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Originally posted by cytruffle:
Bless her heart!! .....poor pregnant thing.....I'm sure she doesn't appreciate being called a "monster".....

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Whites are pretty dangerous. one of the few species known to eat humans. Of course, most attacks against surfers simply let them get a taste, and then they spit it out (evidently they dont like surfboard a la wetsuit). Whites get a bad reputation because of the movie Jaws, but like most sharks, they are more curious than aggressive, and so usually most attacks against humans occur because humans look a lot like seals to the bad eyesight of a shark. Besides a bad rap, they really are not bad animals, although most of their territory includes cold water habitats, although occassionally one turns up in warmer climates. Its also important to note that the modern great white shark, Charcharion Charchariass, is a decendent of a pre-historic species called Charcharion Megalodon, a 60 foot plus great white that lived in the time of the dinosaurs. The Megalodon is the source of inspiration behind the jaws movies.

Of course, whites arent all that bad, in the gulf, we have 2 of the worst species in the world: Tiger sharks and bull sharks.

Tiger sharks are striped, so they are well camoflauged, and harder to see in the brown sand of the gulf of mexico. They also like shallow water, and give live birth (so young babies close to shore are an all too common thing, and they start hunting the minute they pop out of the momma). They are also more aggressive than the average shark, and adults can top out at almost a ton. Other than that, they rank #2 on the size list as far as man eaters go (white sharks are #1).

Bull sharks are smaller than whites or tigers (about 1200 lbs), but extremely aggressive and mean. They have been known to charge boats and will attack almost anything in the water. They also have a brownish top-coat, which makes them hard to see in gulf waters, and have a remarkable tolerance for fresh water, which allows them to swim and feed in shallow marshes, rivers, and streams. Bull sharks have been seen as far as 10 miles inland from seawater.

However, most sharks, despite the species, all share one general characteristic: They all taste good!

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Originally posted by cytruffle:

There HAS to be a way to let the sharks live, but yet protect the waterways close to these hotels & resorts from shark attacks....

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There is. The South Africans have learned many tragic lessons over the years and the popular beaches, specifically around Durban are in fact, surrounded by heavy duty netting that keep the sharks out of the swimmers' "territory". It does work, but at a price however. The nets not only keep the big sharks away, but also trap and kill dolphins, sea turtles and smaller sharks. there is an interesting article on just this issue at:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/06/0603_020604_shark2.html

Best regardSS,

Elie

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