The older I get the less I want to swim in the ocean

[High Lord Tolkien]

Check out this shark pic!
And off of Martha's Vineyard no less.

fishosaur.com/east-coast/massive-tiger- ... 00015.html

[link fixed]

[danlo]

Jesus!

[Lord Mhoram]

Wow, holy shit HLT. I haven't seen that yet. That thing is...beastly.

[High Lord Tolkien]

It's stories like this that make me wish I had an omnipotent IMAX screen that could show me ALL of the creatures that live or have lived on this planet.
Mother Nature is awesome!

They've found fossil shark teeth that make this guy look like a guppy.

[onewyteduck]

He just wants to play!

[ChoChiyo]

HOLY SHIT!!!

I am not even stepping in a puddle from now on!

It's mouth is as long as the guy with the rope is tall....

I'd be like an hor-d' ouevre!!!


EEK.

[duchess of malfi]

HOLY CRAP!!!

[sgt.null]

shark sightings near the beach that we swim here in Texas, odds seem low...

[Dromond]

Yes, he's a big one.

But not as big as the camera has you believing...

www.townonline.com/blogs/yourTownTonigh ... &year=2005

[Lord Mhoram]

Dromond,

Thanks for ruining the fun!!

[High Lord Tolkien]

Dromond,

Thanks for ruining the fun!!

Yeah, party killer!

How about the addition pictures you provided actually distort the shark to look smaller!
Yeah, that's it.


I don't care, it's still WAY to big for my tastes and in an area that I was always told that was too cold for sharks like that.

There was a good sized Great White that was "stuck" or something in a small bay just south of Boston a few month ago.
They just let it go!
I don't get it.
I think I would have played it safe and killed it.
I don't think we should go out of our way to kill them but if one just pops up on our lap like that I'd take it down.

[Dromond]

Hey, I wasn't trying to ruin any fun,

Just keeping things in perspective, as they say.

[Lord Mhoram]

Dromond,

Just keeping things in perspective, as they say.

Yeah yeah, whatever.

Seriously though, I imagine the pic that HLT posted was used by major news agencies because such a picture would sell much better than yours.

[wayfriend]

My wife just handed this to me ... I showed her that tiger shark pick ... she's obsessed about the great whites seen at the Cape recently (cuz we like to swim in the ocean there) ... so now she found this.

It includes some info about the great white that was stuck in a pond for several weeks last fall despite everyone trying to shoo it out. (Everyone heard that story, right?)

» New England Sharks

[Avatar]

Hell, a 15 foot, 1,100 lb shark is plenty big enough. Nearly three times the length of a person?

Saw an interesting article somewhere about "electric" shark nets. Hold on...

...Ahh:

Make safety for people and sharks the net result’

By all means find ways to prevent shark attacks, as long as those ways don’t involve killing thousands of sharks, dolphins, turtles and other marine life forms.
That’s the stance of the Endangered Wildlife Trust and WWF, reacting in a joint statement to the proposed use of electronic shark deterrent barriers at beaches in the Peninsula, following recent shark attacks on surfers and swimmers.

Dr Deon Nel, manager of WWF’s Marine Programme in South Africa, says the conservation organisation welcomes ways to curtail shark attacks, “with one major proviso: that they don’t involve dealing a disproportionate blow to our rich and diverse marine ecosystems.” Dr Nel says the proposed electronic shark deterrent barriers emit an electronic field that the sharks find discomforting, “seem, in principle, like a promising alternative to shark nets, which indiscriminately kill thousands of sharks, as well as turtles, dolphins and other marine species each year.”

Dr Nel adds, “There have been concerns that sharks may be harmed by the electronic fields, but our view at this stage is that some temporary discomfort is still preferable to being killed in shark nets, as thousands are each year. Clearly there needs to be increased research into the effects of the electronic barriers, especially on a large scale, and ways found to mitigate these effects.

“Sharks face enough of a threat from humans as it is. Indiscriminate fishing techniques mean that thousands of sharks, dolphins and turtles are needlessly killed each year as so-called 'by-catch', where they’re caught during fishing for other species. Illegal finning of sharks - where fishermen cut off sharks’ fins and then throw the sharks back into the sea to die – is a further major problem."

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) estimates that more than 100 million sharks are killed worldwide each year. This figure is even more alarming due to the fact that sharks breed very slowly.

On average, 100 bathers drown off South Africa’s beaches each year, while on average one person dies after being bitten by a shark every second year. Annually, about six people die globally after being bitten by sharks.

Dr Nel says, “Ideally we’d like to see a reduction in the use of shark nets and would strongly oppose an expansion of their use to False Bay as has been suggested. Nets don’t deter sharks, they just kill them. Shark nets are set to catch and kill sharks. Their purpose is to reduce the number of sharks in an area and thus reduce the chance of shark attack".

Describing shark nets as, "Indiscriminate killers of many forms of marine life including threatened species of turtles and dolphins," Dr Nel adds: “Of particular concern to us are the smaller inshore dolphins such as the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin and Heaviside’s Dolphin - both small dolphins with small population sizes.”

Shark nets were installed at bathing beaches off the then Natal coast in the late 1950s following a series of fatal shark attacks and, have since been operated by the then Natal Anti-Shark Measures Board, now known as the Natal Sharks Board. On average, 1000 sharks, 70 dolphins, 40 turtles and a multitude of other animals die in these shark nets every year, according to one estimate.

Dr Nel concludes: “We’re privileged to live in a country that has oceans filled with a diversity of beautiful life forms. A healthy marine environment is one that includes top predators that play a pivotal role in the functioning of the ecosystem. This privilege comes with responsibilities, in terms of management, and certain risks for users. This is part of the package deal. The alternative is a bland, sterile, lifeless swimming pool.

"Sharks really have gotten short shrift: if cuddly animals like seal pups were being slaughtered at the rate sharks are killed, there would be an outcry. But while some people find sharks frightening, they’re fascinating, diverse and generally shy – their rate of decline and their role in the oceans’ ecosystems warrant increased conservation efforts.”

Personally, I'm of the opinion that if you decide to swin in the ocean, then you have to accept that you could be "attacked". Same as if you choose to wander around the bush.

The ocean is shark territory, and to them, we're just part of the food chain. Fair enough.

--Avatar

[Sunbaneglasses]

What about jellyfish,stingrays,and crabs-not to mention used needles,glass,and people at the marina nearby flushing their boats septic systems out into the sea.

[[Syl]]

You have a better chance of dying on the car trip to the beach than being bit by a shark. And every year, more people are struck by lightning than bit by sharks.

[Reisheiruhime]

Oh, how comforting. I just went swimming at Tybee Island, and they had helicopters flying about, looking for sharks. So, along with getting sunburnt, windburnt, and saltburnt, I had to worry about sharks and 'copters too. Wonder if shark is edible...

What about jellyfish,stingrays,and crabs-not to mention used needles,glass,and people at the marina nearby flushing their boats septic systems out into the sea.

And lost nets. Can't forget those. Oh yeah, and tiny nibbling fish that you can't escape unless you go into the freezing cold water with the nets. Eehegewrgh... Maybe I'll just stay in my safe, clean home pool from now on.

[Edge]

Wonder if shark is edible...

Yes, it is. But it doesn't taste that great.

[dANdeLION]

Then why do they call it "GREAT white shark"?