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Post by fish on Sept 6, 2023 20:56:33 GMT 12
Couple of Russians and a Frog rescued from an inflatable (?!) catamaran being attacked by sharks, mid-way between Vanuatu and Aust. The story is on Stuffed, so need to take a few things with a grain of salt. I've never heard of an inflatable catamaran. Certainly not the trans-ocean variety. There are some elements in the photo that make it look like a rudimentary DIY job. Reasonable mast, but deck beams are agricultural, and just a shelter thing on deck. Doesn't appear to be hulls you can access or get into. Not sure why the sharks would attack the boat. And if they did, not sure why that is a problem if you are on the boat and the sharks weren't. Sure, sharks attack fishing gear and shadow boats, slow moving boats are well known FAD's Two Russians? have to be draft dodgers. Stuck between the meat-grinder war and a shark's dinner. No sails up in the pics. Wonder if it was just a case of no wind, or an unsuitable craft falling apart mid-voyage. Right up there with that Aussy who drifted around for 3 months of Mexico in a cat thinking he was sailing to Australia. www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/300965566/sailors-rescued-off-australian-coast-after-boat-attacked-by-sharks
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Post by fish on Sept 7, 2023 9:57:53 GMT 12
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Post by fish on Sept 7, 2023 9:59:16 GMT 12
So what would I know? It was a fully transocean inflatable boat. Sailed from Easter Island apparently. Slight variation on the Kon Tiki it would seem. The boat was attacked by Cookie Cutter sharks, which grown to 16 inches long (40 cm). So their round the world voyage was sunk by baitfish?!?!?! I'm sorry, but that is very funny. Boat sunk by foot long sharks. Attack of the Cookie Monster. Sounds like a kids cartoon in real life. More info in this link www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna103567?fbclid=IwAR3QrymW3q1_MTA1vTTJMDdKRRwAYADVnZoWkgrarxvEcaZah1jZKlfHnRE
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Post by fish on Sept 7, 2023 10:10:44 GMT 12
It would appear the cookie cutter sharks mistook the inflatable hulls for a dead whale or some such sea creature. The suck onto the flesh / hull, and cut a perfectly round chunk out of it. Possibly why there are not a lot of inflatable transocean boats about.
The cookiecutter shark (Isistius brasiliensis), also called the cigar shark, is a species of small squaliform shark in the family Dalatiidae. This shark occurs in warm, oceanic waters worldwide, particularly near islands, and has been recorded as deep as 3.7 km (2.3 mi). It migrates vertically up to 3 km (1.9 mi) every day, approaching the surface at dusk and descending with the dawn. Reaching only 42–56 cm (16.5–22 in) in length, the cookiecutter shark has a long, cylindrical body with a short, blunt snout, large eyes, two tiny spineless dorsal fins, and a large caudal fin. It is dark brown, with light-emitting photophores covering its underside except for a dark "collar" around its throat and gill slits.
The name "cookiecutter shark" refers to its feeding habit of gouging round plugs, as if cut out with a cookie cutter, out of larger animals. Marks made by cookiecutter sharks have been found on a wide variety of marine mammals and fishes, as well as on submarines, undersea cables, and even human bodies. It also consumes whole smaller prey such as squid. Cookiecutter sharks have adaptations for hovering in the water column and likely rely on stealth and subterfuge to capture more active prey. Its dark collar seems to mimic the silhouette of a small fish, while the rest of its body blends into the downwelling light via its ventral photophores. When a would-be predator approaches the lure, the shark attaches itself using its suctorial lips and specialized pharynx and neatly excises a chunk of the flesh using its bandsaw-like set of lower teeth. This species has been known to travel in schools.
Though rarely encountered because of its oceanic habitat, a handful of documented attacks on humans were apparently caused by cookiecutter sharks. Nevertheless, this diminutive shark is not regarded as dangerous to humans. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed the cookiecutter shark under least concern, as it is widely distributed, has no commercial value, and is not particularly susceptible to fisheries.
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Post by harrytom on Sept 7, 2023 15:54:32 GMT 12
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Post by Fogg on Sept 7, 2023 18:01:34 GMT 12
Sharks been learning from the orcas.
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