On Thursday, January 02, 2003 5:16 AM, Reef Fish wrote:

> On Wed, 1 Jan 2003 21:43:41 +1100, Christian Gerzner
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> >Strike wrote:

> >> I haven't caught up with the news on that one yet, but the fact that
two
> >> divers - both wearing wet-suits - were attacked by a wobbegong
reenforces
> >> the facts that:

(snip)
> But ... Strike's response wasn't supposed to be taken too literally
> and seriously, methink.

Happy New Year to you Mate!  You're right!  It was a piece of cautionary
twaddle padded out with facts - and a touch of speculation as to whether the
two people attacked by wobbegongs in the same area of the body, on the same
day (and 1100kms distant from one another) *might* have had a whiz in their
wet-suits!  :-)

Some years back - at about this same time of the year - Tricky and myself
went 'wobbegong hunting' armed with pork sausages left over from the BBQ
we'd just had.  On that particular occasion there were a number of 2 - 3
metre wobbies lying under rock ledges and on the open sand at the site.

Having the questioning minds of scientists we wanted to see how they'd react
to these unusual food delights.  We hovered  above one while Tricky took aim
with the first of the pork sausages, directing it towards the mouth of a
particularly large specimen.  Before the sausage even made contact, the
wobbegong went berserk!  We deduced from this that if a diver stuffed
his/her wetsuit with pork sausages it might make a good shark repellant!
(Regrettably, we never followed up on this initial experiment!)  :-)))

> >> e) Urine does seem to attract them!

> Especially if you pee on a piece of shark chum (fishheads, e.g.).

> >Do fish pee?
> >It's probable, I'm theorising,

> Whether fish pee or not is immaterial.  Their do a CORE DUMP (which
> Dave Barry describe as "exclamation marks") every time they flee
> from an approaching diver!!  That provides BOTH scent/smell AND
> visual clues/reference.

> >> Given that both divers were attacked in the groin, it'd be interesting
to
> >> learn if they'd previously had a pee in their wet-suits!  :-)))

> The more interesting questions is whether humans do a CORE DUMP, as an
> instinctive reaction, when they are bitten by sharks;  just as Andy
> Johnson's cousins (parrotfish) instinctively CORE DUMP when they are
> approached by humans.

I don't have to be bitten by a shark!  My bottle goes when I get close to a
Titan Triggerfish!  :-))))

Strike