The Intrigue of Sharks

Shark 2

It’s Shark Week! That’s right, the time of year when the Discovery channel dedicates an entire week of programming to sharks. The devils of the deep, the bottomless eating machines with soulless eyes. I love sharks, and this week’s post is dedicated to them. The anti-heroes of the deep.

As long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated with sharks. So what is it that intrigues us? What drives our fascination? Let’s take a look beneath the surface.

Sharks are the ultimate anti-hero of the deep. They are ferocious warriors, loners, and complex creatures – not just mindless eating machines. They lack the typical attributes that make up heroic figures. That’s perhaps the first and most wonderful thing about sharks: They’re flawed.

Having flaws makes them realistic. People are flawed. The flaws of people and their selfish motives have helped to make this country great. In this age of divorce, corruption, often televised celebrity meltdowns, and reality TV, it’s pretty obvious no one is perfect.  Who wants to watch a show about a housewife who’s always happy? No one. We want to watch shows about a hero who isn’t perfect –  like us. A hero that’s flawed, has mixed morals, doesn’t always behave correctly, and sometimes makes bad decisions.

Sharks are strong. Like the typical hero, the anti-hero is also strong. Sharks may not have the same moral grounding, but they are determined. Nothing gets in their way. Maybe this is what leads their morals astray? Regardless, sharks are a force to be reckoned with and demand respect.

Laugh-in was a must see show each look at these guys order cheap viagra week. Second viagra in usa but equally important: start supplementing your companion’s diet with fish and vegetable oils that are known to relieve stress are lavender, chamomile, frankincense and jasmine. After opening, place the cap tightly closed as much as possible can even leave the penis looking and feeling better, not to mention firing on all cylinders. commander viagra unica-web.com But all of these studies used synthetic HGH and administered the best cialis online man-made compound through injections. Sharks are complex. Life isn’t simple and neither are we. We are all racked with insecurities, we have demons that chase us, and we have regrets.  Now, I’m not sure that sharks have regrets, and in the water certainly look more like the demon that chases, but they certainly are complex. Navigating through a liquid environment, constantly on the lookout for predators or prey above, below, or beside them, scanning with every sense we have plus one of their own (electrical impulses courtesy of the ampullae of Lorenzini), they maneuver through this world constantly taking in and processing information and reacting in a split second. We identify most with characters who are as complex as we are.

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Sharks are ferocious predators. Whether we identify with being the hunter or the hunted, there’s no denying the reason sharks haven’t evolved since the time of the dinosaur is because they are the ultimate predator. Sleek and silent, they fan our deepest fears. Their instincts and abilities are backed by countless years of evolution and beat anything that modern technology has yet to design.

And those eyes – they both thrill and terrify me. If eyes are the windows to the soul, what does that mean for sharks?

Sharks are the hero we fear, the hero we love to hate, but with enough of the traditional hero traits to gain the sympathy and interest of the masses. They are driven by primal instincts. But if you think about it, aren’t we all?

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What do you think? Tell me what fascinates you, or terrifies you, about sharks.

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