Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with sharks

Good guys get blue, bad guys get red.

uaudio — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:06:39 -0800

How close are we to handheld laser weapons? I read an article about a laser on a C-130 burning a hole through a car, a 747 that can shoot down an ICBM, and now a truck-mounted laser that can bring down a plane or UAV. What kind of science challenges do we need to meet before these weapons are issued to soldiers, etc.? I'm sure the power is the biggest challenge, what other ones are there?

Going to see the C's.

wolftrouble — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 09:53:28 -0800

Me, my boyfriend and a friend of ours are heading to Montreal at the end of this month. I've seen a number of other questions along these lines (and bookmarked them!) but still looking for a bit more info. Also, one stupid question. Aren't you curious? As avid SJ Sharks fans, we've started a mini-tradition of seeing a Sharks away game once a year. We're working our way through the original six to start, and this year it's off to the frozen north to watch Los Tiburones vs. Les Habitants.

A few simple questions:

Where to stay? We're only in town for the weekend so someplace with easy access to the Bell Centre is a must, although I'm told there's a great subway system. We're not going on the cheap, but $1000-a-night suites are probably out of the question. :) There's tons of hotels obviously, but I was hoping someone knew of a great find amongst the dozens of choices.

What to do? The other threads have some great advice for summer-y things and good restaurant ideas (I'm embarrassingly excited to try poutine someplace where it's not just a novelty... Or maybe it is still just a novelty in Quebec, I dunno!). But we're going in late February when things are cold, cold, cold, especially to our thin California blood. We don't mind braving it (read on) as long as it's for something fun.

Stupid question, and I told myself I wouldn't ask this, but... I have this secret dream, humble though it may be, of someday playing pond hockey - even if just for a few minutes, and even if just with a couple other guys. I grew up in Seattle (not exactly a hotbed of hockey excitement) and while San Jose has plenty of enthusiastic hockey fans, frozen lakes aren't exactly a common occurrence around here.

I don't even know what the specific question is rather than, man, it'd be really fun to whack a puck around a frozen lake for an hour. Obviously IN the city or anywhere in close proximity isn't an option, but... Hey, if any of my northern brethren have an idea of how I could make my dream come true I'd love to hear it.

Thanks!

Help me find an old cartoon about two sharks

Ljubljana — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:55:17 -0800

I'm looking for a multi-panel cartoon about two sharks. So far the only thing I've found via Google is frustration. Here's what I remember: the female shark is angry and the male shark keeps asking: "Is it something I did?" "Is it something I said?" etc... She always says "No" until he asks something complicated like "Is it something I said but that I should've said with more respect for your feelings?" to which she says: "Maybe." I kiss the Mefite who can find it!

Shark overfishing leading to stingray population boom?

wsg — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 09:32:01 -0800

What dying bay/estuary system am I thinking of? A few months ago I read a story about a bay on the East coast where the scallop and seafood industry was hurting bad because of an overpopulation of stingrays, due to the overfishing of sharks, stingrays' main predators. What bay is it?

Jaws took place on the east coast...

Brainy — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 16:57:37 -0800

Okay, it's Shark Week, and it's reignited my interest in this. I'd like to go diving, swiming or whatever with sharks. I live in New Jersey. How can I do this without breaking the bank? What are my options for going cage diving or shark watching...as inexpensively as possible? I've seen sites for cage diving in California, and that's pretty expensive to begin with and across the country to boot.

Dream goal: watch great white sharks breech (off South Africa), or to go cage diving with them (off California). The sites for cage diving are pretty touristy, expensive, and across the country.

I'm open to any variation of "sharks" + "me" you're willing to suggest. sand tigers at aquariums have lost a bit of their excitement and I saw a Basking Shark in the wild once but I'd like more.../small>

shark snacks

rdr — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 16:35:46 -0800

Why would great whites take only the heads of seals? When I was living in Northern California I encountered the bodies of headless seals twice. It was generally accepted that great white sharks had taken the heads. That's a reasonable explanation and google'ing around confirms that headless seals are an indicator of shark activity. Why only the heads? Attacking the head makes sense to insure a quick kill but there's a lot of nice juicy fat on the seals bodies. The shark has already expended the energy to kill the seal. Why not come back and finish lunch?

Is the seal density so high that a great white can just keep snacking? Is it that we don't see the kills that are completely consumed? Has anyone done enough observation of great white feeding habits to know the answer?

Why does laser light

joelf — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 08:40:05 -0800

Why does laser light "sparkle"? I noticed the laser light sparkles, it's really apparent if you shine it at something that difuses the light, like some semi clear plastic, or cloudy water. The light has a quality to it i've never seen anywhere else. It sparkles. I'm just wondering if anyone knows why?

Blood in the Water

Coffeemate — Mon, 12 Jul 2004 20:10:31 -0800

So sharks can smell one part blood in one million parts seawater. How? I understand that the blood would diffuse in water, but wouldn't at least a particle of the blood have to come into contact with the shark? Does diffusion happen that fast?