Page 21 - Contrast1968

Chills tingled the body of CUrt Rudolf as he fastidiously
observed the graceful movements of the large hammerhead shark
which was being fed at the Aquarium. Curt had been visiting the
Aquarium at every affordable opportunity, since his interest in
sharks had begun to replace an earlier and equally insatiable
desire for knowledge about electric eels, which, in turn, had

replaced piranhas, and so on.

Curt now watched the sharp-scaled creature in its artificial
habitat as the large hammerhead glided through the water in a way
that made other creatures of the sea seem only clumsily adapted to
their environment. Curt admired everything about the shark's
structure, from the underslung mouth to its acute sense of smell.
This feeling of admiration, however, shared an equally intensive
sense of fear. As has been recorded many times, there is not such
a great difference between two extremes, such as love and hate, as
might be evident between fondness and dislike. Such feelings of
the observer as he intensively followed the agile movements of the
primitive fish. His great admiration was constantly interrupted
by a fear of his being accidentally thrown into a forced meeting
with a shark. The thought of his utter helplessness in such a
situation made him shiver. His entire body jerked and trembled
for an instant. So noticeable was this shiver, that it often
attracted the attention of anyone in his presence. He could
imagine himself being swallowed whole by a great white shark~ or
being torn apart limb by limb by a smaller species. What he
dreaded most of all was the "feeding-frenzy". Never having
witnessed this feeding pattern, Curt nevertheless recollected the
horribly descriptive adjectives used in the many documented accounts
he had read. He recalled that when a number of sharks are attracted
to the same area, perhaps, the smell of blood, or an explosion,
something is triggered that causes all the sharks to tear and bite
at anything they can reach. The fish sometimes even consume part
of their own bodies. The unpredictable reaction-pattern of a
single shark, or even a few, allows the swimmer, diver, or survivor
to entertain some thoughts of escape; but the outcome of the feeding
frenzy can only be death for anyone unfortunate enough to be in the

water at that time.

In his studies of other animals, Curt had always taken special
notice of the animal's potential danger to man. Although he found,
for example, that the electric eel is the only living thing that can
kill a full grown, healthy human instantly, there is nothing to assure
its doing so. Even the piranha is becoming less and less feared due
to the reports and research that fail to confirm even one fatal attack
on a human. The natives often bathe and wash their clothes in waters
infested with the man-eating fish. However, with his most recent
subject of study, Curt had found an inescapable horror that constantly
invaded his thoughts, no matter how pleasing or tranquil they might be.