DATE: Sunday, July 27, 1997                 TAG: 9707250310

SECTION: CAROLINA COAST          PAGE: 08   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Cover Story 

SOURCE: BY MILES DANIELS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  240 lines

FIERCE FISH MISUNDERSTOOD AS MAN-EATERS, SHARKS SELDOM ATTACK HUMANS

``The thing about a shark, its got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When it comes at you it doesn't seem to be livin'. . . Until he bites you, and those black eyes roll over white,'' Quint from the movie, ``Jaws.''

Ever since ``Jaws'' hit the big screen in '75, swimmers, surfers and water lovers have been gripped with fear.

The Great White that gnawed on tourists in the peaceful community of Amity painted a brutal picture of sharks. The sharp-finned fish became known as fierce killers.

And man was their prey.

Today, 22 years after the release of the Academy Award winning ``Jaws,'' employees of the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island are still trying to kill the myths surrounding sharks. With informative lectures, intriguing films and games like Shark Jeopardy, aquarium visitors are learning the truth about the most mysterious and misunderstood creatures of the deep.

``More people are killed each year by bee stings than sharks,'' said Mercedes Tabano, a shark lecturer in the Grady-White shark gallery at the aquarium. ``Most shark attacks occur because of mistaken identity - or because they feel threatened.''

To a shark looking up from below the surface of the sea, a surfer on a board looks like a turtle or seal - typical food for sharks.

``Sharks, by nature, aren't man-eaters,'' Tabano said. ``They don't even like to eat humans.''

Since 1900, only nine people off the North Carolina coast have felt the razor-sharp teeth of sharks pierce their flesh.

But the star of ``Jaws,'' the great white, was responsible for none of these encounters. Most local victims were bitten by bull sharks.

A fisherman in Ocracoke was the first documented attack since the turn of the century. He was bitten and died while fishing for red drum near Ocracoke Inlet in 1905. The species never was determined.

Australia and South Africa have more shark attacks than any other area. About 100 attacks occur each year around the world. Roughly half of those are fatal.

``You have a better chance of being hit by lightning than being bit,'' Tabano said.

Randy Hall, owner of Rodanthe surf shop near Hatteras, is one of the few water-lovers who's been clamped between the powerful jaws of a shark.

He was gouged the summer following the release of ``Jaws.''

Hall was surfing next to the Emerald Isle pier near Morehead, N.C., when what was thought to be an 11-foot hammerhead began gnawing on his right leg. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where more than 200 stitches were used to close his wounds.

``I felt like I was attached to something moving in a different time than we do,'' Hall recently said of the attack. ``It was like being

attached to a Mack Truck as it's pulling away.

``The teeth are so sharp, you don't really feel them,'' he said. ``It felt like a paper cut.''

A 32-year surfing veteran, Hall still rides the waves of the Outer Banks.

But he always keeps his eyes open.

``I have a healthy respect for them,'' Hall said of sharks. ``I'm still probably more afraid of big dogs than I am of sharks.''

Sharks live in every ocean of the world - from the Arctic to the Antarctic.

Of the 370 known species, 32 have been spotted off the Outer Banks.

Those commonly found in the ocean surrounding North Carolina's barrier islands are the sandbar, nurse, bull, lemon, black tip and tiger shark.

Shark sizes vary from the 6-inch dwarf shark to the 50-foot whale shark - longer than the average electrical pole is tall.

For reproduction, sharks are divided into two basic groups: those that birth their babies alive and those that lay eggs. Larger species produce live young that are fully formed, miniature versions of their mom and dad, usually two to six offspring at a time. Sharks, however, don't nurse their young. The little ones are on their own and ready to swim - and kill - as soon as they hit the water.

Live young-bearing sharks have two uteruses. And their eggs hatch inside the female's bodies. In some species, the largest shark in each uterus eats all of its siblings so only the two strongest young survive.

Egg-laying sharks deposit their fertilized eggs on the ocean floor. In these species, up to 135 young can be born from a single shark.

Although they are great hunters, sharks lack intelligence. Scientists say the big fish are about as bright as white rats or pigeons.

Frank Hudgins, husbandry curator for the aquarium, cares for four nurse and two lemon sharks that swim and glide around an 8,400-gallon shark tank.

More temperamental than tropical fish, sharks in aquaria today are pampered with care more suited to opera divas than cold-blooded beasts with a steely reputation for mindless, savage attacks on humans.

Hudgins' sharks generally are flown into Norfolk's International Airport by cargo planes. They're put into air-tight plastic bags with enough saltwater to cover them. They can live up to a day in that packaging.

Once the sharks arrive at their new home on Roanoke Island, they emerge into a carefully engineered environment. Their enormous water home is designed to permit them to carry out their unique swim-glide pattern. The seawater in which sharks live must be the correct temperature, proper salinity and filtered to prevent disease. Lights must be dim. Noisy pumps must be muted. Electrical hot spots must be eliminated.

``Sharks seem to be the biggest sell at the aquarium,'' Hudgins said. ``That's pretty much what people want to see.''

Hudgins feeds his sharks every two days.

Croaker, smelt and spot stuffed with kelp tabs and iodine supplements are dropped into the tank and gobbled by the six sharks. Each shark is given about three fish per feeding.

``These sharks don't require a lot on energy,'' Hudgins said of his celebrity fish. ``They're not going anywhere.''

Hudgins tries to put his pets back into their natural environment every two years. When a shark outgrows the tank - and becomes more than 5 feet long - he takes it to an artificial reef offshore and lets it swim free.

``Sharks are a necessary part of the environment,'' Hudgins said. ``They have an important role.''

A recent spectator at the aquarium's shark tank agreed.

``They're the garbage cans of the sea,'' said Dylan Sellarole, 8, of Colington Harbour.

Opened shark stomachs have revealed soft drink bottles, tin cans, magazines, old clothes, anchors, boat propellers, chum pots, lead sinkers and even logs.

Humans are not sharks' typical prey.

The role of sharks in the marine environment is similar to the role lions, tigers and cougars fulfill in terrestrial settings. Big cats eliminate the weak or slow animals in a herd of wildebeests in the same way sharks eat the slower fish is a school of mackerel or herring.

``They don't monkey around,'' said Frank Schwartz of the North Carolina Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead. ``If they want to eat something, they go and get it.''

Schwartz offers his own expertise for swimmers trying to avoid a bite from the feared predators:

``Don't wear tooty-fruity colored bathing suits,'' Schwartz said. ``Bright reds, yellows, oranges and lime greens seem to attract sharks.

``You're less likely to be bothered wearing browns, blacks and navy blues.''

Schwartz has been studying sharks for more than 40 years.

He's the author of several books, including, ``Sharks of the Carolinas'' and ``Sharks, Skates and Rays of the Carolinas.''

``Every shark is a bad shark as far as the public goes,'' Schwartz said of his favorite sea dwellers. ``The `Jaws' thing didn't help much.''

Schwartz attributes the ever-present fear of sharks to movies and documentaries showing sharks as fearsome man eaters.

``Sharks like walruses, whales, seals and birds,'' he said. ``We don't have the right taste.

``We're not preferred food.''

For centuries, sharks have been hunted and widely used by humans.

The ancient Hawaiians had a close, but multifaceted, relationship with sharks. To Hawaiians, sharks were sacred gods that protected certain families or regions from oceanic mishaps - and other sharks. Yet sharks routinely were hunted by the island natives.

Their skins were stretched for drums, the teeth used for weapons and tools, and their meat made tasty feasts.

During the world wars, oil extracted from shark livers was used for medical purposes. The larger the shark, the larger its liver - up to 200 pounds. A 13-foot shark can typically yield 18 gallons of oil.

Their thick skin has been used to cover shoes, ladies' purses and men's wallets.

Shark fins make tasty - expensive - soup for Asians.

Teeth and jaws make great trinkets at local souvenir shops.

One medium-sized great white tooth can cost up to $35 at an area retail store. Attach a chain, and the shop has a $70 sale.

Since the mid '80s, Americans, including those on the Outer Banks, have been feasting on shark - something historically practiced by inhabitants of other countries.

``Shark is delicious,'' said Steve George, general manager of Ethe-ridge Seafood in Wanchese. ``It will beat swordfish five-to-one any day.''

Etheridge Seafood has about five boats that fish for shark.

Each 30- to 60-foot boat stays out to sea for about three days, catching up to 4,000 pounds of shark on long, hooked lines. When the boats arrive at the docks, the sharks are unloaded and sold wholesale and retail to distributors up and down the East Coast.

Etheridge's pays fishermen anywhere from 45 cents to 70 cents per pound for headless, finless shark.

``The majority of shark ends up in grocery store chains up north and in Florida,'' George said. ``Here, they're hooked on tuna.

``A lot more shark is sold up north than here.''

During the early '90s, about 20 percent of Etheridge's business dealt in sharking. Now, due to quotas set by the National Marine Fisheries Service, the shark business covers only 5 percent of total sales at the Wanchese market. George predicts a dead sharking industry in three to five years.

``I see them shutting the industry down,'' George said, referring to federal authorities' efforts to protect sharks. ``They'll probably reduce quotas so much that there's no use doing it. ``It's disgusting,'' he said. ``It affects a lot more people than people realize.''

George says that since the '80s, the shark-as-food industry has blossomed. Carolina Seafood restaurant, Seamark grocery stores and Dockside in Duck are a few local businesses whose owners have capitalized on the unique taste of shark. Shark steaks can be grilled, blackened or fried.

``It's got its own taste,'' George said. ``It's not fishy. It's got a texture like steak.

``I guess it tastes like shark.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color cover photos

Staff photos by WILLIAM P. CANNON

A lemon shark swims near the viewing window at the North Carolina

Aquarium on Roanoke Island. With informative lectures, intriguing

films and games like Shark Jeopardy, aquarium visitors are learning

the truth about the most mysterious and misunder- stood creatures of

the deep.

Frank Hudgins, not shown, husbandry curator for the aquarium, cares

for four nurse and two lemon sharks that swim and glide around an

8,400-gallon shark tank. Bill O'Connor and his son Brenden, 2, watch

a one of the nurse shark swim past in the window.

Randy Smith and his son Cody, of Rocky Mountain, sit under a display

of shark and sharks' teet while they watch a presentation about

sharks. More temper- amental than tropical fish, sharks in aquaria

today are pampered with care more suited to opera divas than

cold-blooded beasts with a steely reputation for mindless, savage

attacks on humans.

Graphic

TO SEE SHARKS

Six sharks swim around an 8,400-gallon aquarium at the North

Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. Biologists are on hand to

answer shark questions and provide information. The aquarium also

sponsors several free shark programs.

All about sharks: Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, 11 a.m.

Shark day: Tuesday, videos at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5

p.m.

Shark jeopardy: Tuesday, 1 p.m.

Admission to the aquarium is $3 for adults, $2 for seniors and

military, $1 for children ages 6 to 17. The aquarium is next to the

Dare County airport on the north end of Roanoke Island. Call

473-3494.

Graphic

TO AVOID A BITE

If you see sharks or know they are in the area, stay out of the

water. If a shark appears, remain as calm as possible and leave

immediately.

If you must swim to return to shore, use calm regular strokes. A

shark may interpret excited splashing as a wounded fish and attack.

Always swim with a companion.

Don't swim at night or in dirty water with low visibility.

Don't go into the water with a wound that is bleeding. Sharks can

smell a single drop of blood in 1 million drops of water.

Wear darker bathing suits if possible. Lighter colors seem to

attract sharks.

Graphic

Recipe

Oven-fried shark

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu