# Shark!Shark!Shark!



## cakerookie (Sep 10, 2005)

Are you still going to the beach this summer? Sorry not my intent to scare anyone.Use to be back in my other days I tried to bring light of the plight of the White Shark and how the movie Jaws has placed an enigma on the shark it does not deserve. Its a majestic animal but a feared predator has well.

Rgds Cakerookie...aka Rook

BTW just trying to lighten the mood here a bit its getting a bit stuffy ain't it Ch?


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## blade55440 (Sep 9, 2005)

Did you ever catch the news stories about that shark "migration" that was following the coast of florida a few years ago.

The video footage was unreal, was just this black bar of sharks right off the coast.


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## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

I saw that, very scary. When I was 13 or so we had a beach house at the Chesapeake Bay. My cousin and I were in a rowboat about 50 yards offshore when all of a sudden the water started to churn and turn shades of white and blue. The boat started to rock and I could hear and feel the boat getting bumped. I looked down in time to see a shark that was turning so I could see its face. Scared the tar outta me! My cousin too! He started rowing back so fast the rowboat created a wake! We got back to shore safely. AS it turned out it was a school of sand sharks. None bigger than about 3' or so but there were enough of them and they were scary enough that we didn't go back in for quite awhile. When we did go back in we were good for about 90 minutes when we were hit again, this time by a school of Skate. That was the last time I ever swam in the Chesapeake Bay!


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## cakerookie (Sep 10, 2005)

Yeah the movie did horrify a lot of people and for its time was great. But I have several issues with it still.The mechanical shark used in Jaws was 20 feet long large by White Shark standards considering Whites in Australia rarely ever exceed 15 feet. White Shark attacks occur more frequently off the coast of South Africa and San Francisco than anyother place in the world, though Australia does have its fair share.
Whites are rogue sharks which mean they travel alone quite frequently except during mating periods. Another interesting fact is that most people think because they call it a White Shark that its white! Wrong. White in Latin means wide and when you have one of these things coming at you it probaly looks as wide as a Mack Truck. 
The ancient ancestor to the White Shark C Megladon reached lengths of 40 to 50 feet and fossilized teeth from this animal have been found has long as 8 to 12 inches.


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## diane (Mar 24, 2006)

8 - 12 inches. Well that is a trifle daunting. I am more moved to terror by 2 -3 inches. My daughter 'flew' into a large dinghy, when she was a little younger. She had shark grazes all up her legs, and her rt arm. Their skin is really just little teeth. Very abrasive. She was hauled so fast from the water she was standing up in the boat. The shark had the good manners to show his/her face, and what a face it was. Smooth, beautiful, and in the circumstances, utterly terrifying.


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## cakerookie (Sep 10, 2005)

Yeah those teeth you are referring to on the skin of a shark are called "placoid" scales. They are small briar like protrusions that extend out and toward the tail of the shark. Thats the reason they always say to strike a shark from the snout toward the tail, tail to snout and you have a bloody fist and bare knuckles. You have to remember that a sharks mouth is underslung so if you decide to give one an uppercut you may drive your arm into the mouth of the shark.

Rgds Cakerookie...aka Rook


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## aprilb (Feb 4, 2006)

In So Australia you've got the inlet where there is a huge tuna population. Particularly around Ceduna. 

Sharks mistake surfers for seals or surfboard shaped 'food' when looking up through the deep blue sea.

Australia beaches are probably among the most beautiful on the planet but the dangers are pretty abundant. Besides sharks you have blue ringed octopus, stone fish and microscopic invisible box jellyfish that will toast your butt in a few heartbeats. (Then on land you have 10 of the most poisonous snakes on the planet, (which are EVERYWHERE) spiders, stinging/swarming insects...bull ants...((about as long as your thumb joint and stings/pinches like a fire ant)) and...?)

Somehow the allure of surfing or swiming in the ocean doesn't quite outweigh the risk of getting eaten or stung to death. 

On a foodie point the Aborigines eat widgity grubs. Raw. A thumb sized 
... well... grub... Or honey ants. Those are supposed to be really good.

(No, it was bad enough getting used to beetroot on everything...)

Great Whites tend to prefer warmer water, but they've been found in a wide variety of places. I can't say if I was a shark the New England Coast would be a destination of choice. (I I I I I...ttttt ... ssss....kkkkkk....oooooo....lllll.... dddddd!!!!)

Plus the aquatic sports on the East Coast don't really support Shark chum.

April :lol: 

(PS...you'd actually have to go into an ocean to have a problem and I can't think of any ocean on the East Coast that I wouldn't worry more about all kinds of bio stuff before I would a shark...LOL)


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## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

This is why I have learned to love pools! I sit on a beach,and bathe in a tub!:look:


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## jim berman (Oct 28, 1999)

Sand.. yeech! I prefer a temperature-controlled, indoor swimming pool with drinks brought to me with those little paper umbrellas poking out of the top. Keep the beach!


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## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

Jim! I have just the thing for you! http://www.excitris.com/2005/09/27/seagaia-ocean-dome/


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## cakerookie (Sep 10, 2005)

AprilB yeah they are a temperate water shark normally found in deep water. They will venture in shore for their favorite food which is seals.

Rgds Cakerookie...aka Rook


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## diane (Mar 24, 2006)

I consider the notion of being eaten by a fish unbecoming. And they make such a mess.


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## thebiggerbopper (May 15, 2006)

I have a daughter who lives in Va. Beach. We get down there maybe twice a year as it's 400 mile from the mountains were we live. I love the ocean but I'll only go in up to about my waist. There's just to many things in there thats bigger than I am. LOL  I'll stick to the pools. hehe


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## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

You know what floats around waist level?  
As I said, I do enjoy chlorine!!!:lol:


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## cakerookie (Sep 10, 2005)

I do not want to burst any bubbles here but white shark attacks have occurred in water as shallow as 18 inches deep. And the old saying that just because dolphins are around there are no sharks don't believe it you are creating a false sense of security for yourself.

Rgds Rook


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

OK! I'm stoked!! Who wants to go shark fishing this summer? I'm sooo serious.


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## cakerookie (Sep 10, 2005)

I am with ya Pan! Hey you have anyone that can cut up some nice thick shark steaks crusted with Lemon pepper and sauteed in butter man getting hungry thinking about it.

Rgds Rook...


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## jim berman (Oct 28, 1999)

Chrose... that looks more like my speed... but I still saw sand... YUCK! Sand is like split pea soup... it's the 'gift' that keeps on giving...as soon as you think you got rid of it, there is always more!


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

We make a couple of annual snapper runs. If the commercials have gutted the area we always take a few small shark for eating. They make the best fish tacos. They don't cook so fast in marinade.


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## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

I must humbly disagree with you... Alaskan Halibut Tacos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:lips: :lips: :lips:


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## aprilb (Feb 4, 2006)




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## cakerookie (Sep 10, 2005)

Hard to believe but we humans are not on the top of a sharks menu when it comes to their eating habits. Consider this, in a study done years ago it was found that males are attacked 8 to 1 over females. Is that saying sharks prefer males over females? Neither. Its just we fellas enter the domain of the shark more than females do. Also when a surfer is out there dangling arms and legs off of a surf board from below to a white shark looks like lunch to him;with their favorite prey being seals he does not know the difference. Case of mistaken identity? Who knows? The white shark is an ambush predator. His attacks occur mostly from below at lightening speed driving the unsuspecting prey many feet out of the water. Many times they never see it coming.

Rgds Rook


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## blade55440 (Sep 9, 2005)

I personally don't do sharks...**** I avoided the beach back home in Florida just because there was a crab problem! You couldn't set your foot down in the water lest you get chased out of the water by the little buggers...

Also, who says pools are safe from sharks? Hasn't anybody seen thunderball? Remember the sharks in the pool?


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## cakerookie (Sep 10, 2005)

Blade I know what you mean I got nailed on the toe by a crab in about neck deep water and I cleared the water and landed on the raft. No wonder they put rubber bands on the claws of these things they HURT!!

Rgds Rook...


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## blade55440 (Sep 9, 2005)

Did you know if you catch a blue crab and flip that sucker over and rub it's "belly" it just stops cold and lays there?

Good luck pickin one up though.

As for getting nipped... There's a place back home called "Crab Island" (not an island, just a section of shallow water everybody parties at).

No matter what you're doing, you always have your eyes open for a blue crab, they come out of nowhere and nip your toe if you get too close, had my finger sliced open by one once.


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## diane (Mar 24, 2006)

LOL April, bad tippers, thats true.


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## muskyhopeful (Jun 16, 2006)

I too have very little interest in swimming in the ocean, but have always been fascinated by sharks. I also like eating shark on occasion. That being said, they are treated pretty badly by humans. Seeing a video of dozens or hundreds of sharks with their fins cut off being thrown back in the water from Asian fishing trawlers is pretty disturbing. I've also watched parts of shark fishing tournaments on the OLN network, and these guys brutalize the Makos, Blues, and Threshers they're catching. Once, I would like to see one of these knobs fall in the water.

If anybody is interested in a great read about White sharks and the people obsessed with studying and protecting them, they should check out "The Devil's Teeth" by Susan Casey. She spends some time on the Farallon Islands with a group of scientists. Some of these guys have been featured on "Shark Week". Informative and exciting. They call the huge female whites that inhabit that area in the fall, "The Sisterhood". 

Overall, the White gets a bad rap. Beware the Bull Shark. That's been the main problem in Florida, and really around the world. They can live in fresh water, and are responsible for many shallow water attacks in rivers in South Africa, India, etc.

Sorry if I sound preachy. I say if ya swims wit 'em, ya takes ya chances.

Kevin

I like Muskies. We practice CPR. Catch, Photo, Release.


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## thebiggerbopper (May 15, 2006)

[No message]


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## bork (Nov 27, 2005)

Since we are sharing stories...

I was in Daytona in '03 for our anual business trip. Our hotel is right on the beach, and I got talked in to going for a swim (not something I had ever done in the 9 years we have been going). After several hours of evening time swimming we retreated to the hotel and turned on the news and watched report after report of a 3 week long string of shark attacks that had taken place in the county we were in!  I have not gotten back in the water since then. I was going to try again this year -- though after reading this thread, maybe not! :blush: They really are magnificent creatures. I just don't want to be swimming around in their cereal bowl! LOL!

BORK <><


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## diane (Mar 24, 2006)

Good eating sometimes, but nothing revolts me more than to see a shark shoved off a boat intact but for his fin. Such rapaciouness is passed understanding. It is no more or less than the armies of Hannibul, Or Ghengis Khan transversing the european continent so long ago. Or the Romans they were trying to deseat. Who had done that before them. Unrestrained and willful murder. 

And we think we are civilised. So go bite a dolphin. Eat your dog, someone elses child would do. Sorry people, some things make me angry.


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## cakerookie (Sep 10, 2005)

Diane, I am in full agreement with you. The fins are used to make sharkfin soup and vitamins. But if they are not going to use the whole shark then they should come up with an alternative ticks me off too. Every creature has its day and I think mans day will come evenually, even the dinosaurs day evenually came. Everything was put here for a purpose and senseless killing is uncalled for!!!!!!!!!!Sorry for the rant.

Rgds Rook


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## frizbee (Sep 27, 2003)

Haven’t really been in the ocean since I saw Jaws as a child.
When I have tried to overcome my shark issue, I get my piggy in there, and my mind gets all paranoid like I was an addict taking a hit with the cops just across the street.
I just have to calm down and turn around and walk back to my drink and chair.
I can’t stand when my son is playing in there either….cause all I am thinking is…if the shark gets him….I would really have to contemplate going after him….LOL… I know in my heart my mother’s instinct would probably take over and I would go after my child, but my rational mind wonders….
So it’s the pool for me too.
Love the aquarium, and big fish tanks….love to look at them with a thick piece of glass between us.
Frizbee
Oh and snakes, pretty much keep me out of anything too outdoorsy or forest like.


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## diane (Mar 24, 2006)

My mode of sea bathing is sitting down on the edge of the waves, letting them toss me about a bit. I never go in above my knees, but my husband does swim out. I suppose it is alright on the east coast, but on the west coast here it is deadly dangerous from the rips, drifts, and holes. I don't like the sting rays either.

Frizzbee, you can be assured your mothers instinct would take over, and you would move down that beach like a soldier of Atilla the Hun. You would have that shark out of the water in a trice. and your babe even quicker. Mothers are like that.


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