TIGERS OF THE DEEP 



This shark, a female, was abnormal in many ways. 

 Although only eleven feet long its girth was nearly nine 

 feet. It carried three young ones, nearly ready to be 

 born. It had a double fracture of its backbone, which 

 nature had repaired by forming a large cyhndrical 

 growth around the affected part. Experts reached the 

 conclusion that the shark was insane — insanity is by no 

 means confined to humans — through its injuries and 

 other malformations. So the incident ended: the shark 

 paying for killing the child with the loss of its own life 

 and the prenatal deaths of its young. 



Between 1922 and 1925 sharks appeared along the 

 world's coastlines in increasing numbers. 



Early in 1925 they began to invade Britain's home 

 waters. The Daily Chronicle, referring to a report that 

 sharks had been seen in Carmarthen Bay, told its readers 

 that they had no cause for alarm, and reminded them 

 that "there are sharks and sharks". It went on: "150 

 different species have been described. Those found in 

 temperate latitudes are quite unhke the tiger sharks and 

 man-eaters of the tropics." It admitted that sharks fre- 

 quenting home waters became troublesome to fishermen 

 on rare occasions, by taking their bait and driving away 

 fish, but this kind of shark was ''comparatively harm- 

 less". 



The Birmingham Weekly Post of 2nd May recorded the 

 capture of "the heaviest skate ever caught", at Brighton 

 a few days before. "It weighs," the paper declared, 

 "250 lbs., or 50 lb. more than the naturalists of a century 

 ago thought it ever attained." 



The Post writer then added a fact or two which made 

 the weight seem insignificant, giving an account of a 

 devil-fish "caught in 1823" which "weighed nearly five 

 tons" and was so monstrous that "three pairs of oxen, 

 one horse and 22 men all pulHng together could not 

 convey it far". 



Only two days later a spectacular fight occurred be- 



201 G* 



