WHALE SHARK, KEY LARGO, tuesday, 12/18/15

[guyharrisonphoto]

i am an avid fisherman as well. The slime issue arises in the catch-and-release context, which is a hyper-extreme example of brutal handling of the fish, no matter how gently it is done, as the fish are often picked up (using a towel, but it still rubs the slime off), and then handled while the hook is removed, and then they are put back in the water. The vast majority of these fish survive, and those do not usually succumb from something other than the slime issue--such as a deeply embeded hook, a burst air bladder, or similar issues. Indeed, catch and release fishing is largely considered a conservation success despite the stress on the fish.

The comparatively tiny effect of a diver gently brushing a hand along a fish in the water, with little to no pressure, is simply a non-issue.

I have not been fortunate enough to touch or even see a whale shark yet. Of the other sharks I have touched (tiger, lemon, reef), their skin is rough and sandpapery--I don't think they have the slime layer but maybe a biologist can weigh in.

The slime issue is, mostly, just theory and not backed by any statistical evidence that I have ever seen showing that it is a major fatality factor, even in this extreme sport fishing context. The slime may have little or nothing to do with protection, and more to do with hydrodynamics, but maybe a biologist can weigh in.

 

[Johnoly]

...Does this apply to whale sharks?

Nope.

Whale shark skin is actually very rough to the touch. Just like other sharks it's make up of dermal denticles (hard scales) and is actually about 6-7 inches thick.

It is neither illegal nor harmful to pet any shark or whale shark (still on my bucket list to see one in the wild). Many people are in sheer awe at the beauty and glide of the whale shark and mistake it's curiosity for sensitivity when really sharks just want to feed and could care less about humans. {donning flame suit now}

 

[Steve_C]

A number of years ago a buddy and I snuck into a muddy city lake that was not open yet. We were going to slay the dumb bass. Instead we returned with a bushel basket of catfish, mainly large bullheads. Decided to clean them for a neighborhood fish fry. On about fish two I cut myself with a nice deep cut with a filet knife. Ignored it and cleaned fish for an hour. At the end it was like I was wearing gloves made up of dry slime. As I washed my hands I figured the next day the wound would be red and sore and take some time to heal. Instead it never got red and within two days was essentially gone. Never seen a cut heal so quickly.

Found out later that the skin and slime of many catfish contains natural antibiotics which protects them in the murky waters.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

I think this is one of those cases where if it's one person doing it, I'm not much concerned. If the animal is getting mobbed, that's an issue.

Sharks don't have a mucous coating, and in any case they are freakishly resilient when it comes to injuries. I've been trying to build a recognition guide for the individual sharks we see in Jupiter; while the tigers have unique marking patterns I have to rely on scars or tags to tell the lemons apart. And by "scars" I mean "something has to be gouged out or cut off" - basically anything short of tissue removal or disfigurement is going to heal up flawlessly. One lemon shark last year, identifiable by a notch in her dorsal and a clipped tail, had a big 6-inch shark hook punched clean through her chin, making a hole about an inch or two in diameter. Once that had been extracted by Randy and Cameron, the hole healed up relatively quickly; I'm not sure if there's a small bump or blemish remaining at the spot. One of our tigers also had some very gnarly abrasions from a fishing line that Randy cut off of her; those were visibly healing up after six weeks and a year later there's absolutely no trace of them.