Comments on: Gimme A Hug

By: Mihkel

Mihkel — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:43:38 +0000

@ Most of you...
I think the purpose of this video is being misunderstood, just like the animal that it’s discussing. It is not taming some predator to show how "docile" it is. It’s just pointing out that there is a less than expected behavior from an animal that has a very very bad reputation that it does not deserve. That’s all there is to it. Sure, he is exploiting a biological mechanism to do so, but it’s not saying that sharks are safe; it’s just saying that they are misunderstood. Once people care about something or find it interesting, then you can reach out and educate them even more. It’s the fundamentals of conservation education.
But no, they don’t just show up and eat people. It’s usually out of pure curiosity or defense, not hunger that they bite.
My favorite example of this is how divers think that turning a shark upside down automatically makes them pass out... this doesn’t always work out so well. But really, whose fault was it? The diver or the shark?
http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=32785901461

By: -H

-H — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:42:27 +0000

@whysharksmatter: I was wondering how you concluded that the risk of a shark-attack is "incredibly low". Went to your website and your analysis goes thus:

"In an average year, over 650,000 Americans die as a result of heart disease, giving me a 1 in 5 chance of dying of heart disease in my lifetime. In an average year, over 550,000 Americans die from cancer, giving me a 1 in 7 chance of dying from cancer in my lifetime. In an average year, over 40,000 Americans die in car accidents, giving me a 1 in 84 chance of dying in a car accident in my lifetime. In an average year, 1 American dies from a shark attack, giving me a 1 in 3,748,067 chance of dying from a shark attack in my lifetime."

Do you see the leap of logic here? How many of these americans a) had a heart b) were immune to cancer c) drove a car?

Now, how many Americans actually spend a significant amount of time in shark-infested waters?

-H

By: whysharksmatter

whysharksmatter — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:18:46 +0000

I AM a shark expert, and I don't recommend petting sharks. While the risk of a shark attack is incredibly low, these are wild animals and shouldn't be pestered.

http://southernfriedscience.com/2009/05/10/four-things-everyone-needs- to-know-about-sharks/

By: Bursar

Bursar — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:53:51 +0000

Some thoughts:
I'm no shark expert, but I do happen to know that gray nurse sharks look pretty scary, but are actually quite harmless, while great whites, well... I suspect these sharks were the former.

Also I strongly suspect there was something seriously wrong with the shark in the vid. Don't sharks need to keep moving to breath? Just perhaps that individual had a parasite in its head that had eaten most if its brain away!

By: Tim Giachetti

Tim Giachetti — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:43:56 +0000

Great call MyTake. I agree.

Lisa, sharks are one species that doesn't have that slime. Not saying to go and pet them though.

By: MightyCow

MightyCow — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:21:46 +0000

Start the countdown until that diver gets horribly mauled by a shark and then defends the shark's actions.

Some people deserve to be eaten.

By: Ali S.

Ali S. — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:57:08 +0000

Awww come on folks. Sure it sounds a little far fetched and fictionalized but the idea of a shark not going for the divers jugular is something to be appreciated as well as the fact that he/she is petting it.

By: LisaL

LisaL — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:32:32 +0000

And I completely agree Mytake. It's like the idiots who raise wild bears and try to tell everyone how calm, docile, & misunderstood they are, and then later on we're reading an article about that persons face being chewed off by said bear.

By: Gene

Gene — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:30:16 +0000

"The attempt to portray a violent species as “misunderstood” is absurd and dumb.'

wouldn't this apply to humans too.

By: Geekazoid

Geekazoid — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:52:57 +0000

I agree with you Mytake. Hey I'm all for a better understanding and appreciation of all creatures, even those regarding as deadly predators.

However I am not a fan of these "gosh, let's show the world how docile and peaceful predators are" routine.

We don't need anymore Timothy Treadmills of the wild kingdom.

By: Mytake

Mytake — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:12:17 +0000

Another example of a naive view of animals.

The images on the trailer are gorgeous, totally worth watching even if the premise of the movie is just maudlin fiction.

Trying to show the sharks as if they were docile critters casually hobnobbing w/ that diver (covered in chainmail from head to toe just in case) is misleading and potentially harmful for both.

The attempt to portray a violent species as "misunderstood" is absurd and dumb.

By: Kalel

Kalel — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:51:15 +0000

It's not just sharks, but other creatures that do this, too. I would guess it is a defense mechanism, to which we have found the trigger.

Sharks weren't always as we see them now. Quite some time ago, the little pre-shark likely needed this defense system to avoid predators. And somewhere deep in the modern shark brain, that defense is still there.

But I wouldn't be so comfortable playing with them for fun... Remember that vengeful sharks chased Roy Scheider and his family through three movies.

By: LisaL

LisaL — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:31:17 +0000

It's neat, but I really wish people would stop petting fish like that. Fish have a protective slime coating on their bodies and idiot divers and such petting them rubs it off leaving them susceptible to disease.

By: MB

MB — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:19:08 +0000

Wow! That's beautiful. Thanks for posting.