Chapter I 



DANGEROUS MARINE ANIMALS— OUR KNOWLEDGE OF 



THE PAST 



The development of the aqualung by the great French diver, M. 

 Jacques Yvez Cousteau, and his colleagues, has given birth to a 

 new area of activity for mankind — skin diving. A new environment 

 has been opened to man; this Cousteau has termed the "silent 

 world". Indeed it is a seemingly silent world, enshrouded in mys- 

 tery, intrigue, and beauty beyond description. Tropical reefs offer 

 a submarine world of colors that seem to vibrate and sparkle. But 

 with the beauty there is always found the beast. In multiplied in- 

 stances beauty of form, gracefulness of carriage, lavishness of color 

 seem to go hand in hand with disease and death. Hidden within the 

 delicate lacy fins of the magnificent zebrafish are the needle-like 

 hollow spines that convey the deadly venom. The dangers inherent 

 in certain types of marine life are sufficiently great to behoove one 

 to develop an intelligent appreciation of them. 



From time immemorial man has depended upon the sea for food, 

 medicine, clothing and, in recent times, for many of his industrial 

 and military needs. Man has peered into its depths and speculated 

 as to its contents. What man has been unable to observe with his 

 eyes he has generously conceived in myth and fable with his imagi- 

 nation. The abysms of the sea and its little-known animal life have 

 served well the interests of the fictionist. However, as it has been 

 repeatedly shown in the past, much of this folklore is based on 

 elements of fact. At any rate, it is of interest to see the manner in 

 which our knowledge of dangerous marine organisms has evolved. 

 And thus, through a study of the past, we are better able to 

 understand the present. 



Sharks and their attacks upon man have stimulated the imagina- 

 tion of writers from antiquity. Probably the earliest reference to 

 man's encounters with sharks is by Pliny the Elder, who wrote 

 during the first century of the "cruel combat that sponge fishermen 

 must maintain against the dogfish. . . ." He then went on to point 

 out that dogfish attack the groins, the heels and all of the white 

 portions of the body. Pliny recommended that to get rid of the dog- 

 fish it is best to swim straight for them and you will frighten them 

 off. He also believed that the danger from shark attacks was in- 

 creased as the diver neared the surface of the water rather than 



