(no subject)

[thejunipertree]

Nothing like a shark attack off the coast of New Jersey to brighten up my morning.

Excuse me, alledged shark attack.

It's amusing how NJ officials are refusing to state what happened. I saw the photos of the bite and it certainly looked like a shark attack to me.

The teenager who was bitten got off easy, as well. They're saying that it was possibly a small great white and he came out of this with fifty or sixty stitches. Psshaw. Child's play. He's lucky to be alive, let alone still have all his limbs.

We haven't had an attack off our coast since 1975, which has always astounded me. There's a lot of sharks in these waters. Mako and great whites, even. And it's always been a point of interest for me, that they never attacked anyone. Until now, that is.

At least there hasn't been any huge outcry of Let's go kill 'em! Far too often that is the reaction of locals when a shark does what it is meant to do: hunt and eat.

In my reading about this incident, I came across some information that an aquarium in California recently had a great white being held in capitivity. For 198 days, I believe, which is a record. Before that, I think they were only able to keep one for about sixty days before it went tits up. This one, a female, ate heartily while there, grew about a foot and gained something like a hundred pounds. They released it, with a transmitter attached, after she killed two other sharks in the aquarium and began exhibiting hunting behaviour towards the other fish.

God bless her. I hope she lives for many more decades, safe from human meddling.

I love sharks, in case that isn't obvious. The great whites, most of all. One of my biggest dreams is to go on one of those great white watches off the coast of Africa or Australia, in a diving cage with those big beasts so close I could touch them.

I dream of it, frequently. Silent underwater, sharks all around. I always wake up with my heart pounding and my breath caught in my throat, fear bubbling up through my lungs. But it's exhilarating on a primordial level, to dream of the flash of teeth.

Last year, Miss Robin and Saint Rick took me to the Camden aquarium. And I spent the bulk of our trip with my hands pressed up against the glass of this one enormous exhibit full of sharks (I forget which kind, they were big son of a bitches, though). My face so close to the cool, dim glass that what's inside was all I could see. Eyes wide and entire body trembling as they swam up close before turning away.

There's nothing quite like the feeling of watching one of them slowly come right at you and completely forgetting there's a barrier of safety.

Comments

[lachupacabra.livejournal.com]

i am SHIT SCARED of sharks.
altho i do like the idea of calling your OTR (on the rag) time shark week!!!
:D

[bestekeni.livejournal.com]

my biggest concern is what a great white is doing so close to shore.

the article says that the kid was about 25 feet out. that's not even six feet of water, usually.

maybe it's sick?

[dabble.livejournal.com]

Come and stay with me. My sister's boyfriend goes swimming with sharks. He has some of the best pictures of sharks. Particularly of the Great Whites. He wants to go to South Africa and take pictures.

There was a whale carcass that washed up near here, and there was a feeding frenzy. It created some amazing pictures.

I will try and get hold of some for you.

(I love sharks too)

[greyboy.livejournal.com]

Sharky sharky shark shark.

You know....

[rowan-1958.livejournal.com]

Now that the Camden Aquarium has been redesigned, with a NEW and IMPROVED shark tank, they are letting people snorkle in with the sharks...that's right my dear, you could actually get in the water with the sharkies.

[bukyou.livejournal.com]

>One of my biggest dreams is to go on one of those great white watches off the coast of Africa or Australia, in a diving cage with those big beasts so close I could touch them.

When my fiancee and I were talking about dream vacations we could go on as a honeymoonesque kind of thing, I suggested Austrailia for the swimming with the porpoises/sharks angle. I was completely and utterly vetoed as she's petrified of sharks. I mean, won't even go in a swimming pool or lake kind of petrified.

I have managed to take her to the Boston Aquarium twice, and she goes up to the top of the tank and stares down at the sharks for a bit. So I think I'm making progress.

[serpent-sky.livejournal.com]

I found out last night that one of my friends was bitten by a shark when she was a kid. She showed us the scars and everything. It happened when she was 4 or 5, growing up in Hawaii. None of us knew this about her, but it makes her very badass. She said her parents were so casual about it, just a "oh, let's see how she handles that" and never even took her to the hospital. [That's late 70s/early 80s parents for you, eh?] The scars are pretty badass, too, and I can't believe I never noticed them. Maybe it's because I never stare or notice things like that on other people?

It's weird that people freak out about them -- like where she grew up, sharks were just normal life, and she's got scars to prove it.

I adore aquariums -- I just heard on the radio the one up here, which has an amazing shark room, is getting 6 alligators this summer. I'm so going.

[aprilrobin.livejournal.com]

Just so you know ... "tits up" just made my day.

[thane-of-ghosts.livejournal.com]

I don't think it was a baby Great white, most likly a sandbar shark that did a hard exploratory bite. He was supposedly near a sandbar 25-35 ft from shore in about 3-4 feet of water. I havent heard anything about it at all around the NJDFW office, but most of the Marine bureau guys are all doing Turtle and Sea bird stuff right now.
Oh the Camden Aquarium has been bought by the company that owns Sea World, I have to do an inspection of the place next month. I'll see if I can get you some cool behind the scene pics.

[meetzemonsta.livejournal.com]

I don't think it was a baby Great white, most likly a sandbar shark that did a hard exploratory bite.

Yeah, the reports have been differing. Some mention the possibility of a sandbar shark, some don't.

I have to do an inspection of the place next month. I'll see if I can get you some cool behind the scene pics.

I live less than ten minutes from there!

Also, why weren't you at the tattoo convention this weekend? >:O

[meetzemonsta.livejournal.com]

Come and stay with me.

The funny part is that after getting this comment from you, I immediately went to one of those travel agent-y websites and checked to see how much it would cost to fly to you.

Wow. It's expensive!

[thane-of-ghosts.livejournal.com]

why weren't you at the tattoo convention this weekend?

I'm pissed I had to miss it because of all this:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/thane_of_ghosts/135259.html?mode=reply