Selachophobia

def. "The fear of sharks"

It was a Living Javelin

Turns out the attack on "Papio" wasn't the barracuda he thought it was after all. The tooth the fish left behind in his stomach revealed that it was actually a crocodile needlefish, also know as the "living javelin."He should make a necklace with that tooth.

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Shark Quiz

Take the Shark Quiz!

The Great White Shark Song

Click here to listen!

If I was a great white I wouldn't bite you...but I'd swim right next to you
If I was a great white I wouldn't bite you...but I'd swim right next to you
and ask you how you do...then you'd look at me and pull out a harpoon...
and try to shoot me...then I'd realize how fucking really hungry I am right now...
sorry about your leg...I'll be back in a while...for the rest...don't stress...
my sister will be back to clean up this mess...relax...kick back...
it's only a great white shark attack...

If I was a great white I wouldn't bite you...but I'd swim right next to you
If I was a great white I wouldn't bite you...but I'd swim right next to you
cause sharks like surfing too...then you'd paddle out...chasing the pac sets...
pushing the sunset...then I'd realize I've never seen a seal so fat and slow...
sorry about your arm...I just didn't know...think fast...swim back...
you still look like a seal...your wetsuit so black...and red...

Great white sharks dive 4,000 feet...swim across the world...damn isn't that deep...
40 million years...and they haven't changed...apex predator...survival is the game...
ambush style is how they hunt...7 rows of teeth...lorenzini in the front...
oh I love the great white shark...their bellies are white...and the rest is dark...
and if I might just happen to be...a great white shark named abc...
oh you know I wouldn't bite you...

If I was a great white I wouldn't bite you...but I'd swim right next to you
If I was a great white I wouldn't bite you...but I'd swim right next to you
cause it's my ocean too...so please keep it clean...cause I can be fucking mean...
and I got sharp teeth...and if I realize that you don't care about the sea...
well that means you don't care about me...oh well...that's fine...
I'll just bite you in fucking half this time...yeah if I was a great white...yeah...
If I was a great white shark.

Written and performed by Andy Brandy Casagrande IV

Visit Andy's website to see the video and learn more about the research he's doing.

3rd Victim in Less Than a Week!

13-year-old Nicole Carlos was bitten on the left hand by a shark while wading in waist-deep water yesterday! This is the third possible shark-bite victim in Volusia, FL in less than a week.

A bite was reported Saturday, when a 61-year-old surfer was bitten on his right foot while paddling out to catch some waves about 20 yards from shore.

Another surfer reported a third shark bite in New Smyrna Beach on Friday.

Another shark bite was reported a few months ago in Daytona Beach Shores.

I say stay away from Florida.

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Great... Even More Sharks To Bite Us Now...

Australian scientists plan to artificially inseminate and breed nurse sharks in test-tubes... Apparently these shark babies eat each other while still in their mommies' wombs. They say these sharks don't attack but I sure woudn't want to bump into one...

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Victim Of The Day

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Believe It Or Not...

In the year 2000, 85 people were bitten by sharks, of which 12 were killed, but that same year, in New York City alone 1600 people were bitten by other people.

He's With Me...

In February 2004, Luke Tresoglavic, 22, was snorkeling on a reef near Newcastle when a 23" "wobbegong," aka carpet shark, attacked his leg and refused to let go. He had no choice buit to swim 1,000 feet to shore with the shark still attached. Once he got to shore a couple of people tried to help him, but they couldn't remove it either so he got into his car, shark and all, and drove to the clubhouse where lifeguards flushed the shark's gills with fresh water, forcing it to loosen its grip leaving blood oozing from 70 needle-like punctures. Tresoglavic remained in good spirits throughout the ordeal.

I would've been drinking spirits.

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Victim Of The Day

Which One's The Maneater?

Desperate Housewife, NICOLETTE SHERIDAN impressed fiance NIKLAS SODERBLOM during their first meeting, when she saved his life by attacking a great white shark which was edging towards him.

The actress was admiring her future fiance, Niklas Soderblom, then a stranger, surfing in the sea when she observed a shark's fin behind her future love. The brave 41-year-old risked her life to protect Soderblom from the predator, by racing towards it and punching its face.

"I was doing my daily three-mile swim and I saw this fin and I swam as fast as I could and punched that shark right in the nose, repeatedly. And saved him!" says Nicolette.

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Most Likely Place To Bump Into A Great White...

1876-2002 World's Confirmed Unprovoked Attacks by Great White Sharks.

Shark Bite Capital Of The World

Ok, so on the surface, New Smyrna doesn’t look that different from any other beach on the central Florida coastline... miles of white sand beaches, pleasant weather, great fishing, and excellent surfing. The locals would probably even tell you that New Smyrna has the ‘world’s safest bathing beach.’ The thing the locals probably won’t tell you, the something that makes New Smyrna different, is that New Smyrna is also the shark bite capital of the world.

CAUTION: graphic images!

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Hawaiian Teen On The Mend

19-year-old Tonga "Piu" Loumoli is still recovering at after being impaled by what HE says was a barracuda. Tonga was night diving off Kahana Bay late Thursday night when a four-foot-long fish charged into his stomach. The fish left behind a six-inch-long gash and a tooth.

Marine expert Craig Thomas said he has never heard of a barracuda charging into a swimmer. He said it seems more likely that Loumoli was impaled by a needlefish. But Loumoli, who has been night diving since his freshman year in high school, is adamant that he was attacked by a barracuda.

His fishing companion said he saw the fish clearly and agreed it was a barracuda. The tooth could solve this mystery. Loumoli was reported in serious condition in the hospital's intensive care unit where he was being treated for a serious liver injury. He is on a machine to help his breathing and cannot talk.

But he did scribble a note to his mother and sister saying, "I'm going to quit diving."

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True or False?

MYTH: Shark meat doesn't taste good and is sometimes poisonous.

FALSE! Although there have been a few random reports of people being poisoned by shark meat, the meat from the majority of sharks is edible and delicious when properly handled and prepared. Some sharks are actually one of the better tasting fish in the sea.

I'd Buy A Case

Some South Florida scientists think they have found an effective shark repellent that could save humans and sharks! Dr. Sonny Gruber, a University of Miami shark expert, heads up World Class Research in Bimini. His research team has proven that sharks hate or fear the smell of rotting shark carcass. "And so we have been extracting certain chemicals out of these dead carcasses, purifying them and testing them on those Caribbean reef sharks," Gruber said. "And it worked. It worked very well."

They hope to make a bracelet for swimmers and divers -- maybe even a sun block mixed with shark repellent. The shark repellent could be on the market as early as next year.

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Yum Yum Yellow

Sharks see contrast particularly well, so if you're wearing high contrast color apparel or gear in the water you're basically asking for it. Shark researchers even refer to the bright yellow color traditionally used in water saftey gear as "yum yum yellow."

Stick to dark blue or black and avoid wearing jewelry because glints of light reflecting off the metal can look like the scales of fish, which sharks eat.

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Jumping On The Shark Bite Bandwagon

A 25-year-old surfer may or may not be Volusia County's second shark-bite victim of 2005. He was surfing at New Smyrna Beach about a quarter mile south of Ponce de Leon Inlet Friday morning when he stepped off his surfboard and was forcefully bumped.

He said it almost knocked him over. Almost simultaneously, he said he felt a bite on his left ankle and then he stepped on the creature. He said he never saw the shark.

He left the beach in his own car and went to Bert Fish Medical Center in New Smyrna Beach where a doctor sutured the wound. The doctor said the cut didn't have the typical characteristics of a shark bite.

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Barracuda Attack?

A diver is in critical condition Friday after he was attacked by a large fish while spearfishing off windward Oahu Thursday night. The victim, Tonga "Piu" Loumoli, and his diving partner believe that "large fish" was a barracuda. If so, this would be an extremely rare case of an attack by a great barracuda in Hawaii.

Barracudas are common in Hawaiian waters, but attacks on humans are rare. Their sharp teeth allow them to prey on fish of all sizes. "They feed on fish quite large by cutting them in two pieces with a dart-like dash and then leisurely returning to pick up the two halves."

It's somewhat skeptical if a barracuda is to blame... "Barracudas have very long pointed snouts so you wouldn't have a hemispherical bite like a shark but you'd have a narrower bite or a slash."

Rivera's recollection of his friend's wound might match that description: "Yeah, maybe about a two inch hole right straight inside of him."

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Not So Nice Bumping Into You...

So apparently there's this aquarium in Beijing called Shanghai Changfeng Park where you can swim with all kinds of sea life, including sharks... I think I'd sit that one out... but not the 26-year-old French-Chinese man who swam onto the tooth of a shark while diving in the aquarium yesterday!

The incident occured when the French-Chinese man was trying to ascend to the water's surface without the permission of the diving coach. Usually the coach will lead divers to ascend only when there is no shark passing by (duh). The bump onto the tooth left the man with two small wounds to the right ear and the head. He was pulled out of the water immediately and sent to the hospital. Fortunately, due to the water pressure, he didn't bleed in the aquarium, which could've caused a feeding frenzy.