Mini-Kilt for Men ?

[Lachlan09]

Only joking !

With my birthday coming up soon, my wife phoned me from her friend’s house yesterday to say that she could give me a really good present. Two baby sharks !

Now, I love sharks, they’re my favourite fish - bar none (don’t even make comments about cooking them !!), but I was taken aback when she said this. She told me that a Philippine woman she knew nearby has 2 baby sharks she wanted to sell for RO 30.000. (about US$ 70) and did I want her to buy them as my present. My response was not “Yes – get them right now”. I wanted to see them first, to see how big they were, try to determine what type of shark etc PLUS I needed to think very seriously about shark care. Sharks, even small types or young ones, need a lot of tank to swim around in and they have a habit of growing somewhat. So, as I had to collect my wife from her friend’s house anyway, I agreed to see them.

On the way there with my daughter, I was considering all the pros and cons:- a) perhaps they weren’t sharks at all but false sharks, “ordinary” fish with a superficial shape resemblance to sharks but having no shark species characteristics at all, or b) they were real and i) where and how were they caught ? ii) what type of shark were they, iii) how big were they, iv) what care needs did they have – an aquarium tank would likely be bigger than we could find or even afford, plus what equipment would be needed to keep them alive and iv) if I did manage to obtain them, maybe I could only keep them a short time until they became too big for the tank (unless they were of the dogfish family or other small shark type) and would have to be let go in the sea (somehow !). But even if I did have to let them go, at least Id be doing my bit for shark preservation and keeping away from Chinese restaurants for a while.

So it was more no than yes.

To cut a long story a bit shorter, when we got to the house of sharks, I looked into this relatively small tank and saw these two catfish- type fish – from the side a wee bit shark-like – mouth underneath near the front, eyes near the front, triangular fins, however, these fish had chin barbels, “fishy” fins not solid, gills rather than gill-slits, etc etc etc, plus they were mainly black.

So problem solved and I could say no thanks with no hard feelings ! But I also felt a bit sad and disappointed. There was a buzz when I thought of looking after 2 real sharks for even a short time !

Now, please excuse me while I go to the NW Gaelic Tasmania thread, I want to see what’s the chances of me getting my favourite animal, sarcopholis harissii – the Tasmanian Devil (cute wee guys !!)