Something very wrong and we could help!

[RonFrank]

hmm.. Don't nurse sharks lack teeth?

No. As a matter of fact I saw jaw sets on display at Sea World this summer, and the Nurse sharks had a bigger set of jaws with more jagged teeth than most other sharks.

I gained a bit more respect for these docile sharks that I've seen quite often diving. If they want to hurt you, don't kid yourself, they can. And this guy was handling what appears to be a smallish Nurse shark.

 

[RonFrank]

My thoughts after reading THE article, and then a few more for grins...

First anyone reading this MUST realize that there is a LOT of opinion, speculation, and slander. If you want to take this too seriously, then IMO one has to examine why ANYONE would.

If people want to get lawyers involved, that is certainly their right. IMO it will result in only ONE group making money.... the lawyers (that is VERY true in many liable cases). No lawyer is going to touch either side of THIS case without a BIG retainer.

However what is the real question here? Should DM's handle nurse sharks off the FL keys? Should feeding and live shows be allowed? Is it a good thing for the marine life?

Obviously some DiveOps make a great deal of money doing exactly that. I'm sure they will enjoy the profit and want the Government to keep out of it UNTIL it becomes too popular. Then they will want the Government to regulate it, and since they were there first, their rights should be protected... right?

This is a sliperly slope argument, but unfortunately it's also VERY valid. Sure, who cares if one or two dive Ops feed sharks.... right? What about when 100~200 are doing so? What about 1000~2000? When does it become a BAD thing.

IMO, it is bad in general, and should be eliminated even if it ensures cool big animal encounters at certain locations. Sure I like seeing Nurse Sharks at the City of Washington. But that does not mean I think regular feeding of these wild creatures is a good idea.

OK, off my soapbox....

 

[fairybasslet]

Well, I'll probably get flamed here, but I don't think it was written as serious news. I think it was meant to be satire. Like Swift's A Modest Proposal.

 

[Thalassamania]

Amazing. What's with that site?

But even a small slip can result in rather serious injury. I have a bull shark jaw and we used to keep it on the wall to hang our keys on, one night I was up and about the house and tripped into it in the dark, It sliced my butt rather badly. I guess it was shark's revenge. So I can see how this poor guy got himself cut up.

 

[rookers]

While I have little respect for the site in question, I also have near zero respect for the shark-kisser. While its likely that his advances were not of a directly sexual nature, they were likely the result of a superabundance of idiocy, possibly prompted by a surfeit of male sexual hormone.

 

[cerich]

I'm amazed that some feel it is OK to publish allegations about a persons character that are of the most heinous criminal nature just because they were doing something stupid that isn't illegal, (I realize that many feel it should be) or because the quality of the article was low or because it may be considered satire.

Guess I learned something today...

 

[fairybasslet]

I'm amazed that some feel it is OK to publish allegations about a persons character that are of the most heinous criminal nature just because they were doing something stupid that isn't illegal, (I realize that many feel it should be) or because the quality of the article was low or because it may be considered satire.

Guess I learned something today...

How can something be of a "heinous criminal nature" and then "isn't illegal" ?

Think about it. Were all those quotes real? Was a reporter in the operating room and heard the doctor say "That lip looks like sashimi?" What I find ludicrous is asking people to donate money so someone can file a lawsuit. So I guess I learned something today too. Chutzpah knows no boundaries.:shakehead

 

[cerich]

How can something be of a "heinous criminal nature" and then "isn't illegal" ?

Think about it. Were all those quotes real? Was a reporter in the operating room and heard the doctor say "That lip looks like sashimi?" What I find ludicrous is asking people to donate money so someone can file a lawsuit. So I guess I learned something today too. Chutzpah knows no boundaries.:shakehead

No, not the quotes, the instructor was called " sexually obsessed with animals", it was stated that the instructor had a prior arrest for "humping the neighbors goat" and the caption in the photograph that refers to him as a "sexual predator".

I don't want to encourage the shark show by any means, however this instructor will now be forever branded with false statements. In my books that is simply wrong.

The old adage of two wrongs not making a right seems to apply here.

How would you feel if some "journalist" decided to write something like that about you or your husband?

 

[ReefGuy]

I used to look at that site to see what's going on in the scuba world (never taking what they have to say about things seriously, though), but since the article entitled "Animal world finally gets back at Steve Irwin" and the above mentioned article, I won't even give them the hit.

I sit a few dozen yards from several REAL sexual predators, and I'd really like to give the article writer and site owner a first hand chance to observe the difference between these sleaze bags and an ordinary, stupid person. They could be free to enjoy a romantic, candle lit jail dinner in a cell built for two.

 

[RonFrank]

I'm amazed that some feel it is OK to publish allegations about a persons character that are of the most heinous criminal nature just because they were doing something stupid that isn't illegal, (I realize that many feel it should be) or because the quality of the article was low or because it may be considered satire.

Guess I learned something today...

So the solution is to get lawyers involved. What will that accomplish? I can tell you. It will turn the incedent into a MORE newsworthy strory, and draw more media attention. It may result in legislation to prevent the harassing of marine life. IMO that is not a bad thing, but HARDLY what the Dive Op the guy works for wants.

IMO the guy is an idiot! He got what he deserved. You think non-divers are going to feel anything less? Most people think I'm an idiot for diving with Sharks period. When I tell them I get a few feet away from Black Tips, or Nurse Sharks, they think I'm crazy. You think the media is going to be easy on a guy that Kisses Nurse Sharks? The WORST thing that can happen for this guy is if REAL junk papers pick up this story. I would imagine the National Inquire would LOVE a front page cover of this moron getting his face chewed off. Just think how that would go, and they are untouchable. If they can slander people with almost bottomless pockets, imagine what they may say about this guy!

The BEST thing this guy and his dive Op can due now is duck, and hope it all goes away, cause if this story hits "News of the Weird", or some other huge international publication, it's likely he will be a WHOLE lot more slandered. Then again, with his attitude, maybe they don't mind. Some say there is NO bad publicity.