Great White | The Recovering Legalist

Hogging the TV

This week has been nothing but shark, shark, shark. The Discovery Channel has been airing its annual series called Shark Week, and it has been on 24/7 in the Baker house.

As a matter of fact, unless a program being aired on Shark Week is a repeat, or unless it has been recorded, one can forget watching anything else until our girls are fast asleep dreaming – about sharks.

Honestly, it totally amazes me that so much programming time can be devoted to sharks. I mean, seriously, how much more has been learned since last year? How many more people have willingly swam with sharks just to have video of their stupidity shown to the world? Nevertheless, until Shark Week (and recordings thereof) is over and the girls are through with looking as Great White teeth, I’ll never get to see Joel Osteen’s pearly whites again.

Something Different

Now, it was already difficult to make myself go into the ocean. Ever since Jaws came out, you can forget me ever skinny-dipping at night in the surf (I used to do that a lot when I was 2 or 3). But Shark Week has made me even more aware of how deadly some of these sharks can be, especially the Great White.

But you know what, I’ve been getting a little tired of hearing how big and bad sharks are. They aren’t the baddest guppies in the ocean. As a matter of fact, things can get a lot worse than a shark warning. How about a sperm whale warning?!

A friend of mine posted this picture on her Facebook page. Roughly translated it reads,

“Sperm Whale! Stay the heck out of the water! For get the sharks; they’ve already been eaten! Stay at least 30 yards away from the beach or you might end up like Captain Ahab. There is no such thing as “Whale Week” on the Discovery Channel, so don’t act like a fool.”

You do know what a sperm whale is, don’t you? It’s a 35 ton, 60 ft.-long mammal with teeth that weigh a pound each, and has been known to sink ships. It’s more than a match for a wimpy 16 ft. shark.

Image Credit: Encyclopedia Britanica

The Point?

So, what’s the point? Oh, I don’t know. I just thought it was funny to see a warning for sperm whales instead of sharks. But on the other hand, it does make me remember something my dad used to tell me: “No matter how big you are, there’s always somebody bigger, and tougher.”