OFFICIAL Shark Week thread.

[VICanucksfan5551]

I was out in Steveston at the Maritime festival, and on the Saturday night was at the Bucaneer. The crusty old sailor quotient was triple the usual.

I bought a round of drinks for some older sailors and sat down with them and asked if they had any tales of the open ocean (I'm a nut for that kind of thing). One of the older guys originally from Britian, served in the Merchant Marines. He told me of an incident that happened when they were travelling between the Marshall Islands and the Phillipines.

They were headed west and saw a humpback whale flailing in the water about 600 yards from their starboard bow. They saw that it was being pulled underwater by something. He said that a shark as big as the humpback then breached the water behind the whale and bit down on it's midsection or umbillicis and shook it like a rag doll.

It sent shivers down my spine and frankly, I believe the guy, The ocean is a terrifying place.

Yeah, no. That's double the largest great white ever found. There's not going to be an outlier that much larger than every other great white unless it has access to a secret food source that every other shark doesn't to get to that size.

[PhillipBlunt]

I get what you guys are saying, but honestly neither I nor either of you have the foggiest idea of what goes on in the deepest parts of the ocean.

Someone who has actually travelled the ocean has.

[VICanucksfan5551]

I get what you guys are saying, but honestly neither I nor either of you have the foggiest idea of what goes on in the deepest parts of the ocean.

Someone who has actually travelled the ocean has.

So if a sailor said they saw a mermaid, you'd believe them because "neither I nor either of you have the foggiest idea of what goes on in the deepest parts of the ocean"?

[GLASSJAW]

I have been watching the older seasons of shark week on netflicks. I do plan on watching some newer stuff. Personally I like the stuff they do on the megs cause it's interesting and I am a shark and dinosaur nut and megs were around back then so....

And don't be hating on sharknado it's cheesy goodness

nobody will hate on it because nobody cares about it. it's a manufactured B movie for the mainstream geek audience that is passionately in love with itself

we don't watch regular NBC programming, we watch this totally ironic NBC programming that is tooootally cheesy and hilarious and RanDoM. we're sooo transgressive

[WillyFox]

I get what you guys are saying, but honestly neither I nor either of you have the foggiest idea of what goes on in the deepest parts of the ocean.

Someone who has actually travelled the ocean has.

I never knew a sailor went deep sea diving and knows what's going on in the depths of the ocean. To be honest it seems like he was lying for the drinks to keep rolling his way.

[PhillipBlunt]

So if a sailor said they saw a mermaid, you'd believe them because "neither I nor either of you have the foggiest idea of what goes on in the deepest parts of the ocean"?

I'm a pretty good reader of bull. This guy was very straightforward, and actually not half as hammered as most of the people at the bar. There is no way to prove his statement, but sharks of that size have been actually proven to exist, not so with mermaids.

And what applicable knowledge do you have on the subject?

[Dr.Strangelove]

I get what you guys are saying, but honestly neither I nor either of you have the foggiest idea of what goes on in the deepest parts of the ocean.

Someone who has actually travelled the ocean has.

I trust the shark experts much more than someone who's sailed the ocean for years.

[PhillipBlunt]

I never knew a sailor went deep sea diving and knows what's going on in the depths of the ocean. To be honest it seems like he was lying for the drinks to keep rolling his way.

Only bought him one beer. Skeptics will be skeptics though.

[PhillipBlunt]

I trust the shark experts much more than someone who's sailed the ocean for years.

Fair enough. Sailing the ocean for years doesn't count as nautical experience at all.......

[VICanucksfan5551]

I'm a pretty good reader of bull. This guy was very straightforward, and actually not half as hammered as most of the people at the bar. There is no way to prove his statement, but sharks of that size have been actually proven to exist, not so with mermaids.

And what knowledge do you have, outside of some misplaced arrogance?

No extant predatory shark has been found even close to that size.

I have a biology degree. I'm no shark expert, but I do have a good idea of how size distribution usually works in a population. Outliers like that with no other size being found close just don't happen.

[Dr.Strangelove]

Fair enough. Sailing the ocean for years doesn't count as nautical experience at all.......

It does but nautical experience doesn't translate to shark expertise

[PhillipBlunt]

No extant predatory shark has been found even close to that size.

I have a biology degree. I'm no shark expert, but I do have a good idea of how size distribution usually works in a population. Outliers like that with no other size being found close just don't happen.

You know that there are always exceptions.

Plenty of people who have travelled the oceans have claimed to have seen creatures of extraordinary sizes. Are you going to claim they are all lying? And if you are, what is the basis for that claim? Scientific fact?

As you and I both know, oceanic creatures can sustain much larger sizes due to the even weight distribution factor that salt water provides. Combine that with a food source of say one whale every half a year (the average great white shark eats maybe one solid "meal" every six months) and there is a distinct possibility.

[PhillipBlunt]

It does but nautical experience doesn't translate to shark expertise

Many shark experts have gone on record as stating that they wouldn't discount the existence of exceptionally large sharks. A rarity most assuredly, but still a possibility.

[Dral]

You know that there are always exceptions.

Plenty of people who have travelled the oceans have claimed to have seen creatures of extraordinary sizes. Are you going to claim they are all lying? And if you are, what is the basis for that claim? Scientific fact?

As you and I both know, oceanic creatures can sustain much larger sizes due to the even weight distribution factor that salt water provides. Combine that with a food source of say one whale every half a year (the average great white shark eats maybe one solid "meal" every six months) and there is a distinct possibility.

Have any other fish stories ?

Was definitely a WHALE of a tale !

How big was it again ?

[Warhippy]

Keeping in mind that the largest (to date shark) ever found was just over 21 feet and just shy of 22 feet that is roughly the size of 3 mid sized cars parked bumper to bumper.

To say without hesitation that there is not a shark larger out there is sheer foolishness as we still find "extinct" species every decade or two up to and including the pygmy right whales beached in New Zealand.

Without question there's a shark around 22-23 feet somewhere out there. But the 30+ to 40+ foot monsters these mockumentaries speak of are outrageous as we would see significant amounts of predation amongst all sorts of whale populations.

[Dr.Strangelove]

Many shark experts have gone on record as stating that they wouldn't discount the existence of exceptionally large sharks. A rarity most assuredly, but still a possibility.

Most if not all however are in agreement that Megalodon is extinct.

Refer to WH's post right above mine since he just said pretty much what I was going to

[ChuckNORRIS4Cup]

Hammerhead tonight!

[VICanucksfan5551]

You know that there are always exceptions.

Plenty of people who have travelled the oceans have claimed to have seen creatures of extraordinary sizes. Are you going to claim they are all lying? And if you are, what is the basis for that claim? Scientific fact?

As you and I both know, oceanic creatures can sustain much larger sizes due to the even weight distribution factor that salt water provides. Combine that with a food source of say one whale every half a year (the average great white shark eats maybe one solid "meal" every six months) and there is a distinct possibility.

Can you find an example of an animal where the largest example of a species is twice as large as the next largest? I'd be really curious to see that exception. I certainly can't think of any.

Tons of people have described seeing elves. Are they all lying or mistaken? What about the tons of people who have described seeing mermaids? The "X number of people can't all be wrong" is ridiculous logic.

I'm not saying it's physically impossible. Hell, there is a species of shark that does get to be about as big as a humpback (the filter-feeding whale shark). I'm saying that if there were predatory sharks that large, we would see confirmed examples of individuals in a continuum up to that size, not just one outlier twice as large as large as any other that's ever been seen.

[PhillipBlunt]

Keeping in mind that the largest (to date shark) ever found was just over 21 feet and just shy of 22 feet that is roughly the size of 3 mid sized cars parked bumper to bumper.

To say without hesitation that there is not a shark larger out there is sheer foolishness as we still find "extinct" species every decade or two up to and including the pygmy right whales beached in New Zealand.

Without question there's a shark around 22-23 feet somewhere out there. But the 30+ to 40+ foot monsters these mockumentaries speak of are outrageous as we would see significant amounts of predation amongst all sorts of whale populations.

Yes and no.

We would only see significant amounts of predation if there was a significant amount of sharks that size. However, access to an unlimited food supply, no natural predators, and saltwater's buoyancy can legitimately allow for larger animals to exist in the vastness of the open ocean. Not necessarily a whole population, but a rare occurence of massivity.

And considering that certain countries still practice the disgusting practice of whaling, tracking the population and determining the cause of death for every cetecean is nearly impossible.

[VICanucksfan5551]

Keeping in mind that the largest (to date shark) ever found was just over 21 feet and just shy of 22 feet that is roughly the size of 3 mid sized cars parked bumper to bumper.

To say without hesitation that there is not a shark larger out there is sheer foolishness as we still find "extinct" species every decade or two up to and including the pygmy right whales beached in New Zealand.

Without question there's a shark around 22-23 feet somewhere out there. But the 30+ to 40+ foot monsters these mockumentaries speak of are outrageous as we would see significant amounts of predation amongst all sorts of whale populations.

Exactly. They're not going to be in the humpback whale range (40-50+ feet) based on what we've seen and if they were there would be plenty of evidence because whales are quite well studied. Huge tooth marks on whale carcasses would be readily apparent.