# What Are The Sharks So Pissed About? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 23, 2001, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-sharks-so-pissed-about/77709 "2001-08-23T13:10:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-sharks-so-pissed-about/77709/41 "2001-08-24T22:49:23Z")
Well, Bill, you’re going to have to get the [alligators](http://www.sptimes.com/News/062801/TampaBay/Alligator_attacks_swi.shtml), too. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-sharks-so-pissed-about/77709/42 "2001-08-24T22:55:40Z")
You must have missed his recent GD thread, 'cause Bill wants to exterminate the gators too. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-sharks-so-pissed-about/77709/43 "2001-08-24T22:57:46Z")
Oh, sorry then. Anything else he wants to extinct (Dopers, maybe?) that we should be aware of? ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-sharks-so-pissed-about/77709/44 "2001-08-24T23:09:08Z")
Mosquitoes. Check today’s GQ. You really are in a bloodthirsty mode lately, Bill. Don’t worry, deer season is only a few months away. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-sharks-so-pissed-about/77709/45 "2001-08-24T23:17:01Z")
Great article, and i also can’t believe that the national press missed the ‘alligator in nudist colony’ angle. Of course, typically, the media fucked things up by saying: > [@](#): > > The lizard drags a woman under as she swims naked with her family at Pasco’s Lake Como Nudist Resort. She survives. The alligator is not a lizard, but a member of the order **crocodylia** , subfamily **Alligatorinae** (lizards are of the order **squamata** ). Among other differences, crocodilians have a four-chambered heart, whereas other repitles have three chambers. See [this website](http://www.embl-heidelberg.de/~uetz/families/Crocodylidae.html) for more details. And overall, alligators have attacked fewer people than sharks in the US, even in Florida, where there were 218 alligator attacks, 1948-1995, and 276 shark atacks in the same period; the alligators did tally one more fatality in that time, with 7 as aginst 6 for sharks. Go [here](http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/attacks/relariskgator.htm) for details. I still say leave them all alone. ---
**Author:** ![DeskMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DeskMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeskMonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-sharks-so-pissed-about/77709/46 "2001-08-24T23:23:52Z")
I think the sharks just want their piece of the whole 70’s retro pie. Back in the good old 70’s people were afraid to get into the freakin’ tub because of the movie Jaws, now people actually like them. Just look at “Shark Week” on the Discovery Channel. Next thing you know, the Crocodile Hunter is going to be putting bows on their heads. Hell, if Old Navy can cash in, why can’t they? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2001, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-sharks-so-pissed-about/77709/47 "2001-08-24T23:38:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mhendo \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > The lizard drags a woman under as she swims naked with her family at Pasco’s Lake Como Nudist Resort. She survives. > > \*\* Hey, I missed that, too. Drat! Usually the _St. Pete Times_ is a very good newspaper. What a let down. Anyway, it seems to me at least that when a gator gets someone the consequences are typically more dire, as in [this case](http://www.stpetersburgtimes.com/News/062601/TampaBay/Officials_confirm_all.shtml). Very tragic. Its more common for them to eat small dogs, but toddlers are about the right size as well. Its a bit daft for anyone to live on a lake in Florida with toddlers (or small dogs). ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2001, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-sharks-so-pissed-about/77709/48 "2001-08-25T00:08:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Anyway, it seems to me at least that when a gator gets someone the consequences are typically more dire, as in this case. Very tragic. Its more common for them to eat small dogs, but toddlers are about the right size as well. Its a bit daft for anyone to live on a lake in Florida with toddlers (or small dogs). True. The great thing, if you were without kids or pets yourself, would be to move into a lakeshore family community. That way there would be plenty of smaller bait to keep the alligators away from you! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-sharks-so-pissed-about/77709.md?page=2)