Compared with other species of sharks, makos supposedly put up the most sporting fight. From what I’ve heard, even larger sharks don’t put up half the fight - or run 1/2 as fast as makos do.
Sushi, anyone?
Or, perhaps tentacle hentai? (work safe link)
Until the Great White reaches Lake Ontario, I’m not worried.
…You think we could snag the shark for the SDMB initiation ritual?
Why?
We already got Ogopogo.
You might want to steer clear of the movie Open Water.
Though I can’t pull up a cite right now, I doubt it went to waste. I recall hearing that the meat from the sharks caught in the derby each year is sold and the money raised goes to a local charity. Bet she fed quite a few kids.
Why is this such a big deal? A 1000 lb shark is not all that out of the ordinary.
Makos generally don’t get that big. They are a much smaller cousin of the great white. In fact, the one’s i’ve seen on TV were never much bigger than a person. And they are the torpedoes of the sea, I know they are often caught by fishermen out for big game fish like marlin, and those boats are trolling pretty fast. I wouldn’t want to eat that shark though, it’s probably full of mercury.
Also, what kind of idiot lassos the tail? Any fisherman worth his salt knows that a fish has the advantage when hooked in the tail. this is because fish don’t really swim backwards, and so when hooked i nthe mouth you can turn them around and haul them in relatively easily, but hook that same fish in the tail and he’ll take you for a ride.
Shame they killed it.
Wanna see a real asshole?
Meet Vic Hislop.
What d’you think they used for bait?
I’m not a fisherman, or a badass, but I didn’t read Kon-Tiki four times without learning a little something about shark-fishing.
The book describes, among many other insanely macho pastimes, shark fishing by hand. (Granted, the sharks were considerably smaller than the Mako in the story.) The testosterone-crazed he-men would lure the shark up to the surface using a smaller fish as bait and then, as it swam by, grab and lift its tail out of the water. Once the tail was out of the water, the shark was unable to propel itself, and they would hold it near-vertical until, as I recall, its stomach would slide down and “smother its brain.” Then they’d drag it on board and let it lie there until it died.
After that, being conscientious conservationists, they would chop the shark up and toss the pieces into the water for the other fish to feast upon.
So maybe that’s why they lassoed the Mako’s tail?
I loved the Jaws movies and laughed myself silly at Deep Blue Sea, but after I read a recap of Open Water I decided that this was one movie I could do without.
Some links you just don’t need to click on.
What a…words fail me! I was reading the story of Minnie the Minke as some kind of allegory, or at least with irony until I realised he was serious…
Yeah, the only conclusion i can come to about Vic Hislop is that he is actually a psychopath, or at least very seriously deluded.
I mean, this is a guy who claims to be knowledgeable about science and nature, and yet who has no scruples describing sharks as “evil,” and suggesting that their natural feeding habits are somehow morally repugnant and need to be thwarted by heroes like him.
He actually believes he has done some sort of humanitarian service by killing a whole bunch of sharks in an attempt to save the life of a whale. He either has no conception of what the food chain is, or conveniently forgets in order to excuse his blood lust and attention whoring. The man is a disgrace.
Well. all except that one shark they caught that had the human remains in it.
That still could be considered part of the natural food chain of events. but I bet a LOT of people felt better after that thing was landed.
Well, i’ve always been of the opinion that we enter their element at our own risk, and that we shouldn’t go on rampaging vendettas just because one of them happens to follow its natural instincts.
The most common type of sharks attacks are “hit and run” attacks, in which the shark takes a single bite or slash at the victim and then swims away. According to this site, most of these attacks are the result of mistaken identity—hardly something to justify a revenge killing that would probably turn up the wrong shark anyway.
Also, speaking after a shark killed a spearfisher near the Australian town of Cairns late last year, a shark expert working for Australia’s premier government scientific research organization, the CSIRO, reiterated what most shark experts believe to be the case, to wit:
For the most part, attempts to track down and kill sharks that have taken a life are little more than irrational, eye-for-an-eye reponses arising out of the desire to do something, anything to make sense of a person’s death. Thankfully, in a couple of recent cases of shark attack-related deaths in Australia, the families of the victims have spoken out against pointless attempts at revenge.
For anyone who wants to know more about sharks and shark attacks, i highly recommend the Florida Museum of Natural History Icthyology Department website. It contains much information on sharks and their habits, as well as hosting the International Shark Attack File, a comprehensive database of all known shark attacks.
Only somenoe who hasn’t killed a shark would say that. Murder is wrong, but when it comes to sharks, it’s a treat.
Sharks are not on some mission to get anyone, despite what is shown in the movies. They are not evil monsters, they do what they must to live.
I grew up on Long Island, New York. The same Long Island that Jaws was based on. We swam in Long Island Sound (north shore) all the time. We swam on the south shore (Atlantic side) all the time. None of us ever got eaten, bumped, or even “cruised” by a shark. This was Long Island, a popular hangout for makoes and great whites. Whites were often spotted off Montauk Point, some big enough to drag a fisherman’s boat backwards (it was on the news occasionally). You’d think if sharks were really hunting us, there would be a lot of gorging going on. It wasn’t so.
The odds of being bumped or eaten are astronomical. You get better odds on being hit by lightning. We are not in their food chain. Any bumps or bites are mistakes.
Makoes are a prized sport fish because they are fast and powerful. They put up a great fight. Whites used to be fished for, I don’t know if they still are. But, anyone who simply caught and killed any fish (including sharks) and then left them to rot, was generally looked down on. It was seen as wasteful. Later on, it was illegal, depending on the fish.