Last Update : Thursday 9 August, 2001 10:19 PM
Last Update : Thursday 9 August, 2001 10:19 PM |
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LEOPARD SHARK…THE LOVABLE OF THE OCEAN
Shark
Giant Shark
Such heading might arouse suspicion why it is called leopard shark. In fact leopard shark (Stegostoma fasciatum ) is named after its appearance not habit. Some people call it zebra shark. Please understand that it is the same. While young this shark has stripes like zebra. Some Thais might call them in other names like frog shark, chicken shark or angel shark. I would not recommend the last name because there is another angel shark, which is from the different group and has a different look altogether.
Leopard shark is oviparous. There are 4 ova at a time, at the most. The newly born swims down to look for food in the deep, some times deeper than 50 meters. They are not seen very often, until fully grown. Then they will come back up to live in the depth of 20-50 meters. Adult can be 3.5 meters long.
During the daytime, leopard sharks behave like nurse sharks. But they do not sleep in caves. Mostly they sleep on the sand floor outside the coral reef, especially, where there are spreading chips of dead coral with flowing water. This is assumed that flowing water helps them to breathe while lying still. Whereas gill system of nurse sharks has been more developed than that of leopard sharks, enabling them to sleep in still water.
When nighttime comes, leopard sharks would look for food on the seafloor. Their staple food is various kinds of seashells, burrowing or crawling on the seafloor. Apart from this, leopard sharks might eat shrimps, crabs or whatever seafloor crustaceans they can find.
The lovability of leopard sharks in my heading is that they have never been reported to harm any one before. From my own experience meeting this type of shark, some time I went in so close to observe as much as I could. They did not swim away like other types. However, do not trust the sharks though.
From reference books that I have read, scientists said this type of shark usually stay alone. At the beginning I believed them. Only when I had an opportunity to go for a dive in Burma and saw many leopard sharks lied neatly side by side at “Leopard Shark Parking Lot” with my own eyes that my belief in the textbook has begun to shake. I thought the author might not have seen what I had, or, there were many sharks and less suitable place to sleep. They scattered in all directions when I approached. I have never seen two of this type of shark swimming together.
Now I would like to share the technique to approach and observe leopard sharks. When you see the shark lying, go in one by one, not the whole crowd of you going in at the same time lest they run away. When you are within the distance of five meters, if you see them push their bodies up with their pelvic fin, photographers click your shutter immediately before your chance is gone. They are about to swim away.
If the shark does not swim away, you can observe him closely. Move slowly not speedily, is the first iron rule of this method. If heaven is on your side, you can swim around him three times and he would still be there. Whenever you touch him, he would be gone. So look only, do not touch!
Leopard sharks can be considered the pride of Thailand because they can often be spotted in our Andaman Sea. Many reference books I used stated that Phuket is the leopard sharks spotting place. There are plenty of them around ÁÙÊѧ rock near PP Islands where can be named “Shark point”. Some times there are shark feeding activity. Foreigners usually come to take photographs. It is well known around the world. Nowadays, several of the sharks are gone (to soup bowls). We have to report here that one of the Thais’ prides will be gone soon.
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