sunday, july 28th
i heart sharks
when i see a shark, i am filled with wonder, calm and happiness. i think sharks are the most beautiful and cool creatures in our oceans and seas. i love going to aquariums, and have spent my last four birthdays at different aquariums over the world. i dig checking out the rays, the trigger fish and the seahorses but my favourite of all is the sharks.
for some reason, people think that sharks are meanies who are likely to eat you if you if you swim by one. there are over one hundred species of shark and the overwhelming majority wouldn't dream of eating a human. for a start, humans are way too lean. this is why most people who do get attacked by sharks sustain only a bite.
there are about 75 shark attacks on humans a year. compared with the 70 million sharks that are killed by humans every year. sharks are hunted for sport, for shark fin soup (where they are caught, their fins cut off them and then are dropped back into the ocean to die a painful and slow death) or they are caught up in huge trawling nets (where other victims include seals and dolphins). i can't stand seeing sharks being caught up in nets or by fishermen. one time, i saw a shark being cut open on the discovery channel and i thought i'd just cry.
the best sharks i have ever seen are at new york aquarium at coney island. when i went there last summer, there were crowds of kids knocking on the glass tanks and pleading with the fish to "do somethin cool". no-one knocked on the sharks tank. the sharks glided by, so cool, just commanding respect. another cool place to look at sharks is at the sea-life centre in brighton. there you can walk through a tunnel and watch a bunch of beautiful sharks gliding right above you.
sharks have been around for 350 million years, were around way, way before the dinosaurs.
when i see people who go diving with sharks on teevee, i always wish i was down at the bottom of the ocean with them. sharks send out healing vibrations to humans, and if you touch their noses gently, they can go into a trance. i especially want to dive with sharks, and someday i think i will.
another thing i find cool about sharks is the wit of the ladies. for example, if a female blue shark's not ready to get pregnant she doesn't need birth control. after sex, these females can retain and nourish the sperm for months, or even years, while awaiting ovulation.
for lots of shark facts, head here.
it is the most sunny day today, way too hot but beautiful to spy. it's too hot to actually do anything, and yet i wanna get just one more starbucks creme vanilla frappuchino. they are so good, especially with strawberries in the garden with a good book.
last night we watched two movies in a row (including 'isn't she lovely', which i really dug), with glasses of water which we could feel travelling to our tummies. a grasshopper buzzed into the room, and i didn't fall asleep till past three. like i'm saying, hot.
suds at