Shark Tales

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A story on the NPR program All Things Considered (May 11, 2023) told of research that reveals something new about Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks. It seems they close off their gills when diving deep in freezing cold water to keep their insides from icing up. In essence, they hold their breath. 

 

                            The Shark

I envy the shark, gliding fast, propelled through water

with barely a twitch—cool, so cool, with that thousand yard

stare, never blinking back tears or winking in jest, 

backing down dolphins, even killer whales,

“You want a piece o’ me?

  You want a piece o’ me?”

 

You never hear a shark gasp in surprise or cough in confusion

or sigh with satisfaction. Instead of lungs he lets gills do the job

of oxygen extraction while he slices the ocean

like a Ginsu knife going deeper, and even deeper still

until water ices the heart.

 

Scientists say they’ve found a shark that’s mastered the trick

of closing off gills when the water’s too cold

to protect the organs that mean the most like the brain and

maybe the spleen. In the silent dark, in the loneliest hole, the shark

lets down his macho defenses saying aloud to nobody there,

 

“It only hurts when I breathe.”

                                                           - DMC, 2023

 

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