Bite club

How bad experiences—or just really strange ones—bring people together. Also, 7 other things worth your time.

This is a story about a club you don’t want to join. It’s an Australian association of people who have been bitten by sharks — along with “victims of dog maulings, alligator bites and even a hippo attack.”

For people unfortunate enough to qualify for membership, of course, it’s a source of solace to be able to share their experience with others who understand.

"My life is shark attacks," said Dave Pearson, who started the group, which now has close to 400 members. “You know if there's a shark attack somewhere in the world, I'll hear about it."

Pearson nearly died a decade ago, after a shark attacked him while he was surfing. When he was still in the hospital, he met another shark bite survivor, Lisa Monday, who had been bitten a few days earlier.

Shark attacks are relatively rare — seven deaths in Australia last year for example, against however many million people swam and surfed in the ocean. Finding someone else who had been through it made it easier to deal with the aftermath of hi…