks
It turns out sharks have been getting a raw deal, and it’s all down to a 1970s film score. Hard-working scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, California, have uncovered this seashattering truth: sharks are scarier when set to “ominous background music”.
In the snappily titled study The Effect Of Background Music In Shark Documentaries On Viewers’ Perceptions of Sharks, 2,000 participants were shown 60-second video clips of sharks swimming – one silent, one set to uplifting music and one set to ominous music.
“This is the first study to demonstrate empirically that the connotative attributes of background music accompanying shark footage affect viewers’ attitudes toward sharks,” said lead author Andrew P Nosal.
So, that’s that cleared up. Forget everything you ever believed about Jaws. Sharks are nice, cuddly creatures. Possibly friendlier than your average Italian coastguard.