Giant Fish 183 



weighs five tons. Although the possessor 

 of close on ten thousand teeth, it is not 

 the bloodthirsty monster that many 

 suppose it to be. On the contrary, it is 

 quite harmless, never having been known 

 to make a meal off a luckless bather, its 

 menu being restricted to quite small 

 cuttlefish. Quite a number of sharks, 

 however, can be really dangerous. The 

 notorious tiger shark, for instance, ac- 

 counts for hundreds of casualties every 

 year, and many Australian bathing 

 beaches are patrolled by specially ap- 

 pointed boatmen, whose duty is to give 

 due warning when the fateful triangular 

 fin shows above the water line. Five 

 tiger fish, each seven feet long, have been 

 known to dispose of a six-foot tarpon in 

 as many minutes. At the close of the 

 meal an eighth " tiger " joined the party, 

 and his brothers, their appetite still un- 

 satisfied, disposed of him as a final bonne 

 bouche. Most dreaded of all the shark 



