l8 GIANT FISHES 



apparatus needed to perform such an amputation. Certainly 

 no shark recorded as having been taken in these waters could 

 possibly perform such an act, though this might occur if a 

 shark thirty feet or more in length happened to catch a man 

 fairly on the knee-joint where no severing of the bone was 

 necessary. The next time the reader carves a leg of lamb, let 

 him speculate on the power required to sever this at one stroke 

 — and the bones of a sheep are much lighter than those of a 

 man." Mr. Lucas goes on to record his disappointment at 

 witnessing the efforts of a 12-foot shark to cut a chunk out 

 of a sea lion. " The sea lion had been dead a week and was 

 supposedly tender, but the shark tugged and thrashed and 

 made a great to-do over each mouthful." His final advice is 

 pertinent : " It is the part of wisdom to keep away from both 

 ends of a captured shark, for a blow of the tail is almost as 

 bad as a bite ". 



Although it had been assumed that, like its relatives the 

 Makos and Porbeagles, the Great White Shark was viviparous, 

 it was not until quite recently that the young were observed. 

 In the summer of 1934 a shark was caught at Agamy, near 

 Alexandria, in the Mediterranean, weighing 2\ tons, and of a 

 length of 14 feet. It was only after a struggle lasting several 

 hours that it could be landed by three boatloads of Egyptian 

 fishermen. When it was cut open, 9 young were discovered 

 inside, each 2 feet long and weighing 108 lb. Judging from 

 the published photographs of the mother, and from the size of 

 her babies, there can be little doubt that this was a Great 

 White Shark, which is well known in these waters, and this 

 must be very nearly the first time that the young have been 

 observed. 



The Great White Shark is of practically no economic impor- 

 tance. It has been taken on occasions by sea anglers, and the 

 largest specimen taken on rod and line was captured at Bridle, 

 New Jersey, in June, 1935 ; this weighed 998 lb., and was 

 12 feet long. 



The names Great White Shark and White Pointer refer to 

 the pure white colour of its belly- The scientific name, 

 Carcharodon, is derived from two Greek words meaning 

 " rough " and " tooth ". 



