44 Shark Against Man 



to the creation of the Shark Research Panel (SRP). The SRP, affiliated 

 with the Institute's Hydrobiology Committee, is supported by the Office 

 of Naval Research, Cornell University, and the Smithsonian Institution. 

 Members of the SRP are Dr. Perry W. Gilbert, Cornell University zool- 

 ogist, who is chairman of the panel; Dr. Stewart Springer, Chief of the 

 Exploratory Fishing and Gear Research Branch of the U.S. Fish and 

 Wildlife Service; Dr. Leonard P. Schultz, curator of fishes for the Smith- 

 sonian Institution; Dr. Eugenie Clark, Cape Haze Marine Laboratory, 

 Placida, Florida; Dr. Sidney R. Galler, Office of Naval Research; Dr. 

 Robert W. Hiatt, University of Hawaii; Dr. James Snodgrass, Scripps 

 Institution of Oceanography, La JoUa, California; and F. G. Wood, Jr., 

 Marineland Research Laboratory, St. Augustine, Florida. 



The SRP maintains a Shark Attack File, a permanent, elaborately 

 cross-indexed record of attacks from all over the world. When an attack 

 is reported anywhere, the SRP moves swiftly to obtain all available in- 

 formation. A physician in the area is asked to help, or one of the many 

 ichthyologists cooperating with the Panel goes to the scene. If the victim 

 survives, he is asked to fill out a detailed questionnaire. Whether he lives 

 or dies, witnesses, policemen, hospital attendants, his physician, and his 

 relatives are interviewed. 



The questionnaire and the interviews seek such information as the 

 depth, the temperature, and the condition of the water; the time of the 

 attack and what the weather was like; the color of the victim's clothing 

 or bathing suit, and the color of his or her skin; the kind of shark and who 

 identified it; the nature and treatment of the wounds; and how both the 

 victim and the shark behaved before, during, and after the attack. 



From the answers to these questions, from the study of the cir- 

 cumstances surrounding attacks, and from research into shark behavior, 

 the SRP hopes to find enough evidence to settle several theories about 

 what triggers an attack. High on the list of suspected causes of many 

 attacks is the presence of blood. 



One moment the sea is empty of sharks. Then, a ship sinks or a plane 

 crashes, and human blood, perhaps only in minute quantities, mingles with 

 the sea. Suddenly, like wraiths instantly embodied, sharks appear. They 

 circle warily. They hesitate to come close. Then one finds prey. Then 

 another. Finally, the shark pack churns the water in a frenzy of feeding. 

 Seemingly maddened by the intoxicating scent of more and more blood, 

 the sharks gorge on any prey— including each other. 



Fishermen have seen such sights whenever shark packs attack a school 

 of fish or a bleeding whale. When survivors of a ship or a plane disaster 

 are the victims, the massacre may be so thorough that there is no one 

 left to tell the tale. 



But from the lips of some survivors has come testimony to show that 



