HABITS OF THE SHARK

Gisborne Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 10189, 29 December 1925, Page 3

HABITS OF THE SHARK

MAN-EATERS AND OTHERS

! VARIETIES TO BE AVOIDED

THE MENACE TO BATHERS

An article on “The Shark and Its Habits,” Avhicli appeared in the Sydney Daily Telegraph last week, will he of-interest to New Zealanders at the present time. The writer says:

“The carcase of a horse or a bullock throAvn into a shark-infested sea never fails to attract a mob of these marauders, which seem mysteriously to spring up from all quarters in an incredibly short space of time. On account of its habit of digesting its food Avith great rapidity, the shark is nearly always in a ravenous condition, swimming at top speed in search of food, aided by a Avell-deve loped sense of smell, perfect eyesight and delicate sense of hearing. “The movements and disposition of a shark that has just gorged itself 'with food are totally different from those of one in search of prey. Jn the former case, it Auill be found that the fish is naturally timid and easily scared But the other is inclined to ‘nose’ about in an inquisitive way, SAvimming leisurely near the surface, often exposing the dorsal fin in a conspicuous manner. Audacity increases in direct proportion to the pinch of hunger, for nothing Avill deter from its purpose a thoroughly ravenous shark in sight of its food. “Sharks have been known to bo shot at and severely Ayounded Avhile feeding and so intent and engrossed in their operations that they took no notice of the injuries receded. Many cases have been reported Avliere they have actually bitten at the blades of oars in the endeavour to lever out tho occupants of the boat into the sea.

“It is no uncommon experience for those engaged in the fishing industry to find sharks leap out of the water at the net full of fish while being raised. Out of preference, a shark will not enter shallow, broken water, nor is one ever left stranded by a receding tide. Their quest or pursuit of fish brings them near tire shore on occasion, but their natural habitat is undoubtedly in deeper water. The man-eating proclivities, therefore, are always the result of accidental circumstances.” THE DANGEROUS VARIETIES. The writer asks “What is a maneating shark?” and proceeds to answer the question. “In some senses there is no such thing,” he says. “No known member of the great family of Selachians subsists on, or even has a preference for, human beings. Only a few have a suitable mouth and teeth for attacking and grasping a person in the water, and of these, again, only a few frequent our coasts, harbours and beaches, ll a man were to fall into water beside a 40ft .long basking shark, the shark would be the more scared. The same applies to the thresher and carpet varieties. “If the incident happened m midocean, the white shark, so much figured in story-books, would doubtless grab a man at once. Hit happened near the coast, r>onie dirttance from the beaches, a tiger shark or blue-pointer might or might not attack him if hungry, both preferring fish as their natural diet, and only coming occasionally into shallow water in pursuit of shoals. H V happened near one of cur suiling beaches or in the harbor, the nurse, which hunts fish in mobs, would not be likely to give him trouble, its long awl-like teeth bein„ adopted for grasping a slippery object like bonito rather than breaking up and rendering asunder of anything heavy and large. “The shark that would give a man instant trouble would be the whaler a lurking menace everywhere around our coasts, surfing beaches, rivers, and lakes, living in salt brackish, or fresh water with equal facility, and, while preferring fish having a jargn mouth and power!ul teeth designed for cutting into, splintering and breaking up any ponderous object. Never more than 10ft to 12ft long, if is massively built and heavy lo if, li».“ sing H» weight during an attack in order to break off anything grasped in the mouth Übiquitous, hold 1 and voracious, this scornge is the one to he dreaded bv the surfer, the rest being of far less account. monarch of the seas.

“Just as the lion is the king ot beasts, so is tho shark the monarch of the seas, having held that position from the earliest geological times. While the largest living species may attain anywhere from 40ft to 60ft in length, prehistoric members of the family apparently reached up to 90ft in length and were armed with prodigious .t®ethcommon fallacies exist legal din e sharks which are worth mentioning " ‘Oontrary S to prevalent opinion, the shark does not turn on its side to bite anything. it does not need to, its gape being so wide as to catch on anything with unerring certainty it would, undoubtedly, turn on its side to grasp any long object standing m a vertical position in the uatei, but would not do so if the same object lav in a horizontal position. “Still another common popular opinion is that a black man is immune from shark attack in the uatu. The writer has seen natives slumming in many parts jot the uoi Id, apparently unconcerned about sui rounding sharks; but tho explanatio for the occurrence seems to be that the sharks of the neighborhood we e not of the man-eating type and had plenty of ready food available on the adiacent prolific reefs. Is either the skin colour nor body odour nor method of swimming would cletei a white shark when hungry from instantly seizing any native m the water.” PROTECTION OF E A THEIRS. The -article concludes “As long as shoals of fish can enter the bays around our coast so long will the shark menace continue. Any scheme of freeing from daugoi the spots where surfing takes place must involve a method of discouraging hsh from coming into shallow water. There is room , for interesting experiments in the moral effect produced on fish by submarine sound of a pulsatin" or a periodic nature, and also of the use of v all-like screens ot air hubbies produced from below by coinpressed air conducted in pipes. “As is well known, tho divci in tropical waters, when below, lias no fear whatever of sharks as a jet of air bubbles directed at an inquisitive visitor lias the invariable effect ot causing it to turn tail and disappear.”