2007-05-31 Sharks Don't Have A Swim Bladder...

... so why don't they sink to the ground? The smaller part of the answer is their large liver which is filled with oil. The larger part is their pectoral fin, which isn't small after all. When sharks swim around, these fins provide the same kind of lift that the wings of an airplane do. So what do they do when they hover? They sink. And if they want to swim backwards? They can't. And if they sleep? They don't! Neither do dolphins, at least not in the way that humans do. Fish are strange animals. They don't even have digital watches!

I have no idea why I just wrote that. I learnt it today by chance and had the urge to share it, that's all. Which reminds me of the words on a T-shirt I saw the other day: Last words of a scuba diver: "Shark cages are for milksops".

Dolphins are no fish, I know that. But they live where fish live, they look like fish look, they move like fish move, they eat like fish eat. The only difference is that they breath air, so let's not be picky about it, okay?