Composure must be kept, rational decisions must be made, common sense must be used. I try not to put myself in a situation to begin with. If it looks shady, I go the other way. The best way to stay out of trouble is to avoid it in the first place, then be prepared if trouble finds me instead.
In this scenario it does, quite a bit. Do you go in the water at dawn and dusk, do you go in deep when the water is murky, if you see a school of bait fish being chased do you wade toward it, do you avoid steep drop offs and sand bars?So much for shopping at Wal-Mart, I suppose the same might apply at the beach...