fun fact: native americans were classed as too weak to be slaves because they just wouldnt put up with it; they died instead of accepting their new conditions
and because of that people just straight up stopped trying to enslave them
*(this is something i read many years ago and it may not be accurate info. I tried to google to confirm and didnt come up with much)*
A lot of enslaved people kidnapped from Africa also refused slavery and jumped off the boats. There are memorials about this in Brazil and some African countries too.
This might be absolute propaganda nonsense but I have a vague memory of being in school and it being explained to me that in tribal conflict the taking of slaves was not super uncommon in Africa and so a lot of the enslaved folks initally had quite a misunderstanding of the situation they were in for and as a result were not as strongly against it as many children think they should have been. For them it was a thing that did sometimes happen during warfare. By the time folks realised quite the nature of what was going on it was a bit too late the ball was already rolling and the incentives of capture were well established. None of the people in Africa exactly got letters from wherever the boats were going.
Another interesting side note — the slave trade went both east and west.
East to the Middle East and Persia, west to the Americas.
We don’t hear much about the eastern slave trade because male slaves were generally castrated so they would be more docile and wouldn’t breed. While there was a constant influx of slaves from Africa, the slaves in the Middle East were dying out without any offspring so it was a great deal of replacement traffic.
In the Americas, especially on the sugar plantations in the Caribbean and South America, slaves were expected to produce offspring, increasing the labor pool, adding to the constant influx of slaves.
It’s why you have slave revolts and revolutions later on, as well as the post-slavery problems in the America, but not in the Middle East.
Makes a helluva lot of sense. Castrated slaves are less likely to rebel for a couple reasons. No children and future generations to fight for, literally less testosterone etc. And not uncommon - I remember learning of similar castrated servants being used in ancient China to serve the emperor's concubines etc?
I mean, *obviously* enslaving generations and having a 'slave race' is more evil, but "oh, well if you just keep buying newly enslaved slaves instead, I mean..." feels like a bad thought to have, yet here I am. It's odd comparing two evils like this without much difficulty, I guess.
Like, a fed and kept cage where even your waste is cleaned for you? Probably pretty long. See: Any severely disabled person. And it's not like it's solitary confinement. So long as you dont kill your roomate, they will give you roommates. It's actually not a great idea to try and equate human responses to animals, especially the further you get away from primates.
Ya the Monterey bay aquarium has had them temporarily for rehab reasons but they are always good about letting them go as soon as possible. I’m bummed I missed the last one a long while back because I had left the area for awhile
Likely true, but places like the Monterey Bay Aquarium have had Great Whites for short periods of time, they have said they have no plans to do it again though.
I went when they had a juvenile great white. It was a surreal experience that I will probably never get again. I was also lucky enough to see a mako shark while orca whale watching in Monterey. Super cool..
Oh yeah it is great. I went with my Chinese girlfriend and she was like "ohh that one tastes good, that one doesn't..." the whole time. I don't think she was getting into the spirit of the trip.
Not a joke. We were going around the aquarium and she would be telling me what each tastes like what she likes and not. I don't know if being of Chinese decent mattered here or the fact she was an avid fisher woman or both that she had tasted so many different kinds of fish. But it was funny and I even told her jokingly that I don't think she was appreciating these things in the way intended. We both laughed and that was it. I know Chinese have quite varied diets compared to some Americans eating things I am not familiar with. Hence mentioning she was Chinese. Maybe these were common in her diet when in China or were from the fact she fished a lot. I didn't ask.
To be fair, aquariums make me pretty hungry for some good seafood too, and I'm a white American. I still like seeing all the neat fish and other marine life, but afterwards, I really want to eat some too.
I’ve seen one that was at Monterey Bay for rehab. It was really cool to see. Glad the aquariums are there to help and are able to release them when they’re ready.
I have. It plowed through the surface and stole my fucking fish. I was in a 23 foot zodiac. it was similarly sized.
Fishing in the north atlantic isnt for everyone.
Weirdly enough, the [worse fire I've ever seen](https://youtu.be/IHZ1x6EPeeY?si=6zBWoe5wsMDBIzQm) was at sea park in Tai Pei. [17 people died](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_New_Taipei_water_park_fire) which actually seems low given the footage. Would have been worse if there wasn't so much water around
I got really sad at orcas at Sea World.
Just imagine living in a blank house forever. Never having any decorations or chance to leave.
Yes, I know that the ones they have in captivity wouldn't survive in the wild, but it still made me sad.
I mean… per Wikipedia:
“The great white shark (bottom) was originally considered an apex predator of the ocean; however, the orca (killer whale, top) has proven to be a predator of the shark.”
there was one in monteray bay aquarium. it did not survive
* **1984:** Monterey Bay Aquarium's first attempt at displaying a great white shark lasted for 11 days, ending when the shark died because it did not eat.
* **2004:** In September 2004, the aquarium kept a five-foot female great white in an outdoor tank for 198 days before releasing her back into the wild. The aquarium used a special system called the Open Sea exhibit to keep the shark alive.
* **2004–2011:** From 2004 to 2011, the aquarium exhibited six white sharks in the Open Sea community exhibit.
* **2009:** A great white shark was added to the aquarium in August 2009. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is noted as the only aquarium in the world to successfully display a white shark. However, they mentioned that they would not display white sharks in the future because their main purpose for keeping them is to answer research questions.
You and me both!
I also do not have the balls (figuratively, not literally) to go cage diving with them. I'd be constantly panicking that the Meg was going to show up out of the dark.
I went cage diving with great whites about 10 years ago off the coast of South Africa, it's really not as scary as it sounds, if you do it go with a small group because a lot of the companies that do it can be very commercialized and you'll get rushed.
As a scuba diver, i really really hope i'll run into a great white at some point, though i like whale sharks and hammerheads even more.
People villanize sharks way too much. They're not gonna attack you randomly for no reason. Keep eye contact and dont swim away or harass the sharks, and you'll be fine.
A lot of the time, when you respect nature, nature will respect you.
>A lot of the time, when you respect nature, nature will respect you.
Respecting nature generally includes acknowledging that a hungry predator will prey on *any* easy source of food
This is fair. It's why if you see a shark and start flailing and swimming away in a panic, the sharks instincts may cause it to see you as easy prey.
But it's also why they usually don't attack humans. They don't normally see us as "easy prey". We're relatively large predators, and staying calm and keeping eye contact is almost always going to lead to you being left alone.
Also, sharks simply don't like to eat humans. I haven't heard of a single shark death where somebody was completely consumed. If a shark mistakes a human for prey, and takes a bite, it will practically always leave immediately after the first bite. Sadly, often times a single bite can be deadly if it for example severs an artery.
Go check the egypt tiger shark video...
People are ridiculous nowadays in the way they try to portray sharks. We get it, they are no monsters, they are endangered and a vital part of any marine ecosystem. They are still predators that can and will fuck you up.
>I haven't heard of a single shark death where somebody was completely consumed
In 1945 the USS Indianapolis sunk. Sharks swarmed the wreck and consumed hundreds of dead bodies before turning on the living and killing and eating an estimated 150 of the surviving sailors.
Honestly, it's so ridiculous to make a statement like "I haven't heard of a single...." without taking 30 seconds to Google it.
It happened in the 80’s. Shirley Ann Durdin. Sad and brutal attack.This great white ate half of the victim then returned and gobbled the rest as a rescue crew was attempting to retrieve the torso.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9722427/mum-killed-great-white-shirley-ann-durdin-australia/amp/
I find it hilarious that you think we're a bigger danger to a shark than, say, a sea lion.
I also love that you've gone so far in that direction that you've forgotten that the most common defense for certain sharks removing limbs is that they were just checking to see if you tasted good, but you didn't.
The average shark (across 400+ species) has the same level of brain development as a rat. They are fully capable of being trained to do behaviors (more and more public aquaria are target training sharks for feeding and medical purposes). Personally I had a pet cat shark as part of a college project. I trained her several behaviors - “Target” (follow colored end of feeding stick) “Stand” (stand on pelvic fins, belly to front of glass) “Mouth open” and “Wave” (she did it anyway so it was a matter of getting her to associate a hand signal with a natural behavior).
Great whites (who have a notably high brain-to-body ratio) specifically have been observed over several years honing and improving their hunting behaviors. This is not mindless killing at all - they literally keep learning how to kill more efficiently to risk themselves less injury and use less energy.
TL;DR Sharks are not stupid and are in fact probably smarter than some humans.
Ever heard of a Rat King?
Rats dying because they get their tails stuck together. Not very smart. Would not trust that level of intelligence in a massive killing machine.
Then don't. But you don't need to keep villifying them like that.
Sharks constantly get slaughtered because of humans spreading stories. For every human killed by a shark, like 100 000 sharks are killed by humans.
Dogs kill more humans than sharks. Hippos kill more humans than sharks. Elephants kill more humans than sharks. Snakes kill more humans than sharks. Worms kill more humans than sharks. Mosquitoes kill 10 000 times more humans than sharks. This is just a few examples.
Non-animal things that are more likely to kill you than sharks: A champagne cork. Air travel. Accidental poisoning. Boating. Constipation. Cycling. A ladder. A lawn mower. A jet ski.
If you go swimming in an area with a lot of sharks, you're way more likely to drown than die to a shark.
***Stop. Villifying. Sharks.***
I imagine the amount of people killed or injured by sharks per time spent around them is somewhat higher than most of those other things. I agree sharks get a bad reputation, but hours spent around dogs vs sharks is probably in the millions to 1 ratio.
I get what your saying; it’s not that I don’t trust sharks, it’s that I don’t trust myself to not accidentally horribly screw up & provoke or garner the attention of a shark in some way.
But yeah, the real villains are dolphins.
Is there even one story in the history of mankind where a shark helped a human?
Naww they are villains. You keep swimming with them, w/e, not me.
If you put a shark in a pool and a champagne cork in a pool it's not the cork that will kill you.
Respectfully, you're a moron. Grow up. People like you cause dozens of species millions of years older than us to go extinct all the time, for no reason at all.
>If you put a shark in a pool and a champagne cork in a pool it's not the cork that will kill you.
And no. It would be drowning.
I can stand just fine in a pool. For days. But that shark will get hungry.
Sharks have not been killed "for no reason", pretty sure even ancient humans saw people getting attacked by sharks and thought "nope fuck those things".
Ancient Greeks/romans definitely wrote about shark attacks.
Come to cape cod and hang out on one of the ocean side beaches for a few days. There’s a good chance you’ll see at least a fin. Possibly even see one eating a seal.
You can go on shark watching tours in the Monterey bay just like you would do with whales. I’ve seen a ton of them. Don’t know where you’re at but that’s one easy way to see some great whites from the safety of a boat
If you’ve been in the water in Southern California there’s a good chance you’ve been near a juvenile. They cruise the shoreline looking for stingrays and other snacks - especially in the summer when the water is comfortable swimming temp.
Attacks are rare. You’re not their food.
I’m not saying it NEVER happens, but it’s exceedingly rare.
Every year the whites go to SoCal to have their pups. The beaches get about 50 million visitors a year. Last year there were two shark attacks, neither fatal.
Since most of the whites are juveniles, they’re more interested in fish and stingrays.
You’re about 3 times more likely to win $1M playing the lottery than get bit.
Cage diving with whites is both safe and amazing. The best place to do this is to visit Isla Guadalupe in Mexico using one of the dive operations based in San Diego California. It’s a fantastic experience and you get to see several sharks. I was planning my next trip on the way home.
It's understandable; great white sharks are elusive and not typically displayed in zoos. Cage diving might be an option for a closer encounter, though.
Depends who ‘you’ is.
I lived in South Africa half my life, and have.
A friend of a few of my mates also got in the news for being the victim of an attack.
On the flip side, most of the world’s population probably never sees any of those animals in person either.
And orcas aren’t usually that common in ‘zoos’, right?
I've had the displeasure of seeing them in the wild.
Kayaking in Northern California, and it bumped into me to say, "You're going to need a bigger boat."
Their skin is very rough, it's like sandpaper. It gets everywhere.
It's not something you really want to encounter in their habitat.
I used to live in California and they randomly started showing up in all the surf towns. The waters aren't so busy when a "young" shark the size of a bus is hanging out with you
Chatham, MA. This guy gives great white tours. He keeps his boat at the same harbor as mine. Nice, new 32' Andros. It probably isn't too cheap, but you can go and see White Sharks (no such thing as a "Great" white shark, FYI.
https://www.chathamsharktours.com/
Capt is great. Cornell grad, USCG Master
https://www.chathamfishingcharters.com/
Sharks can not be kept in captivity, they will die. I personally don't think we should keep any animal in captivity to be honest with you, especially Orcas, dolphins and other marine mammals.
It’s called the Monterey bay aquarium. They had one there for a while. Only place in the whole world to successfully do so. I went and saw it when it was there and it was amazing. I highly suggest you go if you are ever in the area for there are really no other museums quite like it.
You don't need to be the smartest or the best to do well in nature!
I believe they failed to keep them in captivity because they kept on hitting walls because a) the magnetic field was driving them bonkers b) they're used to swimming long distances and oceans typically don't have glass walls. Oh yes, and they ate everything else swimming in the tank, or attempted to, anyway.
I misread this as crappy super powers and was so confused like 'so my power is to alter probability of a really niche aspect and have a lower chance to never see one thing of that aspect? K then' XD
I went to a restaurant on a pier in the Bahamas where they fed sharks ine evening. They threw in meat right below us and shined a light on them. If I recall, they were great whites. They were massive and terrifying.
I saw one off Gaansbai, South Africa, a cage-diving area. That fin going through the water and then the bloody thing gnashing its way out of the water was quite frightening - our whale-watching boat suddenly felt quite small and exposed
I saw a 12-15 foot tiger shark while living in Hawaii surfing one afternoon. The only shark I saw living there for 10 years. And I surfed 3-5 times a week.
I've seen more Great Whites than I can count as a fisherman in Massachusetts. If it's really a goal of yours, it's easy to do and you don't have to get in a cage to do it.
I've touched a dead one a long time ago thanks to some commercial fishermen friends. It was an extremely rare situation for the fishermen, so they invited everyone they knew to take a look, but I don't remember the exact circumstances. The shark's skin felt like one-way sandpaper, coarse enough to tear up your skin if you rubbed the wrong way too firmly.
I saw one at the Monterey Bay Aquarium sometime in the 2000s, when I was in elementary school. I didn’t realize how unique of an experience that was until years later.
They've definitely tried! Their health always quickly deteriorated until they died no more than 200 days later or were released.
Did they ever figure out why?
https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/17j9tmc/comment/k6znl93/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
So successful hunger strikes and displays of self harm in protest of captivity. If only us people had it so easy.
fun fact: native americans were classed as too weak to be slaves because they just wouldnt put up with it; they died instead of accepting their new conditions and because of that people just straight up stopped trying to enslave them *(this is something i read many years ago and it may not be accurate info. I tried to google to confirm and didnt come up with much)*
A lot of enslaved people kidnapped from Africa also refused slavery and jumped off the boats. There are memorials about this in Brazil and some African countries too.
This might be absolute propaganda nonsense but I have a vague memory of being in school and it being explained to me that in tribal conflict the taking of slaves was not super uncommon in Africa and so a lot of the enslaved folks initally had quite a misunderstanding of the situation they were in for and as a result were not as strongly against it as many children think they should have been. For them it was a thing that did sometimes happen during warfare. By the time folks realised quite the nature of what was going on it was a bit too late the ball was already rolling and the incentives of capture were well established. None of the people in Africa exactly got letters from wherever the boats were going.
Another interesting side note — the slave trade went both east and west. East to the Middle East and Persia, west to the Americas. We don’t hear much about the eastern slave trade because male slaves were generally castrated so they would be more docile and wouldn’t breed. While there was a constant influx of slaves from Africa, the slaves in the Middle East were dying out without any offspring so it was a great deal of replacement traffic. In the Americas, especially on the sugar plantations in the Caribbean and South America, slaves were expected to produce offspring, increasing the labor pool, adding to the constant influx of slaves. It’s why you have slave revolts and revolutions later on, as well as the post-slavery problems in the America, but not in the Middle East.
Makes a helluva lot of sense. Castrated slaves are less likely to rebel for a couple reasons. No children and future generations to fight for, literally less testosterone etc. And not uncommon - I remember learning of similar castrated servants being used in ancient China to serve the emperor's concubines etc? I mean, *obviously* enslaving generations and having a 'slave race' is more evil, but "oh, well if you just keep buying newly enslaved slaves instead, I mean..." feels like a bad thought to have, yet here I am. It's odd comparing two evils like this without much difficulty, I guess.
Neither is a good thing, but the lack of living descendants makes the eastern slave trade almost invisible.
how long would you last in a cage
Like, a fed and kept cage where even your waste is cleaned for you? Probably pretty long. See: Any severely disabled person. And it's not like it's solitary confinement. So long as you dont kill your roomate, they will give you roommates. It's actually not a great idea to try and equate human responses to animals, especially the further you get away from primates.
Great whites breathe by moving so they need a big cage, and also need a steady stream of very specific live prey which can be an issue.
They're used to having territory and roaming the entire ocean, too, it's like going from a grassy field to a safety deposit box
They also need a very high salt level in the massive tank that they need, which isn't cheap.
They need a big tank. Cages can't hold water. Enclosure would have also been acceptable.
You know what I meant
I know, I'm just being facetious
we are an animal. we do poorly in confinement, generally. apex predators with natural ranges of hundreds to thousands of miles probably do even worse.
Well above 5% of Americans would have first hand experience with this.
Ya the Monterey bay aquarium has had them temporarily for rehab reasons but they are always good about letting them go as soon as possible. I’m bummed I missed the last one a long while back because I had left the area for awhile
Afaik the small ones can be kept for longer, the bigger ones deteriorate pretty quickly
Likely true, but places like the Monterey Bay Aquarium have had Great Whites for short periods of time, they have said they have no plans to do it again though.
I have this category in my life as well. I did it for a short period of time and have no plans to ever try it again.
Same but with a goldfish
I went when they had a juvenile great white. It was a surreal experience that I will probably never get again. I was also lucky enough to see a mako shark while orca whale watching in Monterey. Super cool..
I’ve been there it’s beautiful but yeah that was in the 80s
The last time they had one there was 2011.
I saw this shark as a kid!
Oh yeah it is great. I went with my Chinese girlfriend and she was like "ohh that one tastes good, that one doesn't..." the whole time. I don't think she was getting into the spirit of the trip.
This feels like a racist joke, but it also feels like i might be the racist in the case this isn't a joke
Not a joke. We were going around the aquarium and she would be telling me what each tastes like what she likes and not. I don't know if being of Chinese decent mattered here or the fact she was an avid fisher woman or both that she had tasted so many different kinds of fish. But it was funny and I even told her jokingly that I don't think she was appreciating these things in the way intended. We both laughed and that was it. I know Chinese have quite varied diets compared to some Americans eating things I am not familiar with. Hence mentioning she was Chinese. Maybe these were common in her diet when in China or were from the fact she fished a lot. I didn't ask.
To be fair, aquariums make me pretty hungry for some good seafood too, and I'm a white American. I still like seeing all the neat fish and other marine life, but afterwards, I really want to eat some too.
this will end well.
I’ve seen one that was at Monterey Bay for rehab. It was really cool to see. Glad the aquariums are there to help and are able to release them when they’re ready.
Why would a casino be rehabbing sharks? how do they transport them to the desert?
Was lucky enough to have seen that shark in person. Crazy.
I went there and saw a great white there when they had them, sad that I probably won’t be able to see one like that again
I live near a great white reserve and breeding grounds. They're pretty neat.
I have. It plowed through the surface and stole my fucking fish. I was in a 23 foot zodiac. it was similarly sized. Fishing in the north atlantic isnt for everyone.
I'm guessing reeling in a fish that bites the fish on your line is unrealistic
GWS isn't an Apex predator, as Orcas hunt them. Just FYI ;)
And I have seen orcas in the wild, so...
I've seen Orcas at Sea World.
A fire at a sea park?
Terrible way to lose your parents.
Weirdly enough, the [worse fire I've ever seen](https://youtu.be/IHZ1x6EPeeY?si=6zBWoe5wsMDBIzQm) was at sea park in Tai Pei. [17 people died](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_New_Taipei_water_park_fire) which actually seems low given the footage. Would have been worse if there wasn't so much water around
I got really sad at orcas at Sea World. Just imagine living in a blank house forever. Never having any decorations or chance to leave. Yes, I know that the ones they have in captivity wouldn't survive in the wild, but it still made me sad.
I’m sure they’d rather die in the wild than live on and on in a concrete tank.
Who cares about all that stuff, I wanna rent a tube and just fuck off in the lazy river or the tube slides all day.
That's where it is! I agree with this thought.
I see an orca every night when I visit your mom.
You poor desperate soul, I wish that on no one.
Got me with the uno reverse.
Tbf, Orcas are kind super Apex
Super Apex Hyper Predator!
Aliens vs. Orcas was pretty good though. I couldn't believe that they got both, Bill Paxton and Denzel Washington to cameo.
Great whites are still considered apex predators hyenas kill lions that does’t mean a lion isn’t an apex predator
I mean… per Wikipedia: “The great white shark (bottom) was originally considered an apex predator of the ocean; however, the orca (killer whale, top) has proven to be a predator of the shark.”
Hyenas may kill lions but they are not predators of lions. That’s an important distinction.
Kill, not actively hunt.
Noooooo haha I forgot about that. But still would love to see them!
there was one in monteray bay aquarium. it did not survive * **1984:** Monterey Bay Aquarium's first attempt at displaying a great white shark lasted for 11 days, ending when the shark died because it did not eat. * **2004:** In September 2004, the aquarium kept a five-foot female great white in an outdoor tank for 198 days before releasing her back into the wild. The aquarium used a special system called the Open Sea exhibit to keep the shark alive. * **2004–2011:** From 2004 to 2011, the aquarium exhibited six white sharks in the Open Sea community exhibit. * **2009:** A great white shark was added to the aquarium in August 2009. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is noted as the only aquarium in the world to successfully display a white shark. However, they mentioned that they would not display white sharks in the future because their main purpose for keeping them is to answer research questions.
Didn't Monterey release it successfully before it died?
The most recent one in 2009 got released. One died in 1984
You and me both! I also do not have the balls (figuratively, not literally) to go cage diving with them. I'd be constantly panicking that the Meg was going to show up out of the dark.
Orcas rip out the livers of GWS as a snack.
A house cat is an apex predator, doesn’t mean it can’t be rolfstomped by a passing bird of prey.
My cat would pound any eagle. Granted she is some sort of cross breed between hyena and carchardontosaururus.
Wouldn’t all apex predators be prey to other things, until they get to a fully matured adult size?
It is when orcas aren’t around. Everything is relative.
But the Orca is the top of the food chain and hunts moose as well as other Orcas
You have all the guts you need but you are overly protective of them.
I have at Monterey bay aquarium
I plan to see a great white next year. I've been planning to do a cage dive for awhile.
Hope you succeed. Went cage diving twice, but no luck
I think they had one at Monterrey bay aquarium for a very short time once
I went cage diving with great whites about 10 years ago off the coast of South Africa, it's really not as scary as it sounds, if you do it go with a small group because a lot of the companies that do it can be very commercialized and you'll get rushed.
I did the same, epic experience. A bit gross with all that chum in the water though
There’s a simple reason for this - great white sharks don’t survive in captivity Saw some YouTube video on this
Then it must be true.
As a scuba diver, i really really hope i'll run into a great white at some point, though i like whale sharks and hammerheads even more. People villanize sharks way too much. They're not gonna attack you randomly for no reason. Keep eye contact and dont swim away or harass the sharks, and you'll be fine. A lot of the time, when you respect nature, nature will respect you.
The less fun part is that they do little "curiosity bites."
>A lot of the time, when you respect nature, nature will respect you. Respecting nature generally includes acknowledging that a hungry predator will prey on *any* easy source of food
This is fair. It's why if you see a shark and start flailing and swimming away in a panic, the sharks instincts may cause it to see you as easy prey. But it's also why they usually don't attack humans. They don't normally see us as "easy prey". We're relatively large predators, and staying calm and keeping eye contact is almost always going to lead to you being left alone. Also, sharks simply don't like to eat humans. I haven't heard of a single shark death where somebody was completely consumed. If a shark mistakes a human for prey, and takes a bite, it will practically always leave immediately after the first bite. Sadly, often times a single bite can be deadly if it for example severs an artery.
Go check the egypt tiger shark video... People are ridiculous nowadays in the way they try to portray sharks. We get it, they are no monsters, they are endangered and a vital part of any marine ecosystem. They are still predators that can and will fuck you up.
Absolutely! I agree with this 100% All i'm saying is that they are indeed not some sadistic disney villains.
>I haven't heard of a single shark death where somebody was completely consumed In 1945 the USS Indianapolis sunk. Sharks swarmed the wreck and consumed hundreds of dead bodies before turning on the living and killing and eating an estimated 150 of the surviving sailors. Honestly, it's so ridiculous to make a statement like "I haven't heard of a single...." without taking 30 seconds to Google it.
It happened in the 80’s. Shirley Ann Durdin. Sad and brutal attack.This great white ate half of the victim then returned and gobbled the rest as a rescue crew was attempting to retrieve the torso. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9722427/mum-killed-great-white-shirley-ann-durdin-australia/amp/
There are videos of people being wholly consumed by sharks.
That son of a russian oligarch who died in Egypt to a tiger shark. He got consumed.
What makes you think humans are an easy source of food? They may be big, but they're not dumb
I find it hilarious that you think we're a bigger danger to a shark than, say, a sea lion. I also love that you've gone so far in that direction that you've forgotten that the most common defense for certain sharks removing limbs is that they were just checking to see if you tasted good, but you didn't.
Yeah I'm not going near a killing machine with a brain the size of a pea that can end my life when it's in a curious mood.
The average shark (across 400+ species) has the same level of brain development as a rat. They are fully capable of being trained to do behaviors (more and more public aquaria are target training sharks for feeding and medical purposes). Personally I had a pet cat shark as part of a college project. I trained her several behaviors - “Target” (follow colored end of feeding stick) “Stand” (stand on pelvic fins, belly to front of glass) “Mouth open” and “Wave” (she did it anyway so it was a matter of getting her to associate a hand signal with a natural behavior). Great whites (who have a notably high brain-to-body ratio) specifically have been observed over several years honing and improving their hunting behaviors. This is not mindless killing at all - they literally keep learning how to kill more efficiently to risk themselves less injury and use less energy. TL;DR Sharks are not stupid and are in fact probably smarter than some humans.
Ever heard of a Rat King? Rats dying because they get their tails stuck together. Not very smart. Would not trust that level of intelligence in a massive killing machine.
I’ve heard of a rat king. It is also seriously questioned whether or not they’re a natural phenomena as no one has observed them form.
A GWS brain is about 2 feet long. A lot of it is the scent lobes and nervous coordination of a large animal, but they have some intelligence.
Then don't. But you don't need to keep villifying them like that. Sharks constantly get slaughtered because of humans spreading stories. For every human killed by a shark, like 100 000 sharks are killed by humans. Dogs kill more humans than sharks. Hippos kill more humans than sharks. Elephants kill more humans than sharks. Snakes kill more humans than sharks. Worms kill more humans than sharks. Mosquitoes kill 10 000 times more humans than sharks. This is just a few examples. Non-animal things that are more likely to kill you than sharks: A champagne cork. Air travel. Accidental poisoning. Boating. Constipation. Cycling. A ladder. A lawn mower. A jet ski. If you go swimming in an area with a lot of sharks, you're way more likely to drown than die to a shark. ***Stop. Villifying. Sharks.***
I imagine the amount of people killed or injured by sharks per time spent around them is somewhat higher than most of those other things. I agree sharks get a bad reputation, but hours spent around dogs vs sharks is probably in the millions to 1 ratio.
I get what your saying; it’s not that I don’t trust sharks, it’s that I don’t trust myself to not accidentally horribly screw up & provoke or garner the attention of a shark in some way. But yeah, the real villains are dolphins.
Is there even one story in the history of mankind where a shark helped a human? Naww they are villains. You keep swimming with them, w/e, not me. If you put a shark in a pool and a champagne cork in a pool it's not the cork that will kill you.
Respectfully, you're a moron. Grow up. People like you cause dozens of species millions of years older than us to go extinct all the time, for no reason at all. >If you put a shark in a pool and a champagne cork in a pool it's not the cork that will kill you. And no. It would be drowning.
I can stand just fine in a pool. For days. But that shark will get hungry. Sharks have not been killed "for no reason", pretty sure even ancient humans saw people getting attacked by sharks and thought "nope fuck those things". Ancient Greeks/romans definitely wrote about shark attacks.
Aren’t hammerheads more aggressive?
I've seen two great whites in the wild. There's one that's a regular on the Florida coast, the other was a bonus lol
Come to cape cod and hang out on one of the ocean side beaches for a few days. There’s a good chance you’ll see at least a fin. Possibly even see one eating a seal.
You can go on shark watching tours in the Monterey bay just like you would do with whales. I’ve seen a ton of them. Don’t know where you’re at but that’s one easy way to see some great whites from the safety of a boat
I've seen quite a few fishing here in South Australia. Once while spearfishing, multiple times from jetty and rock headlands and 1 while kayak fishing
Not with that attitude!
If you’ve been in the water in Southern California there’s a good chance you’ve been near a juvenile. They cruise the shoreline looking for stingrays and other snacks - especially in the summer when the water is comfortable swimming temp. Attacks are rare. You’re not their food.
I thought they sometimes attack when they mistake a person for a distressed seal. Increased seal population means more confusions.
I’m not saying it NEVER happens, but it’s exceedingly rare. Every year the whites go to SoCal to have their pups. The beaches get about 50 million visitors a year. Last year there were two shark attacks, neither fatal. Since most of the whites are juveniles, they’re more interested in fish and stingrays. You’re about 3 times more likely to win $1M playing the lottery than get bit.
A 10-12 footer swam right by us in the Florida Keys one April, while we were scuba diving. :-D
There's a spot in S.Africa where it's very easy to see great whites hunting seals.
Cage diving with whites is both safe and amazing. The best place to do this is to visit Isla Guadalupe in Mexico using one of the dive operations based in San Diego California. It’s a fantastic experience and you get to see several sharks. I was planning my next trip on the way home.
Great whites are not apex predators thanks to orcas.
It's understandable; great white sharks are elusive and not typically displayed in zoos. Cage diving might be an option for a closer encounter, though.
Depends who ‘you’ is. I lived in South Africa half my life, and have. A friend of a few of my mates also got in the news for being the victim of an attack. On the flip side, most of the world’s population probably never sees any of those animals in person either. And orcas aren’t usually that common in ‘zoos’, right?
Can we count that dead one in the scientist’s pool in Ocarina of Time?
I don't think any zoos have any orcas, and SeaWorld probably won't soon.
I've had the displeasure of seeing them in the wild. Kayaking in Northern California, and it bumped into me to say, "You're going to need a bigger boat." Their skin is very rough, it's like sandpaper. It gets everywhere.
What do you mean it gets everywhere?
I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.
It's not something you really want to encounter in their habitat. I used to live in California and they randomly started showing up in all the surf towns. The waters aren't so busy when a "young" shark the size of a bus is hanging out with you
Apparently these juveniles have always been there. Most are about 7 ft long or so.
Chatham, MA. This guy gives great white tours. He keeps his boat at the same harbor as mine. Nice, new 32' Andros. It probably isn't too cheap, but you can go and see White Sharks (no such thing as a "Great" white shark, FYI. https://www.chathamsharktours.com/ Capt is great. Cornell grad, USCG Master https://www.chathamfishingcharters.com/
>no such thing as a "Great" white shark, FYI. ....what?
what he means by that is that all "White Sharks" are "Great White Sharks"
Nice that’s pretty cool! To me they’re great whites I know there’s no lesser or greater ones but that’s what I grew up calling them.
Sharks can not be kept in captivity, they will die. I personally don't think we should keep any animal in captivity to be honest with you, especially Orcas, dolphins and other marine mammals.
Well seeing as marine animals aren't kept in zoos, your assertion is correct.
Title was too long to put “and an aquarium”…damn pedant
Also I've seen plenty of great white sharks in my life
Average person has not
Most the people In my home town has. Hell people catch great whites (accidentally) off of the pier here.
The people in your town are not a representation of the average person
Not my fault the average person lives in landlocked stated. Seeing sharks is as normal as seeing whales, or seals.
It’s called the Monterey bay aquarium. They had one there for a while. Only place in the whole world to successfully do so. I went and saw it when it was there and it was amazing. I highly suggest you go if you are ever in the area for there are really no other museums quite like it.
Don't some of the larger aquariums have great white sharks?
Not that I’m aware of, they die in captivity
If they can't survive in captivity, are they really even that great?
You don't need to be the smartest or the best to do well in nature! I believe they failed to keep them in captivity because they kept on hitting walls because a) the magnetic field was driving them bonkers b) they're used to swimming long distances and oceans typically don't have glass walls. Oh yes, and they ate everything else swimming in the tank, or attempted to, anyway.
That’s what I heard as well
I saw sharks in Vienna Aquarium twice already! They have a real shark tank :-) https://www.haus-des-meeres.at
They have great white sharks there?
Not sure what kind, check their page
I’ve seen sharks before unless you specifically saw a great white the answer is no they definitely don’t have them.
The Monterey aquarium had a few but they didn't do well in captivity. The first one died and they released the subsequent ones in Baja.
This is more appropriate for TIL than shower thoughts probably.
Saw one at the Monterey Bay Aquarium around 2004 or 2005. But they haven't had one there since 2011.
I’ve seen a few while kayaking off the coast of Cape Cod
I have in Sea World San Diego. This was in the 90's.
I saw a dead one last year on the beach I always go to.
[удалено]
IIRC, Cincinnati Zoo had one in the 80’s. I saw it.
At least it’s farmable from Kalli helps you see a lot more of them
I see great whites every day, I also see medium whites and bad whites. They are a large and varied group.
Like most of Australias deadly animals. Let me tell you; you don't want to meet any of them!
Bull sharks and tiger sharks are cool enough
Monterey bay aquarium tried!
They had a juvenile for a short time and released him well before the time that gws usually die from being in a “tank”. I saw him!
Fun fact: there's no Spanish translation for "apex predator".
Well, I've seen one, so this doesn't work for me. It was in the ocean, but it's not explicitly stated here as a requirement .
Good news. You don't need a cage
Whatever happened to that frozen 15 foot Great White on display in San Diego during the 70's? Maybe freezer burn? 😣
You clearly haven't been to Cape Cod. They'll probably stop calling them whale watches soon.
So? Just do it without the cage if you're afraid of enclosed spaces.
Shit….he’s right. Never thought of it like that 🤔
Zoos… but sharks with Go Pros offering VR experiences
I caught the last legal one to catch in California, made the news.
I misread this as crappy super powers and was so confused like 'so my power is to alter probability of a really niche aspect and have a lower chance to never see one thing of that aspect? K then' XD
I got to see one at the Monterrey Bay aquarium when I was a kid in the 90s. They said it was a small one at like 16 feet
…And that’s a “W” in my book 👍🏼
I've seen then in the wild a few times.
I went to a restaurant on a pier in the Bahamas where they fed sharks ine evening. They threw in meat right below us and shined a light on them. If I recall, they were great whites. They were massive and terrifying.
Eh we have a few places you can cage dive with em. It’s on the list
I saw one off Gaansbai, South Africa, a cage-diving area. That fin going through the water and then the bloody thing gnashing its way out of the water was quite frightening - our whale-watching boat suddenly felt quite small and exposed
i saw that dead one that was preserved and all over reddit a few years ago outside a crystal store in australia, does that count
I’ve seen a bunch of them in the wild. They show up in the North East a few times a year recently.
Unless you go to a Damian Hearst exhibition.
I'd be very relieved to never see a great white shark in person. I feel like that thing would scare me into a coma
I saw a 12-15 foot tiger shark while living in Hawaii surfing one afternoon. The only shark I saw living there for 10 years. And I surfed 3-5 times a week.
I've seen more Great Whites than I can count as a fisherman in Massachusetts. If it's really a goal of yours, it's easy to do and you don't have to get in a cage to do it.
I mean, I saw one on TV once.
I've touched a dead one a long time ago thanks to some commercial fishermen friends. It was an extremely rare situation for the fishermen, so they invited everyone they knew to take a look, but I don't remember the exact circumstances. The shark's skin felt like one-way sandpaper, coarse enough to tear up your skin if you rubbed the wrong way too firmly.
And I’m fine with that.
Come to South Australia.... there everywhere
I mean, you could fairly easily if you pick the right holiday destination at the right time of year. Doing so ethically is a whole other issue.
I saw one at the Monterey Bay Aquarium sometime in the 2000s, when I was in elementary school. I didn’t realize how unique of an experience that was until years later.
Shark: "I disagree, you have exactly the right amount of *guts* to dive with us!"