KEEPING A BULLSHARK AS A PET

Sorry I've been away so long, sort of lost interest in the digital world for a while. But, now that I am back, I've decided to build a new site at www.AxeManiac.com. You can view it by clicking on the image below:
 

I have also been experimenting with keeping a Bullshark as a pet, and have run into a few dramas along the way (not as easy as you may think!). Any advice, photos, experience on this matter would be highly appreciated. I will put some photos up soon, and will keep you all updated on how it's going.

The biggest problem so far seems to be the ammonia smell. I've been trying to keep him in as close to fresh water as possible (for ease of filtration etc) but it seem to make him emit more ammonia, or it at least smells that way!

An Introduction to the Bull Shark

An Introduction to the Bull Shark #2

Top 10 most infamous shark attacks

Top ten most infamous shark attacks

After a shark killed one tourist and injured several more in a spate of five attacks at Sharm el Sheikh, the Red Sea resort, here is a list of ten of the most infamous shark attacks in history.

#1 Jersey shore, 1916 (The mighty Bull Shark)

Arguably the most famous shark attacks in history resulted in four dead and one injured, probably at the hands of a great white or bull shark, over a ten-day period. Why the notoriety? The spate of attacks is thought to have inspired the film Jaws.

#2 Matawan Creek, New Jersey, 1916

Just a week after the Jersey shore attacks a 12-year-old boy was killed by a great white in Matawan Creek, prompting a shark hunt by local men. It claimed another victim and wounded a third before being caught, and when cut open the shark was found to contain 15lb (7kg) of human flesh and bone.

#3 U.S.S. Indianapolis, 1945

Oceanic whitetip sharks are held to be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of sailors stranded at sea after the U.S.S. Indianapolis was torpedoed. Between 600 and 800 sailors lost their lives but it is not known how many died from exposure and how many from shark attacks.

#4 Brook Watson, 1749

The first known survivor of a shark attack was 14-year-old Brook Watson, a crew member of a trading ship who was twice attacked while swimming in the harbour of Havana, Cuba. His shipmates saved his life, but the shark took his foot and he later had his leg amputated.

Watson went on to become an MP, the Lord Mayor of London, and to be featured in one of the most enduring images of a shark attack, Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley, who witnessed the event.

#5 Rodney Fox, 1953

Fox, an Australian spearfishing champion, was defending his title when he was attacked by a great white which took him around his waist in its jaws. After an epic struggle he was released. He is the best-known survivor of a shark attack simply because of the extent of his injuries, which required four hours of surgery and 360 stitches, and his miraculous survival.

#6 Bethany Hamilton, 2003

One of America’s highest-ranked surfers, 13-year-old Bethany Hamilton, lost her arm in an attack by a tiger shark in Hawaii in 2003. She was undeterred by her injury and defied the effect it had on her balance to win a national surfing title in 2005.


#7 Barry Wilson, 1952

Another case that surely influenced the makers of Jaws, 17-year-old Barry Wilson was killed as he swam with a friend off the shore of Pacific Grove, California, in front of scores of witnesses. One saw him jerk suddenly before being pulled from side to side. The shark then lifted him completely out of the water before dragging him under.

#8 Lloyd Skinner, 2010

A shark described as “dinosaur huge” and “longer than a minibus” killed tourist Lloyd Skinner as he swam neck-deep just yards from the shore of a beach in Cape Town, South Africa. The shark, thought to be a great white, twice pulled him under water, leaving behind no trace of the victim except a pool of blood and his swimming goggles.

#9 Henri Bource, 1964

In one of the first attacks captured on film, Henri Bource was swimming with two other divers off the coast of Australia when a great white pounced and bit off his leg. His colleagues saved his life by dragging him to safety and giving first aid. Bource later claimed he tried to free himself by gouging the shark’s eyes and ramming his arm down its throat.

#10 Sharm el Sheikh, 2010 (To be continued....)

A spate of attacks at the Red Sea resort was thought to have ended when two sharks were captured, and the beaches were reopened. The following day a 70-year-old German woman was killed as she snorkelled close to the shore. The attacks were thought to have been prompted by the dumping of a dead sheep from a ship.

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

A safe place for a swim!!!

Actual Location of Shark Attack!

Most people wouldn't think twice before jumping in here!

Residents of Boca Ciega Drive say they're less tempted to swim from their backyards after Wednesday's shark attack. The briny water in the little cove nestled into the corner of Boca Ciega Drive and Bay Street was glass calm today, a day after a swirl of teeth and fins left a frantic teenager screaming and bleeding.

For residents along this quiet waterfront neighborhood, the shark bite was somewhat unsettling, but it would do little to change their habits. Jenna James, a graduate of Admiral Farragut Academy who now attends New York University, was lounging on an inflatable raft just a few yards from her dock around 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 23. The 19-year-old was spotted by her neighbor, Frank McMillan, just before it happened.

He and a friend were working in the backyard of McMillan's mother's home and saw James on the raft, he said. 'I had just talked to her,' McMillan said. He walked inside to get something to drink and in the span of about five minutes, he heard a commotion and walked out to see James' sister attending to the teen on the dock. 'It looked pretty bad,' McMillan said.

James was bitten in the lower right leg. She was taken to Bayfront Medical Center where she was treated and held overnight. Emergency medical officials said the injuries were not life threatening. A hospital spokeswoman this morning said the family did not wish to talk to the media and asked that the hospital not release condition updates.

McMillan said he occasionally jumps into the bay behind his mother's home. 'I was swimming out there on Mother's Day,' he said. James and her sister go swimming out there all the time, he said. 'They have a ladder on the dock for that.' He said his mother, Loretta, has lived in the home for about 10 years and he has fished from the dock behind the home more than he has jumped in. 'All I've ever caught is pinfish and catfish,' he said. No sharks.

Nine years ago, on a dock not far from here, 69-year-old Thadeus Kubinski jumped into the water, right in front of a large bull shark that took one bite and killed the man.

Bob Hueter, director of the center for shark research at Mote Marine in Sarasota, said it's not unusual for sharks to be in that area this time of year. The most dangerous may be bull sharks, he said. 'They grow to be fairly large and they do come up into the brackish areas and will go after large prey.'

It would only be speculation about the type of shark that attacked James, he said. 'It could have been one of several different species,' Hueter said. 'It could even be a juvenile bull. 'Little sharks still have sharp teeth and if they come up, grab and twist, they can do some damage. No shark bite is trivial.'

He recalled the attack in the same area nine years ago. 'Two attacks is not exactly a trend,' he said. 'I wouldn't start worrying about that area.' Concern would rise when more than one bite is recorded during a single season, he said. Two shark bites in the same area nine years apart are not beyond the norm. 'Over the past nine years,' he said, 'probably thousands of people have been swimming in there.'

Jumping the shark

Jumping the shark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jumping the shark is an idiom used to denote the point in a television program's history where the plot spins off into absurd storylines or unlikely characterizations. These changes were often the result of efforts to revive interest in a show whose audience had begun to decline.

The phrase jump the shark refers to the climactic scene in 'Hollywood', of the American TV series Happy Days in September 1977. In this story, the central characters visit Los Angeles, where Fonzie (Henry Winkler), wearing swimming trunks and his leather jacket, jumps over a confined shark on water skis, answering a challenge to demonstrate his bravery. The series continued for nearly seven years after that, with a number of changes in cast and situations.

Jon Hein explained the concept as follows: 'It's a moment. A defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached its peak. That instant that you know from now on...it's all downhill. Some call it the climax. We call it 'Jumping the Shark.' From that moment on, the program will simply never be the same.'

- Sent using Google Toolbar"

I AM PRAYING FOR A SHARK ATTACK!

Gordon Ramsay Is Getting Thrown to the Sharks - Slashfood:

No doubt there are plenty of chewed-out former contenders from Hell's Kitchen that would like nothing better than to send Gordon Ramsay swimming with the fishes. Well, Britain's Channel 4 is going one better: They're sending the famously ill-tempered chef to swim with the sharks.

And not just any sharks -- bull sharks, perhaps the most aggressive species of shark, prone to unprovoked attacks on humans. (Hey Gordon, sound familiar?)

What might otherwise seem a desperate publicity stunt designed to showcase another side of an overexposed celebrity (presumably Ramsay won't be able to launch into an expletive-laden tirade underwater) is ostensibly for a good cause: It's part of Channel 4's series of programs called 'The Big Fish Fight,' aimed at educating viewers about the impact of overfishing.

According to The Guardian, Ramsay's dramatic contribution will be part of a larger investigation into the controversy over shark-fin soup, which leads to the killing of nearly 100 million sharks per year and had caused significant declines in the population of the ocean-going predator.

And from.... Gordon Ramsay swims with sharks on new Channel 4 program

In the kitchen Gordon Ramsay makes it crystal clear that he is at the very top of the food chain, but on his new Channel 4 program “Gordon’s Shark Bait” the foul mouthed chef will find himself in a new position, potentially as dinner.

On the show Ramsay tackles his “scariest challenge to date” when he swims with bull sharks to coincide with his investigation into the impact of shark fin soup—a delicacy that results in nearly 100 million shark deaths per year.

The program is part of a Channel 4 series airing in January called “The Big Fish Fight” that features celebrity chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal and Ramsay.

The aim of the series is to educate viewers on the diminishing stocks of fish worldwide and how the depletion of ocean life impacts everyday life.

Hopefully the chefs learn along with the audience.

One thing is certain, Ramsay better pray that his bull shark counterparts hold the “Hell’s Kitchen” chef in higher regards than he does vegetarians.