On Fri, 29 Jun 2001 11:10:52 -0500, Mike Wallace <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>On 29 Jun 2001, at 2:41, Reef Fish wrote:
>
>
>>
>> Definitely!
>>
>> The one case that immediately came to mind was the Caribbean Reef
>> Shark on one of my Bahamas Shark dives.
>>
>> Before the group had settled down around a big BASKET of fish-heads
>> for the DM to feed the sharks by a long stick, one fella came by,
>> with a fishhook dangling from a line out of its mouth, and the
>> hook accidentally caught the basket, and probably 100 lbs of fishheads
>> in it and swam away.
>
>So much for your shark dive, eh?

No, no.  The shark divers/DM didn't put any hook in its mouth.

>After reading below about ya'll
>seeing the shark again, it's good to know that this critter has
>apparently learned to adapt with his problem. Sounds like this was
>definitely a stainless hook and leader too. Since the shark was now
>'fishin' with a baited hook, wonder if he caught anything. :-)

I didn't make the chronology clear.  We saw the already PUBLISHED
picture of the shark in SD right after our encounter.  I am sorry to
say I hadn't seen that fella ever again.  So, the story did not
have a happy ending as you surmised.  But that certainly raised an
interesting question for SPECULATION.  :-)  Q.  Survival of the
Fittest is in part based on the ability to ADAPT.

Fish in the Pacific (after atomic bombs) were known to climb TREES
and survive out of water!  :-)

Has there been any case known/documented that a fish with hook in
mouth able to fish with it to survive?   I suspect it's analogous
to an amputee being able to type/paint and do all kinds of things
with a stick in the mouth.  They would much prefer to do it the
"regular way".


>> It's a rough world down thar!   Much tougher than the simple life
>> of just eat or be eaten.
>
>Yep, almost as rough as some of the back streets in Abalamma.... :-)

Yup!  With 'em wimmin folks with 8'-wide butts running around,
that was why I got caught speeding at 105 mph in Abalamma (remember
that time almost took a detour to see ya? :-)), just to get outta
thar as fast as I could.  I got caught by the bear instead, after
I slammed on the brakes when the buzz-fuzzter sounded.  :0(

-- Bob.