SHARKS OR DOLPHINS?

 

 

Atlantic spotted dolphin, great white shark.

 

 Anybody else besides me like Mentos? The latest rolls I got of mint have "conversation starters" on each mint. Call or Text? Horror or Comedy? Beach or Mountain? Mint or Fruit? Video or Board Games?

 

The first one I had asked "Dolphin or Shark?" For me, it took seconds to come up with my answer:

 

"Define shark."

 

Some of you are scratching your heads at that response. "What do you mean define shark? Haven't you seen Jaws? In fact, you've got a picture of one right above this text.

 

You're right. I do have a picture of the dreaded Great White Shark, which was the "villain" in Peter Benchley's best selling novel and the summer blockbuster movie directed by Steven Spielberg (if an animal doing what God created it to do should be called a villain). 

 

Those awe inspiring predators do send shivers up your spine, compared to a playful dolphin. If you had a choice between swimming with a dolphin or a Great White, that would be an easy decision. 

 

But what if you were a fish?

 

If you could do a Vulcan mind meld on a fish, you would probably learn they would not call a dolphin playful. In fact, they would consider a choice between a dolphin and a Great White like we would think of a decision between a hangman's noose and a firing squad. After all, what do they feed the stars of a dolphin show? Plus, one species of dolphin you might be familiar with is the Orca, the Killer Whale.

 

But is it possible that we have an automatic perception of sharks as well?

 

Yes, when a person thinks shark, they think Great White. So did the Mentos artist, whose shark resembled the movie poster of Jaws. But it's not the only shark species - there are over 1,000 species of sharks and rays. Not all of them are as big as the great white. And not all are as viscious.

 

But let me go the other direction. The Great White can get up to 20 feet in length. Sounds intimidating. Until you meet my favorite fish.

 

 

 

The whale shark is about 50 feet long.  Looks like a suspect for giving Jonah a three day tour, but that would be a miracle: The whale shark's diet is the same as their mammal playmates (whales), mostly plankton. While I wouldn't want to swim with a Great White, I'd love to swim with a whale shark. In fact, Wikipedia mentions some divers have hitched a ride on one of these guys.

 

So if by shark you mean Great White, I'd take a dolphin any day. But if you're talking whale shark, sorry Flipper, I'd be with the bigger swimmate. 

 

Now, I can go a little deeper - philosophically and theologically, that is - and ask if our perceptions could be a little less than accurate or point out that the largest fish and the largest mammal survive on microscopic plankton, but I'll be nice and not bring those things up. Instead I'll ask the question you'd expect me to ask:

Horror or Comedy? 

(Yes, you can also tell me which you like between shark and dolphin as well.)