Swimming With Sharks!

Enjoying Sharks in Their Own Habitat

I have always considered how wonderful the animal kingdom is and how fascinating it is. By this remark, I mean the "big picture" of how everything serves a vital purpose in maintaining equilibrium amongst themselves and in relationship to the world.

Every animal or insect serves an important purpose and without them another portion can spin out of control. They co-exist in a harmony that is important to their survival but ours as well.

True animal experts all seem to agree that the best methods of research can have no interference by humans, in order to come up with the most accurate information. I have often hoped that a research team form some wildlife TV show would "step in" and rescue the weak and emaciated your animal and save it from a horrible death quite easily, but instead, let nature work it's course and record the events (good or bad) as they took place without interfering. I've gotten used to this and see the wisdom in such research techniques.

Well, I was relaxing the other night and had an "Animal Planet" show on the TV and there was this man who took scuba parties out into the ocean to his favorite nurse shark haven. It seems that this man dives their almost daily and has the local nurse sharks conditioned to take small baitfish from his hand, as he pets, hugs and kisses them on the mouth - without the regulator covering his lips! That's really pushing it!

He was featured in a video clip with his boatload of tourist divers, all submerged in his nurse shark "honey hole" and was showing the folks how to hold a baitfish for the sharks while also petting them, turning them upside down and kissing their stomach, hugging them and kissing them on the mouth when ZANG, one of them clamped down on his mouth like a Pit Bull on steroids!

Nurse sharks are loaded with gnarly teeth and are known for clamping down and not letting go of their iron grip. I honestly forget if they used some technique to get the shark to release him. In fact I don't think they could, if memory serves, the shark finally just released him with his mouth hanging off of his skull.

He was taken to the hospital where cosmetic surgeries were performed and finally he healed up and looked as good as new, despite the difficult task of reconstructing his mouth and lips. He attempted to lamely explain (as an expert) how some movement he made triggered the shark bite and is down there still, probably today, bringing home his paycheck, courtesy of the patient and long-suffering nurse sharks that inhabit his underwater circus.

Now this was just the worst, in keeping with the theory that human interraction with wildlife changes the animals and throws the whole system out of sync. I believe he got what was coming to him and will again someday if he persists. You may be one of those bleeding hearts who wants to wrestle and cuddle with the big, maned, pussy-cats of the Serengeti or kiss sharks on their cute little tummies, but not this kid - never! There's a Bible Proverb that comes to mind - "never follow a fool in his folly"!

Are you a snorkeler or scuba diver? Bring back unforgettable memories of your exploits, use an Ewa-Marine waterproof camera case for digital, SLR and video camcorders!

To all of my fellow Americans - have a safe and fun filled Fourth of July weekend!