# Holy COW! I am never swimming in the ocean again! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 8, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979 "2005-02-08T13:15:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/1 "2005-02-08T13:15:00Z")
Someone caught this [momser](http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/yarmouth.asp) off the coast of Nova Scotia. Two questions - 1. What kind of whack-job goes and LOOKS for this kind of trouble?!? :eek: 2. Anyone up for a dip? C’mon, the water’s like 60 degrees! 🙂 More pics [here](http://www.yarmouth.org/magazine/urban.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/2 "2005-02-08T13:51:55Z")
Looks like we’re going to need a bigger boat. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/3 "2005-02-08T13:57:33Z")
I’m sad that they killed the shark. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/4 "2005-02-08T13:59:27Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > I’m sad that they killed the shark. ☹ Actually, so was the dude on the boat who hooked ‘her’… and so was I… ---
**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/5 "2005-02-08T14:00:35Z")
> [@Fisherman](#): > > I felt bad that we caught her at the prime of her reproductive cycle. When they get to be this massive they call them queens of the sea. I would have let her go if I had been by myself My sentiments exactly. > [@](#): > > , but it’s different when you have four or five other guys on the boat. You’ve got to win. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/6 "2005-02-08T14:02:35Z")
I’m sad that I was doing something else that day. This is the first time I’ve ever even gotten to see pictures of the thing. I was not happy when I found out what I missed. Oh, and whack jobs? Doesn’t everyone go shark fishing? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/7 "2005-02-08T14:04:44Z")
> [@Jayn\_Newell](#): > > Oh, and whack jobs? Doesn’t everyone go shark fishing? 😉 Seeing as how one of my personal phobias is any animal that can actually EAT ME WHOLE, then I think the answer is no. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/8 "2005-02-08T15:12:36Z")
Are Great Whites not a protected species in Nova Scotia? What a shame. ---
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/9 "2005-02-08T15:19:46Z")
> [@Jervoise](#): > > Are Great Whites not a protected species in Nova Scotia? > > What a shame. It wasn’t a white; it was a Mako. Whites are protected in both the US and Canada (IIRC)… ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/10 "2005-02-08T15:23:32Z")
Whoa! That is a big Momser! 😛 I agree, it’s a shame they had to kill her. I guess things get a little bloodthirsty when you go shark fishing with your chums. The crazy guy was the one who leaned over the boat to cut her throat, since she was thrashing quite a bit and throats tend to be in close proximity to the nasty pointy teeth. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/11 "2005-02-08T15:34:12Z")
> [@GomiBoy](#): > > Seeing as how one of my personal phobias is any animal that can actually EAT ME WHOLE, then I think the answer is no. _shudder_ Sharks absolutely fascinate me and have ever since I was a child. However, they absolutely _terrify_ me and I’m nervous about swimming in oceans, even when I rationally know that I had a better chance of dying in a car crash on the way to the beach than I do of being killed by a shark. That doesn’t stop the small voice in the back of my mind from reminding me that there are monster fishes in the water that would EAT ME ALIVE, though… ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/12 "2005-02-08T15:42:12Z")
I bet that shark can eat a whole poodle. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/13 "2005-02-08T15:50:46Z")
> [@](#): > > I agree, it’s a shame they had to kill her. I guess things get a little bloodthirsty when you go shark fishing with your chums. Please tell me this was intentional. “Shark Fishing with your _chums_.” ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/14 "2005-02-08T16:10:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Please tell me this was intentional. > “Shark Fishing with your _chums_.” Heh! A “chum line”, or “chum” is in reference to the bait that is used to attract sharks to the surface and eventually a hook. “Chum” can also be used to refer to a friend. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/15 "2005-02-08T16:15:01Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Please tell me this was intentional. > “Shark Fishing with your _chums_.” The pun is _always_ intended. Thanks for noticing. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/16 "2005-02-08T16:19:59Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > Heh! > > A “chum line”, or “chum” is in reference to the bait that is used to attract sharks to the surface and eventually a hook. > > “Chum” can also be used to refer to a friend. ‘Chumming’ is also slang for vomiting overboard from seasickness. Just thought I would add that! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![klintypooh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3da27b/32.png) [@klintypooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klintypooh)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/17 "2005-02-08T16:37:19Z")
> [@GomiBoy](#): > > ‘Chumming’ is also slang for vomiting overboard from seasickness. > > Just thought I would add that! 🙂 Chumming sounded dirtier than it actually is. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/18 "2005-02-08T16:47:31Z")
> [@Jayn\_Newell](#): > > I’m sad that I was doing something else that day. This is the first time I’ve ever even gotten to see pictures of the thing. I was not happy when I found out what I missed. > Oh, and whack jobs? Doesn’t everyone go shark fishing? 😉 Mako is tasty, and she has a lot of prime meat on her, the shame would be that she went to waste and was not turned into steaks… ---
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/19 "2005-02-08T16:54:11Z")
I am sure the [Profanisaurus](http://www.milkinfirst.com/dictionary/profanisaurus.htm) would have more… um… interesting meanings. Not that I looked it up. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979/20 "2005-02-08T17:00:21Z")
> [@](#): > > when you have four or five other guys on the boat. You’ve got to win. Asshole. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-cow-i-am-never-swimming-in-the-ocean-again/288979.md?page=2)