Trojan Great White

Excuse my expression, but some people have more balls than brains. In this case this guy has both.

Fabien Cousteau has decide to make a great white sub. He wants to flirt and get in the mind of the huge and deadly animal. They, they being him and the other man that has spent more than a year and a half building the Great White look a like, Eddie Paul, He created the animatronic alien that was know as ET, He also made the cars in The Fast and The Furious what the where.


The sub looks, feels, and moves just like the real thing. By becoming a great white and effectively eliminating artificial detractors such as the shark cage and sounds of bubbles from open circuit SCUBA gear Fabien will try to learn more about the natural behavior of this much maligned and misunderstood creature.
www.fabiencousteau.com...

TROY- the Trojan shark sub and Fabien Cousteau's dream vehicle has become reality, with the help of engineer Eddie Paul and his team, and will be used to explore "The Mind of a Demon".
Troy is pool tested (without its outer skin) for the first time. Picture in this link
www.fabiencousteau.com...

Fabien Cousteau has hardly touched the sashimi on his plate. He�s fond of the fish at this 52nd Street restaurant in New York, but for the past five minutes, his chopsticks have been parked on a patch of seaweed. His mind is circling bigger fish. �Great white sharks are very timid creatures,� he says. �If they can see us in the water, they know we�re not something on their menu and they leave us alone.� As the nearby tables fill with Japanese businessmen in gray suits, Cousteau reaches into a yellow and black National Geographic knapsack at his feet and pulls out the inspiration for the next show he�s producing for the Discovery Channel: a tattered 1972 Tintin comic book. On the cover, the French boy wonder and his dog Snowy pilot a shark-shaped submarine through a kelp bed. The submarine is a convincing Trojan shark, but Cousteau intends to do better. For the show, he says, �I am becoming a great white shark.�
www.bu.edu...

Now, Cousteau, 34, goes swimming with sharks in the National Geographic documentary Attacks of the Mystery Shark, premiering on MSNBC Sunday (8 p.m. ET/PT). The water's most notorious and feared creatures, says Cousteau, have fascinated him since childhood.

"My grandfather had always told me that sharks were misunderstood, ever since the movie Jaws," Cousteau says. "When I was 6, I was with my father when he was doing a lecture on oceans on one of the Princess Cruises ships, and Jaws was playing on that boat. I wanted to see it but my parents forbade me. I broke in anyway and watched it. I remember that my jaw just dropped, because this is not the way sharks are. It went against everything my grandfather taught me."

www.usatoday.com...


A side note, greats whites maybe taking the rap for Bull sharks.


Now, some experts are suggesting that the great white may not in fact be responsible for many of the attacks pinned on the species. These people say the real culprit behind many of the reported incidents�including the famous 1916 shark attacks in New Jersey that may have served as inspiration for Jaws�may be the lesser known bull shark.
news.nationalgeographic.com...


[edit on 3-10-2004 by SpittinCobra]

Very cool post Cobra, thanks.

I remember when someone created a robotic Great White. The real great white didnt show any real interest in it. Sharks have a sixth sense with which they can detect the electricity produced by a animals muscles. This sense is very sensative they can detect something like a billion of a volt. So I dont think a shark is ever going to be fooled by a fake shark.

The people that created this robotic Great White got so disappointed with the reaction they got they pumped blood into it to try to pravoke a reaction. This was enough to make the shark attack. The funny thing is that the created this shark out of what they thought was some near indestructable plastic and the Great white snapped it in two.

I heard about this Sub great white before, I would advise him not to pump blood in the the water around him.

[edit on 3-10-2004 by ShadowXIX]

[edit on 3-10-2004 by ShadowXIX]

Very interesting, that should be a great show! Good choice of animal too.

Think if somebody did something similar to this but instead of a shark made a mini sub of a seal. That would take some balls of steel! One moment you happily enjoying your newfound acceptance in a seal colony and the next your killer whale lunch.

Originally posted by dusran
One moment you happily enjoying your newfound acceptance in a seal colony and the next your killer whale lunch.

I think he might become lunch anyway. Dont sharks fight like most animals? I wonder how deep he will go out, and how long he will be able to breath under water.

Originally posted by SpittinCobra

I think he might become lunch anyway. Dont sharks fight like most animals? I wonder how deep he will go out, and how long he will be able to breath under water.

Most attacks are not even really attacks, they are just curious most of the time. Since they dont have and hands to feel something they give it a test bite. These bites are not nearly as powerful as they could be and are not intended to hurt or kill, but what would be a friendly test bite to another Great White tends bite humans legs or arms off.

I have never seen a case of two Great whites fighting. Granted there is still alot we dont know about great whites. I dont think we have ever seen them mating or giving birth.

Trying to look like a seal would be insane IMO not only are they a staple diet of the Great white but also of the Killer whale. Killer whales are also known to play with thier food before they eat it which would not be fun.This is also the reason many surfers are attacked because their profile looks alot like a seal.

Originally posted by ShadowXIX

Originally posted by SpittinCobra

I think he might become lunch anyway. Dont sharks fight like most animals? I wonder how deep he will go out, and how long he will be able to breath under water.

Most attacks are not even really attacks, they are just curious most of the time..

You are right, They also attack humans when they mistake them for seals.


I also feel that if an animal gets hungry enough, it will eat anything.

[edit on 4-10-2004 by SpittinCobra]

Wow, a Great White Sub, whats next? Anyways, hope the guy doesn't get eaten.

Originally posted by ShadowXIX
I remember when someone created a robotic Great White. The real great white didnt show any real interest in it. Sharks have a sixth sense with which they can detect the electricity produced by a animals muscles. This sense is very sensative they can detect something like a billion of a volt. So I dont think a shark is ever going to be fooled by a fake shark.

The people that created this robotic Great White got so disappointed with the reaction they got they pumped blood into it to try to pravoke a reaction. This was enough to make the shark attack. The funny thing is that the created this shark out of what they thought was some near indestructable plastic and the Great white snapped it in two.

I heard about this Sub great white before, I would advise him not to pump blood in the the water around him.

I do think however that him being the son of the fameous Jaques will probably kow this or will have heard about it. And by this also found something on it or maybe try to do it another way? Hope for him that thing is strong though, wouldn�t wanna be trapped inthere while a shark is attacking :/

Originally posted by SpittinCobra

I also feel that if an animal gets hungry enough, it will eat anything.

[edit on 4-10-2004 by SpittinCobra]

Thats true this happens often when a animals gets old or hurt and it cannot catch its normal prey. They will search out easier prey then what they normally would. Humans just happen to be one of the easiest prey for many animals kill. Though for sharks we dont have enough fat and are quite bony for most healthly sharks to want.

But like what you said does indeed happen but I would say its rare, and due to the fact that its ideal prey is not available. They are cases in Africa of lions doing just this when they get hurt or old, They will become man eaters.

But for the most part I dont think many animals consider humans good food.

Originally posted by ShadowXIX


But for the most part I dont think many animals consider humans good food.

I agree, there are only a couple of animals that will kill, to kill.

I think in a sharks mind, anything in the water is open game, (with in size reason).

[edit on 5-10-2004 by SpittinCobra]

Neat thread SpittinCobra,

At least when you're in this type sub, there's nothing in the ocean that will mess with you, except for bottle-nosed dolphins.

Originally posted by Intelearthling


At least when you're in this type sub, there's nothing in the ocean that will mess with you, except for bottle-nosed dolphins.

The Great White is not top dog in the ocean. I have seen Killer Whales rip Great whites to pieces.

There isnt really anything that will mess with a Pod of Orcas not even a Great white. I have even seen them kill humpback whales just to eat their tongues.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The orca or killer whale is a toothed whale that is an efficient predator, even attacking huge young blue whales. Their only enemy is human beings. Orcas live in small, close-knit, life-long pods and have 1 blowhole. The killer whale belongs to the family of dolphins and is the biggest dolphin. It is sometimes called the "wolf of the sea" because its behavior is similar to that of wolves

Orcas are efficient hunters that eat a very diverse diet of fish , squid , sharks , marine mammals (including whales and seals), turtles, octopi, and birds (penguins and gulls). They have even been known to attack young blue whales and other large whales. They have 10-13 pairs of large, interlocking conical, enameled teeth distributed in BOTH the upper and lower jaws (for a total of 20 to 26 pairs, so the orca has from 40 to 52 teeth). The teeth curve inwards and backwards - this helps the orca catch its prey. Teeth average about 3 inches (7.6 cm) long and about 1 inch in diameter, but some are even longer. Members of a pod frequently cooperate in hunts. An average-sized orca will eat 551 pounds (250 kg) of food a day.

CLASSIFICATION
Orcas (Orcinus orca) are toothed whales (Suborder Odontoceti) They are one of 76 cetacean species, and are marine mammals. This species was named by Linnaeus in 1758.
www.enchantedlearning.com...




U.S. Navy Sonar May Harm Killer Whales, Expert Says

John Pickrell
for National Geographic News
March 31, 2004


Watch the National Geographic Special Whales in Crisis tonight at 8 p.m. ET on PBS.
Since 1976, whale expert Ken Balcomb has led what is perhaps the longest running study on killer whales, or orcas (Orcinus orca).

Most days, the research biologist studies orcas from the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Washington, and from his home porch perched above Puget Sound, where the animals hunt and play in summer months.

But one day last May, Balcomb and whale-watchers along the coast observed something they had never seen before. "I first heard reports from whale-watchers that orcas where behaving very unusually," Balcomb recalled. "One pod had gathered in a tight group and were moving close to shore."

Balcomb confirmed at the time that strange underwater pinging noises detected with underwater microphones were sonar. The sound originated from a U.S. Navy frigate 12 miles (19 kilometers) distant, Balcomb said. The vessel eventually moved within 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) of Puget Sound.

The marine biologist recalled that one pod of orcas appeared agitated and were moving haphazardly, attempting to lift their heads free of the water. "It's like they where searching for some way out of the sound field," Balcomb said.

Dall's porpoises (Phocoenoides dalli) and a minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) were also seen rapidly moving away from the vessel. In the following weeks an above-average number of seemingly healthy porpoises were found stranded on nearby beaches, according to Balcomb.

Balcomb says he's convinced that the U.S. Navy ships played a role in the destruction. The research biologist is not alone. In recent years whale beachings in the Bahamas, Madeira island, and the Canary Islands have been linked to U.S. Navy sonar exercises.

Sonar Impact

Exactly how sonar affects the behavior of�and possibly injures�marine mammals, remains a contentious issue.

A study published last October in the science journal Nature argued that naval sonar exercises could have killed beaked whales in the Canary Islands�located off northwest Africa�by forcing them to surface too quickly, causing decompression sickness, or the bends.

Balcomb said the unusual orca behavior he observed near Puget Sound last year brought to mind a whale stranding that occurred three years earlier in the Bahamas.

At the time 14 beaked whales became beached on the same day that U.S. Navy destroyers where engaged in a sonar exercise. CAT scans of two heads collected from six whales that died confirmed later that the whales experienced hemorrhaging around the brain and ears.
news.nationalgeographic.com...


[edit on 8-10-2004 by SpittinCobra]

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The great white shark is a streamlined swimmer and a ferocious predator with 3,000 teeth at any one time. This much-feared fish has a torpedo-shaped body, a pointed snout, a crescent-shaped tail, 5 gill slits, no fin spines, an anal fin, and 3 main fins: the dorsal fin (on its back) and 2 pectoral fins (on its sides). When the shark is near the surface, the dorsal fin and part of the tail are visible above the water

Size
Great whites average 12-16 feet long (3.7-4.9 m) long. The biggest great white shark on record was 23 feet (7 m) long, weighing about 7,000 pounds (3200 kg). Females are larger than males, as with most sharks. Shark pups can be over 5 feet (1.5 m) long at birth.

DIET AND FEEDING HABITS
Young great white sharks eat fish, rays, and other sharks. Adults eat larger prey, including pinnipeds (sea lions and seals), small toothed whales (like belugas), otters, and sea turtles. They also eat carrion (dead animals that they have found floating dead in the water).

Great whites do not chew their food. Their teeth rip prey into mouth-sized pieces which are swallowed whole.

A big meal can satisfy a great white for up to 2 months.

TEETH
The great white shark has 3,000 teeth at any one time. They are triangular, serrated (saw-edged), razor-sharp, and up to 3 inches (7.5 cm) long.

The teeth are located in rows which rotate into use as needed. The first two rows are used in obtaining prey, the other rows rotate into place as they are needed. As teeth are lost, broken, or worn down, they are replaced by new teeth that rotate into place.

GREAT WHITE SHARK ATTACKS
Most great white attacks are not fatal. Great whites account for about 1/2 to 1/3 of all 100 annual reported shark attacks. Of these 30-50 great white attacks, only 10-15 people die.

www.enchantedlearning.com...

[edit on 8-10-2004 by SpittinCobra]