"We Need A Much Bigger Boat"

Snorkeler Finds Prehistoric Shark Tooth

PORT HURON, Mich. (March 28) - David Wentz was snorkeling off Marysville Beach in the St. Clair River last August when what he thought was an odd-looking rock caught his eye. "I didn't know what to think," the 16-year-old Port Huron resident said.

His father, Craig, said he knew right away what it was due to hours of watching the Discovery Channel.

"It's a shark tooth," Craig Wentz said. "It's petrified. It's rock."

Michigan State University paleontologist Michael Gottfried told the Times Herald of Port Huron that the 3-inch long tooth comes from an extinct species called Carcharodon megalodon, or the "megatooth" shark.

The megalodon, which went extinct 2 million years ago, was larger than any building in Port Huron, reaching lengths of more than 60 feet. By comparison, Great White sharks generally are about 20 feet long.

The megatooth shark ate about 1,500 pounds of food a day, mostly feeding on whales and other large marine creatures.

Gottfried doesn't think the tooth is from a shark that may have been in the Great Lakes region during two different prehistoric eras, dating back from a half-million years to 300 to 400 million years ago, when it was a "shallow marine environment" filled with sharks, whales and other aquatic life.

"I suspect that it was probably carried and dropped by a human inhabitant of the region, either in recent historical times, or perhaps by earlier native people in this area," he said.

"I can't say just how it came to be in the St. Clair River, but I can assure you that there aren't any sharks with 3-inch teeth living there now."

See, and YOU think YOU have it hard dealing with the crap in the water at the beach nowadays. Imagine going to the beach, or, boating, and having to encounter one of these suckers on a bad day. This thing could take out T-Rex and stuff. The megalodon makes todays sharks look like guppies. Enjoy the beach this summer! Keep your eyes open!

ALL Animals Rule,

Bobby Sharpe Amazon.com: Dragon: Book of Shang: Books: Bobby Sharpe Dragon, Book of Shang www.myspace.com/akuasharpe

Don't Be Fish Food

Teen bitten by shark in New Smyrna Beach

A 13-year-old boy was bit by a shark this afternoon in New Smyrna Beach, but only suffered gashes on his ankle.

Volusia Beach Patrol Capt. Scott Petersohn said the boy, who weighs about 150 pounds, was wading in thigh-deep water when he felt something grab his leg.

The shark took a bite and then fled. Petersohn said he did not know what kind of shark it was or how big it was because it disappeared.

I posted this article from the Orlando Sentinel as a reminder to those of YOU who live here in Florida and those of YOU that will visit here this spring. We are "THE SHARK BITE CAPITAL OF THE EARTH". That's right. Most of our attacks are non-fatal, however, they do cause damage.

This time of year is really bad because of migrations of bait fish and newborn sharks chasing them into the shallow water where we are. Most bites are mistakes. So, if YOU are going to be in the ocean here, be observant and know what is going on around YOU at all times. Or, YOU could be fish food!

Sea Life Rules,

Bobby Sharpe Dragon, Book of Shang Amazon.com: Dragon: Book of Shang: Books: Bobby Sharpe

White Shark, White Humans, White...O

White Killer Whale Spotted Off Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (March 7) - The white killer whale spotted in Alaska's Aleutian Islands sent researchers and the ship's crew scrambling for their cameras.

The nearly mythic creature was real after all.

"I had heard about this whale, but we had never been able to find it," said Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist with the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle who photographed the rarity. "It was quite neat to find it."

The whale was spotted last month while scientists aboard the Oscar Dyson, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research ship, were conducting an acoustic survey of pollock near Steller sea lion haulout sites.

It had been spotted once in the Aleutians years ago but had eluded researchers since, even though they had seen many of the more classic black and white whales over the years.

Fearnbach said the white whale stood out.

"When you first looked at it, it was very white," she said Thursday.

Further observation showed that while the whale's saddle area was white, other parts of its body had a subtle yellowish or brownish color.

It likely is not a true albino given the coloration, said John Durban, a research biologist at NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. That's probably a good thing - true albinos usually don't live long and can have health problems.

Durban said white killer whales have been spotted elsewhere in the area twice before: in 1993 in the northern Bering Sea around St. Lawrence Island and in 2001 near Adak in the central Aleutians. There have also been sightings along the Russian coast.

While Alaska researchers have documented thousands of black and white killer whales in the Bering Sea and the Aleutians during summer surveys, this was something new and exciting, Durban said.

"This is the first time we came across a white killer whale," he said.

The scientists observed several pods over a two-week period. The white whale was in a family group of 12 on a day when the seas were fairly rough. It was spotted about 2 miles off Kanaga Volcano on Feb. 23.

The ship stayed with the whale for about 30 minutes.

"Everybody actually came out and was taking pictures," Fearnbach said. "It was a neat sighting for everybody."

The whale appeared to be a healthy, adult male about 25 to 30 feet long and weighing upward of 10,000 pounds.

It is incredible all of the cool animal life that is being discovered here recently. Say what YOU will, but, "there is definitely something going on on our planet these days". Not only are we finding new and different species that are here and now, we are still finding species that were here and are just being discovered. It's a great time to have a brain and show some interest in our world, past and now.

Animals Rule,

Bobby Sharpe Amazon.com: Dragon: Book of Shang: Books: Bobby Sharpe

Dragon, Book of Shang