Lee said:

>I seem to recall one that lost portions of his personal anatomy because a
shark could not tell where the fish stopped and his body started, but the
details escape me.

Female DM, it seemed to be unclear what kind of fish, but it took a hand
off. Ask around in the Keys, probably several different story versions
around. The guy who took me and Jay to dive the Bibb seemed to know her
well. So does Gloria.

>There are quite a few people that seem quite convinced that giving up the
fish is less desirable than killing the shark.  Their thinking is that it
trains the sharks to see divers, spearfishermen in particular, as an easy
source of food.  I'm not sure how much of the increased aggression we're
seeing relates to an assocation between speardivers and food.  I would
think
it would take more than a few repetitions for the sharks to get the idea,
but this is only a guess.  I'm sure they've associated people and food
where
they are fed regularly, but less sure out in the Tortugas where we normally
hunt.<

Which sort of gets us to the subject of shark feeding. I really never took
sides on that issue at all. 

I'm leaning more towards the pro side these days. Sharks are disappearing
at alarming rates, and any business that attaches a 'value' to them as live
creatures as opposed to just 'meat', or worse, just the 'fins' because of
some superstition that it gets limp dicks up, has my support these days.

The Maldivian government has realized the inherent value of live sharks.
Shark fishing is banned. Not real surprising, considering that they pretty
much depend on dive travel. It worked for the whales, maybe it'll work for
the sharks. 

MtW