Divers should also avoid certain coral-reef organisms. Sting rays, toadfish, catfish, and jellyfish can injure swimmers and waders. The Portuguese man-of-war has tentacles up to 50 feet long with specialized cells that produce painful stings and welts on contact by swimmers. The barracuda (though divers claim its ferocious reputation is undeserved), moray eels, octopuses, and sharp-spined sea urchins can be dangerous to swimmers.
What sea creatures other than sharks may be dangerous to swimmers? Some species such as the nurse shark are extremely sluggish and have poorly developed teeth, but even these have been known to attack people when excited or disturbed. The most dangerous species in order of documented attack records are: Blood: Though blood itself may not attract sharks, its presence combined with other unusual factors will excite the animals and make them more prone to attack.Many divers think that clothing, fins, and tanks should be painted in dull colors to avoid shark attacks. Color: Some scientific experiments indicate that sharks can distinguish light colors from dark, and that they may even be able to distinguish colors. Yellow, white, and silver seem to attract sharks.Certain types of irregular sounds-like those made by a swimmer in trouble or a damaged fish-seem to attract sharks from great distances. Sound: Sound, rather than sight or smell, seems to be a shark's primary cue for moving into an area.Results are mostly inconclusive, but some general principles have been advanced: What attracts sharks?Ĭonsiderable research has been devoted to finding out what attracts sharks and causes them to attack. In life most sharks are brown, olive, or grayish. The mako and porbeagle sharks also appear blue, but are not nearly as brilliant as blue sharks. The blue quickly fades to dull grey after the shark is killed. In life the blue shark displays a brilliant blue color on the upper portion of its body and is normally snowy white beneath. It is only a rumor that the hammerhead is poisonous.īlue shark swimming in the ocean. Is it true that the meat of the hammerhead shark is poisonous? But you should never eat shark liver its high concentrations of vitamins can cause illness in humans. Dry salted shark has become a staple food in some countries where salt cod was formerly popular. This can be reduced by icing for 24 hours, then soaking for two hours in brine. The meat of certain species can have a strong flavor. The prejudice against shark meat arises from a distaste for the scavenging habits people attribute to sharks, and to the fact that the meat spoils quickly. True fish & chips consists of cod or haddock (the two most popular) and also plaice. The fish in England's "fish & chips" is sometimes dogfish or school shark, although this would be considered low quality fish & chips. In some countries shark meat is marketed under its common name in others it is called something else. Shark meat is tasty and nutritious if properly prepared.