602 ECOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR 



there are no records of the practice in the Marshall Islands (Anell 1955), and 

 it is rare in the Solomon Islands, where sharks are not generally caught, for 

 religious reasons. (They are considered incarnations of dead ancestors; they 

 may also be considered as having tutelary relationships to a village or individ- 

 ual, helping in fishing for bonito, protecting endangered fishermen, and so 

 on (Starzecka and Cranstone 1974).) 



The review of snaring methods by Anell (1955) is quite detailed, and the 

 illustration on a recent New Guinea postage stamp (Figure 2) gives a clear 

 idea of the procedure as practiced in New Ireland. Once the shark has been 

 lured by the bait into proper position, the slip-knot noose is drawn tight and 

 the shark tows a propeller or float attached to the noose until it finally 

 becomes exhausted. In some localities, rattles may be built into the snare, in 

 addition to the chemical stimuli employed. 



Another instrument for capture or killing sharks, depending on chemical 

 stimuli for its operation, is the shark gorge. It is essentially a strong double- 

 pointed stick, about 0.5 m (20 in.) long. An amputated tentacle from an 

 octopus is attached to the gorge and serves as an odor lure. Since these 

 devices have not been as well documented as the various types of shark 

 snares, a Fijian explanation is included here with translation (Gatty 1978): 



E vesu e dua na liga ni kuita e na i sua. 

 (An arm of octopus is tied to the gorge.) 



Ni sa dre na qio nai sua 



(when the shark pulls the gorge) 



Sa qai cavuka na wa ni kuita 

 (the string for the octopus breaks) 



Ka lutu tani yani 

 (and falls away) 



Ka mani vakavuni me curu 



(and in a concealed way the gorge enters) 



Ka ciqi vakababa na i sua e nua gusi ni qio 



(and slides horizontally in the mouth of the shark) 



Ka dredre kina me lutu tani mai 



(and only with difficulty would come out). 



Gorges are employed, with lines attached, as mechanisms to "hook" and 

 retrieve sharks; in other cases, the gorge is used merely to damage or kill 

 sharks that are judged to pose threats by their territorial or otherwise aggres- 

 sive behavior. A more extensive survey would probably reveal local variations 

 of technique. 



Naturally Occurring Shark Repellents or Toxins— A final considera- 

 tion, concerning exploitation of the chemical senses, is the possibility of 

 naturally occurring substances affecting olfaction of sharks. Attention to this 

 possibility has been increased by the finding that a fish in the Red Sea 



