the trickle down

"I like these cold, gray winter days. Days like these let you savor a bad mood." ~ Bill Watterson

Friday, July 1

"Sharks are immune to all known diseases"

Recent shark attacks in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of NJ prompted me to look up sharks a bit more. This is the scariest bit of info from the Wikipedia reference for sharks:
"Sharks are immune to all known diseases."
How can that be? Sharks are the scariest things on the planet.

posted by Colin @ 10:42 AM  

3 Comments:

  • At Wednesday, July 06, 2005 9:12:00 AM , Anonymous H.T. said...

    "Sharks are the scariest things on the planet"? What about an enraged kodiac bear? While the kodiac bear might not be disease-proof like a shark, a shark will usually only bit you once - a ticked off bear will make damn sure to finish the job, and it's got some claws to go with its fangs.

    Then of course there's e-bola, which is also pretty much disease-proof, being a disease itself, and it does some very uncomfortable things to human organs, very very quickly.

    And lest we forget, what of the formidable air snake, what with its slitheriness and noted lack of respect for basic rules like gravity?!? I'd say the air snake gets my nod for "Scariest Thing on the Planet," and if it doesn't get yours, it'll track you down in your sleep and "convince" you.

     

  • At Wednesday, July 06, 2005 1:11:00 PM , Blogger Colin said...

    Now, now, now. Air snakes are very very startling. Imagine a snake that moves as if in the water but in the air! There are plans for a documentary -slash- horror film about this uniquely terrifying predators. I will keep you all posted.

    We must not forget, however, air sharks, which similarly are just like sea sharks, but in the air. Could you imagine walking through your house and then when you turn the corner into your kitchen there's a full 15-ft Blue Shark waiting for you!? Feast on that. We are, of course, still waiting for the first official sighting of the air shark, but we trust it will not be long now.

    Ebola and bears are also startling, but I give you this interesting fact. They're always trying to tell us that it's not likely you'll be attacked by a shark. I think there are five attacks by dogs to every one attack by a shark. But consider how often we're near a dog versus a shark. I'm probably near thirty dogs before one shark! Anytime I'm near water, I will choose to be afraid and weary of sharks.

    And any time I'm on land, it can be Kodiak bears and Ebola.

    And any time I'm anywhere, it'll be air snakes and air sharks.

     

  • At Wednesday, July 06, 2005 1:15:00 PM , Blogger Colin said...

    Update... the Wikipedia article has been updated by an author that did some back research (possibly triggered by this link to the reference). The disease clarification is as follows:

    "A popular myth is that sharks are immune to disease and cancer, this is untrue and there are disease and parasites that affect sharks, and the evidence that sharks are at least resistance to cancer and disease is mostly anecdotal and there have been few if any scientific or statistical studies that have shown sharks to have heightened immunity to disease."

    But at any rate, heightened immunity still scares me.

     

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