Rare ugly shark captured in Japan. Sushi anyone?

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Jake

What were you doing out there? I'm a bit nervous because the fall program is supposed to be really hard- I think I remember 50+ hours of class and field trips a week.

I took a 3 week field course there when I was in university. It certainly wasn't as intense as the full semester programs. I did however, talk to some of the students that were there full time, and they were worked pretty hard. You certainly don't slack. Having said that, I doubt any of them would trade the experience for anything in the world. You'll learn so much and see nature in a way that most people only see on TV. The scientists there seemed very nice as well.

Also, because the program was intense, when the students have a chance to blow off steam, they do it well.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I found a link that shows where we are both a little wrong. I was correct that water being a liquid does indeed not compress (or at least not very much.) However the same link goes on to explain that most fish; including deep sea fish, have a gas bladder inside them to control boyancy. And it's that gas bladder that causes the deep sea fish to explode when brought up close to the surface.

http://www.fathom.com/course/10701050/session1.html

(read the part called "The Problem of Pressure" to the bottom right hand side of the picture of the Earth.)

Well, the gas bladder is an adaptation that allows for controlled buoyancy like ballast on a Submarine. It is not the only specific reason for why creatures can survive at either shallow or deep ocean depths. The gas bladder is only one of many organs that can fail due to pressure changes. Again, I'm no expert but certain creatures never move up and down, they remain at certain depths their entire lives and may not neccessarily have a gas bladder (I don't know this is a fact however). I think pressure changes can have many psysiological effects on any organism even if it's simply down to breathing, thermal regulation, etc. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Beefcake

This statement isn't entirely correct. The only reason we have nitrogen in our system is because we breathe air (made up of oxygen, nitrogen, and an insignificant amount of other gases such as helium, etc). The nitrogen comes out of solution because unlike oxygen, our body can't metabolize the increased volume of the gas (due to the decreased pressure at shallower depths). Deep water organisms that don't come to the surface and breath air (incl. nitrogen) into their system won't have this same issue.

I'm no marine biologist, but I assume your statement that all (or at least many) organisms are affected (albeit in different ways) by decompression.

- Diving nerd

I was just pointing out that what happens to changes in pressure can effect changes in humans much moreso than simply "being crushed" by ocean pressure. I'm no marine biologist either but I was just trying to demonstrate how pressure affects much much more than simply having pockets of air being compressed or not as the other poster was saying. You have to consider the state of the gas/liquid and how the precise balance within narrow ranges is so precariously neccessary for life.

[Bertuzzied]

Hmmm just wondering if deep sea fishes/sharks die, would they float to the top like my goldfish?

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Kobatuzzied

Hmmm just wondering if deep sea fishes/sharks die, would they float to the top like my goldfish?

I think what happens when your goldish die is that the decaying organs release gases that cause buoyancy. Fish can sink when they die if the gases can escape enough so that the fish is nolonger buoyant. Also the fish can't control the bladder anylonger so remaining gases cause buoyancy.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by burnin_vernon

what about a shark cage? i think i would like to try that one

On the show world's worst jobs or whatever, I think they had a fantastic job where a guy was shark-suit tester. Looked like so much fun.

It was basically like a medieval chainmail that a diver wears and he's impervious to shark bites. They swam into a feeding frenzy and gave out fish at the bottom of the ocean to sharks by hand like some kind of Shark cafeteria. Sharks bit the divers a few times, clamped on but were easily shaken off.