SHETLAND SHARKS

Waipa Post, Volume 32, Issue 1929, 2 November 1926, Page 7

SHETLAND SHARKS

TALE'S OF ADVENTURE WITH MAN-EATERS. Tales of dire adventure with maneating sharks are! usually associated with tropical seas, and it is little known (says a writer 'in the Daily News) that northern waters are also haunted by ferocious denizens. Of all the British Isleis, the Shefflands can probably ia'y claim., to the largest share of sea monsters. English seas are occasionally vfisfited by the basking shark, but the Shetland Isles lying far north of the mainland of Scotland, are very well acquainted with it. The ,basking .shark as so* called from tits habit of lying on the water in (the sunshine. St is the largest of alll sharks, full-grown .specimens measuring about 36ft long. It i s a very fast swimmer, and the tail can inflict a powerful blow. Shetland fishermen always give it a wtfie berth, as it can papsize one of their small boats simply by rising beneath it. During July and August, which is the breeding season, the sharks' temper becomes actively aggressive, and their arrival on a fishing jground Ss a signal for smialil boats to make for land iwith. alll .speed. Basking sharks only occasionally enter harbours or cornel dose inshore., Shetland bathers reckon themseUves safe from their menace, as they are not man-eaters.