Sharks Try to Chomp on Seals for Your Viewing Pleasure
Via Instapundit comes a link to a bunch of amazing pictures of sharks leaping out of the water as they attempt to chomp on seals and such.
I didn’t even know they did that.
If these pictures weren’t backed by the seal of authenticity provided by an Official Big Media Outlet, I’d say they were all fakes. But Telegraph.co.uk would never allow such a thing, so I’ll merely declare the pictures amazing and leave it at that.
Oh, the shark has pretty teeth dear, and he shows them pearly white.
Patterico – You obviously never watch Discovery or any of those channels. Or, Shark Week.
JD (75f5c3) — 1/29/2008 @ 6:56 amThey’re real. Check out the Shark Week video called Air Jaws. They have this one clip of this little seal and a great white really going at it. The seal would do all these evading techniques. I highly recommend it.
tired (e556b3) — 1/29/2008 @ 7:00 amAlmost as good as the Killer Whale that chomped up all those seals the tree-huggers were releasing back into the wild.
Oh the cries of horry and suffering from the tree-huggers…
I giggle just thinking about it.
Scott Jacobs (3c07ad) — 1/29/2008 @ 7:05 amPatterico – You obviously never watch Discovery or any of those channels. Or, Shark Week.
Which is sort of peculiar. Everybody ♥ Shark Week. I think it is Discovery’s biggest money maker.
tired (e556b3) — 1/29/2008 @ 7:12 amPersonally, I like MythBusters, and all of the survival shows. But Shark Week rocks.
JD (75f5c3) — 1/29/2008 @ 7:19 amNope. Dirty Jobs and Deadliest Catch are the only “must not ever miss” shows.
Scott Jacobs (3c07ad) — 1/29/2008 @ 7:20 amIce Truckers is on sale at my local cheap video outlet. Is it worth buying?
tired (e556b3) — 1/29/2008 @ 7:26 amI don’t think it is…
It is, at best, 25% as cool as Deadliest Catch.
Scott Jacobs (3c07ad) — 1/29/2008 @ 7:34 amsharks rock, and they dont even have laser eyes.
gabriel (6d7447) — 1/29/2008 @ 7:39 amOh and in case you missed it on the Planet Earth serires, they had a nice Slow motion video of the sharks getting air while attacking seals
gabriel (6d7447) — 1/29/2008 @ 7:53 amAir Jaws is available on Netflix, which is how I discovered it. Incredible footage.
Darkmage (be2d37) — 1/29/2008 @ 8:03 amI root for the seals.
tired (e556b3) — 1/29/2008 @ 8:25 amWhite shark hunting tactic – deep dive, then blast up from beneath the seal and grab it. Momentum carries then out of the water.
mojo (8096f2) — 1/29/2008 @ 8:31 am… But has the Telegraph jumped the shark?
Robin Munn (fed154) — 1/29/2008 @ 8:43 am(Someone had to say it.)
Robin Munn (fed154) — 1/29/2008 @ 8:44 amI may get banned for this, but it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone when Shark Week is popular with attorneys.
Bar Sinister (eb65fa) — 1/29/2008 @ 9:03 amMythbusters, not too long ago, saw sharks attacking seals. They were checking out the myth that sharks are wary of dolphins, and thus a dolphins presence deterred sharks from attacking.
Myth confirmed, by the way.
LarryD (feb78b) — 1/29/2008 @ 9:08 amLarryD — I believe they even got to see one go airborne during their testing.
Rob Crawford (04f50f) — 1/29/2008 @ 9:25 amWhen the shark bites with its teeth, dear, scarlet billows start to spread.
Great pictures.
Joe M. (032220) — 1/29/2008 @ 9:28 amOn the Shark Week series a couple of spinner dolphins in Hawaii get eaten.
tired (e556b3) — 1/29/2008 @ 9:30 amYou know, there was kid in my middle school class who used to enjoy throwing insects into spiders’ webs, and was rumored to have run over kittens with a lawn mower. Can’t remember his name…Chris something, maybe? He was a pig, and so is this “nature” photographer. Fucking sicko pervert, hope he falls off his boat into a cloud of chum.
driver (faae10) — 1/29/2008 @ 10:00 amWhat, because he took pictures of sharks being sharks?
Scott Jacobs (3c07ad) — 1/29/2008 @ 10:08 am“If these pictures weren’t backed by the seal of authenticity provided by an Official Big Media Outlet…”
funny, punny guy!
Dana (b4a26c) — 1/29/2008 @ 10:11 amNo, because according to the article, he helped instigate it and gets off on it. Sharks are sharks, and Michael Vick-types are Michael Vick-types.
driver (faae10) — 1/29/2008 @ 10:25 amNo, because according to the article, he helped instigate it and gets off on it.
Instigate what? The lure didn’t cause them to attack the seals. The sharks are eating seals 24/7 in this location. All it did was give the photographer another opportunity to photograph the sharks. Also, they did studies on what the sharks would and would not attack.
tired (e556b3) — 1/29/2008 @ 10:34 amI too thought it weird that the photograher used “bait” to get the sharks to act, even with the knowledge that the sharks’ brain will act anyway, without help from a photograher…
But, I was also waiting for the liberal idiot to conmplain, so I could laugh, also knowing full well that sharks do exactly that….attack….seals, humans, pieces of wood…
So, thanks driver….
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
reff (bff229) — 1/29/2008 @ 10:48 amOh, you’re welcome, reff. “Liberal idiot”…good one. Heh.
driver (faae10) — 1/29/2008 @ 10:52 amIf only the photographer had not “enticed” the sharks to be predators, they couldda embraced the seals and lived together in a multi-culti paradise beneath the waves. So sad.
ras (fc54bb) — 1/29/2008 @ 10:55 amThere are miles of open water around this island. They use the lure to see if there are any sharks in the particular area where they are to photograph. They use the lure to get additional shots of the shark attacking the lure. And as I said earlier, they use the lure to study what sharks will or will not attack.
tired (e556b3) — 1/29/2008 @ 10:55 amWhatever. I’m a gun nut and a lifelong martial artist, from a multi-generational military family. I understand blood, guts, and the hard realities of life. I am, however, offended by people who enjoy watching animals eat other animals, even if that’s part of God’s natural order.
Sorry. If you pull wings off of flies, you’re an asshole. If you smack them with a fly-swatter, good aim.
driver (faae10) — 1/29/2008 @ 11:00 amSo, you are against studies on sharks that may help swimmers/boaters/surfers not to become shark food? I think the majority of people just enjoy seeing how huge and powerful these sharks are and it is good to be in awe of them. And, as I said, I root for the seals. They also are quite spectacular in avoiding becoming shark food.
tired (e556b3) — 1/29/2008 @ 11:07 amI root for the seals too. No, not opposed to studies of sharks. I was just grossed-out by the photographer’s obvious obsession with watching animals being eaten alive. It’s one thing to be present and see it happen on occasion, another thing to spend “half the year” waiting for it, and then pushing it along.
I was reminded of a show I saw about Monitor lizards–“Komodo Dragons”–a while back, on one of the nature channels. The tourists were taken into the wild, lizards were riled, and then a baby goat (carefully brought along for the occasion) was tossed to the lizards by the tour guides. The tourist watched raptly as the poor thing was chomped and torn apart. Some of the women on the tour appeared to be showing signs of estrus. I thought it was one of the most disgusting things I ever saw. Human nature, I guess. It’s one of the reasons I own guns.
driver (faae10) — 1/29/2008 @ 11:24 amOh, please! He’s a south african, who lives near the island, and makes his living taking pictures and guiding scientists. And once again, since you refuse to get it: he does nothing to instigate a shark attack on a seal. Are you a hunter? What’s your excuse? And don’t give me some bullshit that you eat your prey. Go to Ralph’s!
tired (e556b3) — 1/29/2008 @ 11:32 amThe diff between the goat & the seals is that the goat was sacrificed; the seals were gonna be eaten anyway.
Our fascination w/the sharks is not in watching their helpless prey getting ripped apart. It is in seeing the awesome design of the shark in action. If the sharks displayed the same athleticism in play instead of in hunting, we’d watch that with the same interest, much as we watch hawks do their spiral free-fall mating ritual in which (generally) neither gets hurt.
ras (fc54bb) — 1/29/2008 @ 11:42 amHey “tired”:
driver (faae10) — 1/29/2008 @ 11:47 amNo one’s trying to take your animal predation porn away from you. It’s a free country. Relax
All right, let’s let’s just let this lie. I’m as vicious a right-winger as anyone on this board, guaranteed. I don’t mind nature pictures. I was a little put-off by the idea that this photographer is so engrossed with shark attacks that he goes out and provokes them. That’s all.
driver (faae10) — 1/29/2008 @ 11:50 amAnyway, Let’s stop Hillary!
Well, we could photoshop her into one of the shark pics … (but as which animal?)
ras (fc54bb) — 1/29/2008 @ 11:56 amdriver,
I completely agree with your comment #32 except for this phrase: “I was just grossed-out by the photographer’s obvious obsession with watching animals being eaten alive.”
To me, that sounds like you know for certain the photographer’s motive, when the pictures and article do not reveal that conclusively, and then condemn Mr. Fellows based on this “fact”. This to me sounds about as fair as the individual seal-on-shark encounters you despise. However, you are entitled to your opinion and I will not deny you that right, nor will I deny myself (or anyone else) the right to tell you I think you’re wrong.
I remember seeing/hearing on TV (don’t remember where) that this is the only place in the world where the sharks actually breach and come flying out of the water. I would think this unique behavior, not an “obsession with watching animals being eaten alive”, would be Mr. Fellows’ motivation for capturing these sharks on film, but that is my opinion and people may interpret that as they please.
I find wildlife fascinating because it is a struggle of survival. The seals survive by eating fish and avoid being eaten by sharks; the sharks survive by eating the seals. It’s a messy process but it will not change and it is to our advantage to study and understand it to the best of our ability.
Besides–flying sharks are cool.
Joel (ed14a5) — 1/29/2008 @ 12:03 pm“I was also waiting for the liberal idiot to conmplain, so I could laugh”
– reff
Of course. Because only a liberal would compain about your heralded eco-voyeurism. Whatever.
But to call driver a “liberal”… Jesus H.
Leviticus (43095b) — 1/29/2008 @ 12:06 pmPay attention, reff.
I’m sorry Levi….I mistook driver’s name for yours….
Driver, my apologies if I was too hard….
P.S….Let’s stop HILLARY, OBAMA, whoever is on the “Democratic” side…
reff (bff229) — 1/29/2008 @ 12:11 pmSheesh, chill out the lot of you.
SPQR (26be8b) — 1/29/2008 @ 12:12 pmI think several fonts need to take a few deep breaths.
Techie (ed20d9) — 1/29/2008 @ 12:17 pmoh my gosh. Patterico, DRJ, someone just feed the damn sharks here, please. Obviously they’re just ravenous!
Dana (b4a26c) — 1/29/2008 @ 12:38 pmI’m sorry. I used to be a surfer, and I just don’t think sharks are all that beautiful. And seals remind me of dogs. Everything reminds me of my dog.
Going back on over to my own little blog, which I have neglected today. Let’s all get something together and defeat Obamillary.
driver (faae10) — 1/29/2008 @ 1:27 pmPeace, out.
D
They sometimes lure the sharks in so they can then snap pix of them killing seals??
I thought these guys were supposed to be documenting what happens, not influencing it. Oh wait, that would be journalism standards in the bizzarro world, not this one.
martin (d3fe32) — 1/29/2008 @ 1:50 pmdriver
I don’t much care for it either, but I just don’t watch.
SteveG (595d6f) — 1/29/2008 @ 2:15 pmI know a guy who does the exact same type of photography. He also does surfing and diving shots.
Pretty much he just takes photos of all things ocean and as a surfer developed a fascination with the sharks aggression.
Most surfers know (or should) that if the seals start popping to the surface and look sorta panicked… get the heck to the beach without wasting a second.
He told me once that he’s more afraid of leopard seals than sharks and that is saying a lot coming from a guy who has spent his life watching both,
“I’m sorry Levi… I mistook driver’s name for yours….”
– reff
I’ll keep that in mind the next time you accuse me of reading comprehension problems.
Leviticus (43095b) — 1/29/2008 @ 2:26 pmThere was an extremely horrible show about Leopard seals on one of the nature channels not long ago…as someone else said, Jesus H.(!)
I have to say, they don’t remind me of my dog at all, and I would support luring Great Whites in to eat them.
driver (faae10) — 1/29/2008 @ 2:50 pmor vice-versa.
driver (faae10) — 1/29/2008 @ 3:09 pmNo one’s trying to take your animal predation porn away from you. It’s a free country. Relax
Yes, it is. So is education. Take advantage of it and try to improve your reading comprehension.
tired (e556b3) — 1/29/2008 @ 4:10 pmI’ve been working most of the day and missed out on this thread, but since I’m a desert-dweller — can someone please explain how you can tell a seal is panicked?
DRJ (517d26) — 1/29/2008 @ 4:49 pmMost of the time seals will pop their heads up out of the water, swim along lazily and almost unnoticibly for a while and then duck back under.
SteveG (595d6f) — 1/29/2008 @ 5:19 pmThey seem happiest or perhaps safer doing this in the kelp beds
If the seals are being hunted by sharks, the surface is the last place they want to be. They come up fast and out of breath and then dive right away. If there are rocks around and the seals are kamikazing ashore enmasse it’s another good sign that something might be looking for lunch
Thanks, SteveG. I know about animals like coyotes, rattlesnakes, and jackrabbits but seals aren’t on my radar.
DRJ (517d26) — 1/29/2008 @ 5:23 pmDolphins are killers, too.
DRJ (517d26) — 1/29/2008 @ 5:28 pmSEALs rarely panic, but if they’re firing at you on full automatic, that’s a pretty good sign.
driver (faae10) — 1/29/2008 @ 5:38 pmI don’t see many of those SEALS either.
DRJ (517d26) — 1/29/2008 @ 5:40 pmSeals are funny. I was at Paradise Cove, Malibu and one of the guys I was with was playing a guitar. About 10 seals stuck their heads out of the water and listened. It looked so funny.
tired (e556b3) — 1/29/2008 @ 5:40 pmThat was a training exercise. Did you notice the MP-5s they were pointing at you?
driver (faae10) — 1/29/2008 @ 5:58 pmcan someone please explain how you can tell a seal is panicked?
If they slam about five drinks in a row really quickly that’s a pretty good sign in my experience.
daleyrocks (906622) — 1/29/2008 @ 6:07 pmHillary = shark
Perfect Sense (72ae8f) — 1/29/2008 @ 6:10 pmseal = Obama
You know, if the tree-hugger types are upset with the shark video, I guess they can go back to the bear-eating-man film?
Another Drew (8018ee) — 1/29/2008 @ 7:03 pmSHARK YUM, YUM, YUM, SEAL BARK, BARK, BARK, SHARK HERES I COMES. SEAL, BARK BARK BARK EEEYYAAAHHH.SHARK. YUM YUM BURRP
krazy kagu (171210) — 1/29/2008 @ 8:49 pmLevi, I won’t accuse you of reading comprehension problems, because you can’t read…
You can’t think either…
And, your language skills need work too…
Other than that, you’re still an idiot liberal…
Have a great day…
P.S….you missed the sarcasm in the post, too, didn’t you???
reff (99666d) — 1/29/2008 @ 9:16 pmJoel said: “I remember seeing/hearing on TV (don’t remember where) that this is the only place in the world where the sharks actually breach and come flying out of the water”
Actually, if you rent Air Jaws II (yes, there was a sequel), they took that seal-shaped lure out to the Great White Sharks off the Great Barrier Reef and drug it along to see if the sharks there displayed the same behavior. It took a while, but yep… Aussie GWS do the same thing.
And Driver: No actual seals were harmed in confirming this interesting bit of scientific data.
Darkmage (be2d37) — 1/30/2008 @ 11:05 amSo if you lure a mean pit pull into a yard full of kittens using a rubber ball, and then take pictures of the carnage, you aren’t a Jeffrey Dahlmer in the waiting? You would actually argue with a straight face that you didn’t make the dog kill the kittens? You would call what you are doing “science”?
BS
martin (f61c6a) — 1/30/2008 @ 5:07 pm