On Mon, 8 Oct 2001 Lee Bell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>David Strike wrote:
>> Sharks being scavengers, a burial at sea was like a food-drop:  And
>> because they took care of the recently deceased, they were referred
>> to as "Nurses", "Grey Nurses" because of their colouring!  :-)
>
>This seems unlikely for the shark we call a Nurse locally and in the
>Caribbean primarily because it is a near shore species, unlikely to be
>present in areas where sea burials are likely.  This, of course, does not
>suggest Strike is wrong about sharks in his area.

Of course Strike isn't wrong :-) ... just another person has a bit of a
problem comprehending what they have just viewed.

Strike posted this originally "I don't know what the situation is on the
West Coast, but over on this side of the 'island', the Grey Nurse Shark is
having a tough time of it! The following item appeared in Friday's
newspaper. "Grey nurse shark 'near extinction'" ... snip

Notice that Strike mentioned **GREY** Nurse Shark... not Nurse Shark or
Tawny Nurse Shark
http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/students/focus/grey.htm

>While I've found references to a nurse shark in Australia very smilar
>to what I'm used to, I've also found references to Sand Tiger sharks
>which are far from similar. For all I know, the shark he is referring
>to may be a pelagic species that got named just he suggests.
>
>Here are some other possibilities a bit of research showed up.  This is a
>direct quote, not my words.
>Lee

The slight differences between the Grey Nurse Shark and the Sand Tiger
Shark has also been thoroughly discussed on Shark-L.
Check out the topic "Grey Nurse V the Sand Tiger" on this link to a site by
Rick Martin, a former Australian, who is a world authority on shark biology
& behaviour.
Rick's wife Ann is also a marine biologist heavily involved in their marine
eco-tourism company running hands-on courses in Coral Reef Ecology &
Critter identification also.
http://www.reefquest.com/topics/menus/topic_name_games.htm

Though he doesn't give credit for his reference material I'm pretty sure
Lee either sourced his research from Rick Martin's posting via the Shark-L
archives or Rick's web-site.
Viv

>--------------------
>The origin of the name "Nurse Shark" is obscure. But, as is often the case
>with etymological research, a bit of time invested in poking through old
>books can reveal some fascinating insights into the history of contemporary
>words we use so casually we often take them for granted. Such is the case
>with the question at hand.
>
>According to Lineaweaver and Backus' excellent - though dated - book The
>Natural History of Sharks (originally published by Lippincott in 1970, but
>still available in paperback through Nick Lyons Books, New York):
>
>"Possibly, some bygone observer watched a shark giving birth to live young
>and thought the shark was giving nurse. Possibly the use of the word sprang
>from the old notion that a shark would protect its young by taking them
into its mouth."
<snip of the kiwi shears>