Sharks are fierce hunters. Many a poor sailor or diver has been torn to pieces and devoured by these ravenous tigers of the deep. Some Sharks are of great size and immense power; they are by far the largest of all living fish; and no animal in the whole kingdom of animals owns such a terrible death-trap of a mouth as the Shark. It is, in some kinds of Shark, armed with seven rows of teeth with keen edges and points!
Now and again fishermen bring a big Shark to port, and hang him in the market--not for sale, but as a "show." The Blue Shark is the one most often displayed like this. See how his mouth is set, well under the head, as in all Sharks; and notice the shape of the body. It tells of speed and strength in the water; its pointed, tapering form reminds one of the racing yacht.
What is this fierce fellow doing so near our coast? He is often found off Cornwall--too often, thinks the fisherman. This Shark comes to seek the same prey as the fisherman--the shoals of Mackerel and Pilchard (a cousin of the Herring). Where the shoals go, the Blue Shark follows. The silly Mackerel, all crowded together, have no chance to escape their awful foe. They are nearly as helpless as a flock of sheep with a tiger in their midst.
If the Shark comes across a mass of Mackerel or Pilchards in a net, he looks on them as a fine feast. Dashing at them, he tears the net to pieces, swallowing lumps of netting with great mouthfuls of fish. Small wonder the fisherman detests this savage visitor which causes him such serious loss of time and money. He naturally looks on Sharks as useless "vermin," to be destroyed whenever possible.
