Comments on: Comments on 19022

Post number 19022

Ty Webb — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 15:32:37 -0800

Platform gives way, aquarium tourists dumped into shark tank. I don't know about any of you, but my pants would've been full before I hit water.

By: zekinskia

zekinskia — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 15:38:53 -0800

There were no serious injuries reported, but two people were taken to Tulane University Hospital for minor cuts and bruises they sustained after hitting artificial barnacles as they fell, aquarium spokeswoman Melissa Lee said. Artificial Barnacles, Terror of the Seas...

By: Mack Twain

Mack Twain — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 15:53:12 -0800

Good thing this wasn't a drunken Christmas party: "Staffers at the aquarium are trained to deal with emergencies like this one, but unfortunatly in their drunken vomitus state they were unable to help and fell in themselves and were devoured by the sharks they were considering sending to a Texas roadside attraction."

By: ODiV

ODiV — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 15:59:56 -0800

"B is for Barnacle, a simple sessile organism created by the Catholic Church is 1683. The original goal was to create a self-healing plating to protect ship hulls, and thus help Catholicism out-spread other religions across the world. Unfortunately, the organism grew randomly, forming a rough lumps that slow ships down. Even more unfortunately, genetic controls failed to work and barnacles spread uncontrollably across all the world's seas, infesting ships everywhere. Widely regarded as a warning against genetic tampering, barnacles were the major impetus for the Tunguska Genetic Engineering Treaty of 1919." - Alphabetical Cyberia, by sigwinch, Kuro5hin

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 16:21:01 -0800

So they stepped out for a bite..... (ducking)

By: GaelFC

GaelFC — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 16:28:42 -0800

OK, the pants thing? That's an image I didn't need.

By: arielmeadow

arielmeadow — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 16:30:10 -0800

I love that the sharks cowered in the corners of the tank!

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 16:34:22 -0800

Staffers at the aquarium are trained to deal with emergencies like this one Why? It was a pretty bizzare set of conditions normally you wouldnt find 10 visitors diveing into the shark tank.

By: Ty Webb

Ty Webb — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 16:39:30 -0800

I'm sure there's an animal rights website somewhere reporting that some peaceful sharks were accosted by a gang of rude, poorly dressed tourists.

By: ODiV

ODiV — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 17:14:33 -0800

After reading the article, I'd have to say that the grammar sucked. That and what kind of a quote is this? "I've been told they took off and went to the other side of the exhibit," she said.

By: adampsyche

adampsyche — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 17:31:21 -0800

And to think you can pay to swim in the Camden Aquarium in the big tank (which I plan to do this year). I just hope there are no blobs in there.

By: slipperywhenwet

slipperywhenwet — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 17:33:08 -0800

I don't know about any of you, but my pants would've been full before I hit water. Hey, that's how they smell fear..

By: amberglow

amberglow — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 17:44:06 -0800

were devoured by the sharks they were considering sending to a Texas roadside attraction. ROFL mack!

By: RGarraud

RGarraud — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 17:58:49 -0800

This could have been a disaster if the incident happened around the sharks' feeding time.

By: jaden

jaden — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 18:09:47 -0800

Why? It was a pretty bizarre set of conditions. Normally you wouldn't find 10 visitors diving into the shark tank. I disagree. If you have a shark tank that tourists will be visiting, one of the first safety precautions to take would be a plan of action in case someone falls in.

By: buz46

buz46 — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 18:24:52 -0800

This is as close as I ever want to get!!

By: PrinceValium

PrinceValium — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 18:40:49 -0800

It's a good thing that last year's shark attack epidemic ended when Robert Blake's wife got killed.

By: crunchburger

crunchburger — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 18:43:52 -0800

This could have been a disaster if the incident happened around the sharks' feeding time. Animals in captivity don't behave the same as animals in the wild. It's not clear what would have happened if the people had fallen in at feeding time. Still, I'd rather fall in after the sharks ate. Also (note to self): go visit the bathroom in the lobby before you walk out on a metal bridge that goes over the shark pool.

By: mblandi

mblandi — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 18:44:06 -0800

ODiV, you ever been to South Louisiana?

By: warhol

warhol — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 18:47:21 -0800

In a previous part of my life, I worked at a public aquarium and the greatest danger to these people certainly weren't the sharks. You see, since sharks are usually in tanks with other fish, you need to keep them pretty well overfed to minimize the chance of predation. At our aquarium, the sharks were fed by hand at least once a day, far more often than they would be in the wild. Also, it's not so often that the really dangerous sharks are on display. Side note. Want to know at a glance how fast a shark is able to swim? Look at the second dorsal fin (the fin on top right in front of the tail). The smaller the fin, the faster they go. The larger it is, the slower they generally go. However, don't think for a moment that you can outswim the slowest shark (of course they're not the one that usually attack people, which is a pretty rare event, anyway).

By: ODiV

ODiV — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 18:52:02 -0800

mblandi: Um... yes. I don't really see what you're getting at though. What does being to South Louisiana have to do with barnacles, bad grammar, and/or getting a quote from someone who heard someone else say something.

By: crunchburger

crunchburger — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 19:03:03 -0800

There is nothing wrong grammatically with the quoted sentence.

By: crunchburger

crunchburger — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 19:05:41 -0800

Christ I'm sorry - let's not hijack this into the grammar thread.

By: fold_and_mutilate

fold_and_mutilate — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 19:06:07 -0800

I'm sure there's an animal rights website somewhere reporting that some peaceful sharks were accosted by a gang of rude, poorly dressed tourists. Nah. We're all reporting that sharks continue to be captured for the amusement of rude, poorly dressed tourists.

By: mblandi

mblandi — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 19:10:01 -0800

Well, the bad grammar is typical of South Louisiana, and locals love reveling in local color, so NOLA will use direct quotes even if it is "I was just praying none of the sharks got agitated from all of the splashing and everything. I mean, they got sharks in there bigger than me"; he said. That's the flavor part. Plus, about the hearsay, it's a funny shark story not Watergate. Seems like a typical New Orleans 'living' article to me. That's why I asked if you had been to South Louisiana. Sheesh. [end hijack]

By: fooljay

fooljay — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 19:10:18 -0800

Why? It was a pretty bizzare set of conditions normally you wouldnt find 10 visitors diveing into the shark tank. As someone else mentioned, they are trained for sitautions where someone falls in, not ten people. However, there is no difference in the way they would handle the situation. The funny part (sort of) is that my mom is a volunteer diver at the Aquarium of the Americas and dives in that very tank. I saw the headline on CNN, and just clicked out of natural curiosity. As the page loaded I said, now wouldn't that be a hoot if it were her work? And lo and behold, my jaw hit the floor. She still hasn't responded, so I don't know how it all shook out. I'll see what I can find out...

By: justgary

justgary — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 22:19:17 -0800

Well, the bad grammar is typical of South Louisiana Yuse got it man we no speaka good inglish in da south. Please.

By: ParisParamus

ParisParamus — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 22:32:28 -0800

Platform gives way...dumped into shark tank.... Sounds like a typical WindowsXP experience.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Thu, 08 Aug 2002 23:39:12 -0800

Somehow, I have this nagging feeling that Blofeld was involved.

By: crasspastor

crasspastor — Fri, 09 Aug 2002 00:18:22 -0800

There's nothing quite so poignant as imagining 10 people dumped into a shark tank. The immediacy. The danger. The moment of surreal confusion and fear. The collective racing of hearts. The reality after one is dry and looks back on it. The eventual embellishment and less clarity of the memory. What it is to be. Experienced in a flash. Talked about on MeFi. Ahh, what it must be to be a shark.

By: sighofrelief

sighofrelief — Fri, 09 Aug 2002 00:33:18 -0800

mblandi...where y'at? you're right, cousin. you must have lived/still live in midcity or the marigny or something. forget about what everyone else says, they don't know what they're talkin' about. next time you go by the aquarium say hi, i take pictures at the cajun queen ;)

By: quarsan

quarsan — Fri, 09 Aug 2002 04:02:50 -0800

americans thrown into a shark tank? i've asked TIPS to investigate.

By: fooljay

fooljay — Fri, 09 Aug 2002 09:19:14 -0800

This response form my mom, who, as I mentioned above, works there in that very tank... Pretty amazing, huh? I had just left. John and I had dove to clean. Too bad we missed the action. At least we could have helped from the water. The walkway has a capacity of 6000 pounds. No one knows why it collapsed. They had structural engineers there today. It's at the bottom of the exhibit like a sunken ship. Now they have to figure out how to pick it up. The sharks scattered and went to the other side of the tank. They didn't want to be anywhere around there. So there you go. Apparently they're just like us. Except with sharper teeth.

By: Fstop

Fstop — Fri, 09 Aug 2002 10:28:08 -0800

By: dhartung

dhartung — Fri, 09 Aug 2002 13:12:24 -0800

I was wondering about the structural end of things, whether it was a bridge that should have withstood the weight, or an extendable walkway that was ... overextended. In retrospect, they may be lucky the accident didn't breach the tank in some way. They probably have other places for some of the animals, but all? As the water drains? This could have been much worse, human injury notwithstanding.