Ask a Scientist: How sharks breathe

Ask a Scientist: How sharks breathe varies by species :: Saving the Sharks :: Care2 Groups.

[caption id="attachment_416" align="alignleft" width="212" caption="Click image for video of this shark at rest"][/caption]

This is an excellent explanation of how fish and some sharks draw water with muscles to breathe.

Answer-link :   (by Dale Madison, professor of biology at Binghamton University):

Video Post: Stupid people in South Africa sell the chance to jump into a cage for a cheap thrill while they jerk food from the sharks, from the safety of a boat. They take tourist to ’shark alley’ and tease these majestic animals. Sharks are the top of the food chain, and the operator is teasing them calling it Eco-Tourism.  If this is somehow appealing to your ego? Imagine someone knocked your lunch on the floor. Then your friends come along and they jerk their lunch too.  Would you bite back? What happens to the next diver who doesn’t feed the shark? Now resident sharks in these fast food feeding zones expect man to show up with fast-food which might one day be a human life. This activity has altered the sharks behavior.

Take a look at what happens in this video. I can only hope the government of South Africa takes immediate action against the exploitation of Nature’s most magnificent predator before the next…

GEORGE TOWN: Four fishermen had a huge New Year’s surprise when an unexpected visitor swam into their nets, 10 nautical miles off the coast of Teluk Bahang.

The group was deep-sea fishing near Pulau Kendi when a 7 meter-long whale shark got entangled in their trawl nets at 3am yesterday.

“We didn’t know what was in the net, so two of us pulled it up and saw the shark.

“In my 30 years of being a fisherman, I have never seen this. I didn’t even know what species it was,” said fisherman Keh Chai Yang, 52.

They returned to shore with the shark at 5.30am.

Keh said they had informed the state Department of Fisheries of the two-tonne whale shark and would surrender the fish to them.

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a filter feeding shark that is the largest living fish.

The slow-moving creature is known for its playful character and poses no harm to humans.

Whale of a catch for deep-sea fishermen.

Hello from the Southernmost Cameraflyer. Finally, the wind calmed down and the seas are flat. went to the local reef about 5 miles out yesterday. saw Rocky the Reef Shark. He is about a 4-5 ft. Caribbean Reef Shark. He was in about 12 ft of water. totally NOT aggressive. very photogenic.

`til the next time