Megan Shank dot com

THIS WAS A PIECE I DID FOR THE KIDS’ SUPPLEMENT OF THE FALL EDITION OF PARENTS AND KIDS. I’LL PUT UP SOME PHOTOS TAKEN FOR THE PIECE ON MY FLICKR ACCOUNT.

Swimming with Sharks
City Weekend editor Megan Shank sets out to bust the myths surrounding these miraculous underwater creatures with a dive in Aquaria 21’s shark tank

I stare a big shark in the eye as I swim along beside it. Its teeth are as big as my thumbs. When it swims away and I follow it, I laugh, bubbles streaming to the surface – I’m chasing a shark!

By Megan Shank

Recently, Yao Ming, a center for the Houston Rockets basketball team, pledged to give up eating shark fin soup, a popular Chinese dish, forever. The 7-foot-6 Shanghai-born N.B.A. star teamed up with the WildAid animal conservation group to make a stand against the practice of eating endangered animals. They should be our friends, not our food, Yao said.

But how can something as fearsome as a shark act as our friend? We’ve all seen the movie, Jaws, after all. Aren’t sharks just ferocious creatures set on eating people? Here’s a statistic that may change your mind: In 2005, there were only 58 unprovoked shark attacks on humans worldwide and only four cases resulted in death. But each year, hunters kill an estimated 100 million sharks for human use – that’s the same as the number of people killed per year in car accidents. Your drive to the beach is much more dangerous than your swim in the sea! In fact, your chances of getting struck by lightning or dying because of a peanut allergy are both higher than that of getting attacked by a shark. Most sharks, and there are more than 360 species, are very shy around humans and would prefer not to meet us, much less taste us!

If you still can’t believe it, then come along with me on a journey into the shark tank at Shanghai’s Aquaria 21 ocean aquarium, where I swim alongside sea turtles, stingrays and, yes, even sharks.

1 p.m.: Photographer Mao Dou and I make our way to the entrance of the shark tank. I’m a little nervous, but I’m confident in my ability, as I have dived before and I’m P.A.D.I. certified.
1:10 p.m.: We climb the platform to look down into the shark tank. My heart leaps when I see the sharks’ big gray bodies effortlessly swimming around the tank.
1:20 p.m.: The dive master gives me my gear and I go to suit up. I hope that it’s the locker room and not my dive suit that smells like fish… or maybe the sharks will think I smell like lunch!
1:30 p.m.: The dive master and I enter a tiny pool to check weights and gear. Tiny sharks swim between my legs and a sea turtle gives me a curious eye. This pool leads to the big tank. The gear checks out fine.
1:35 p.m.: The dive master lifts up the gate, and we swim into the big shark tank. I take a very deep breath when a shark two meters long swims directly under me. If I had reached out my hand, I could’ve touched it, but I plan on giving these creatures a respectful amount of space. We descend deeper into the tank where dozens of various sharks ranging in shape and size slowly circle, along with sea turtles, stingrays and fish. I am overcome with a sense of amazement and beauty.
1:40 p.m.: My fear has completely washed away, but I remain alert and aware of the fact that these are wild animals, not pets. Two eels sway with wide open mouths from rock hangings. They look like funny old men waiting for a bus.
1:45 p.m.: A school of stingrays swoops gently past. Some people are also afraid of them because of what happened to the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, but they are not aggressive creatures unless you startle them or get too close. We cannot cuddle and freely touch wild animals, but we also don’t need to be afraid of them.
1:50 p.m.: I try to keep up with the sea turtles, but I find that it’s easier to keep up with the sharks. The turtles swim fast, while the sharks coast slowly and deliberately. I stare a big shark in the eye as I swim along beside it. Its teeth are as big as my thumbs. When it swims away and I follow it, I laugh, bubbles streaming to the surface – I’m chasing a shark!
1:55 p.m.: The children on the other side of the glass wave at me, and I wave at them. It is a happy moment. They do not fear for me, and I don’t fear for myself. I hope the sharks look as beautiful from the outside as they do from the inside.
2 p.m.: We wish all of our friends — human, fish and reptilian — good-bye as we head to the surface. Here’s hoping we can all live in peace.

See the sharks for yourself on a glass bottom boat trip with Aquaria 21! Rides cost YY30 for adults, YY25 for children in addition to entry fees (YY110, YY80). More info: HYPERLINK “mailto:anthony@oceanworld.com.cn” anthony@oceanworld.com.cn or see our listings!

Box:

In the tank:
3 meter sand tiger/grey nurse sharks
2.5 meter nurse sharks
1.5 meter-2 meter black tip and white tip sharks
2 meter leopard sharks
1 meter banded and hound sharks
Shovel nosed rays
Stingrays
Silver Trevally
Golden Trevally
Cobia
Batfish
Tropical reef fish
Moray Eels

Box 2:

Shark Facts:
Sharks’ existence can be traced back 450 million years.
The smallest shark is only 22 cm., the biggest is 12 meters (41 feet).
Some sharks only eat plankton. They’re vegetarians!
Unlike most fish, sharks’ skeletons are made of cartilage, not bone.
Sharks swim at an average of 8 km./h (5 m.p.h.), but some varieties can reach speeds of 50 km./h (31 m.p.h.).
Sharks don’t drink water. They absorb it through their skin.
Sharks’ teeth grow in rows. One set of teeth can be used from a week to a month and then is replaced by the next set. They constantly grow new ones. Is there a shark tooth fairy?

This entry was posted on Monday, September 11th, 2006 at 12:35 am and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.