[Tanny]

I would not call the skin Razor like, more sandpaper like, well the sharks I have handled had skin like sandpaper. Not all sharks are dangerous and even the so called dangerous sharks don't attack humans, we are not a natural prey to them, it's when they mistake swimming humans who resemble a seal or a turtle when they mistakenly attack, mind you there's always the exception to the rule, especialy with the White Pointer. My experiance is with the sharks off the North West Australian coast, the Tiger Shark being the most dangerous. These sharks feed on the Marine Turtles that nest here and they drift around the bays waiting for a weak female turtle to enter the water after laying. When my mates go out spearfishing they asked me to join them as I was usefull at driving away the White-tip Reef-sharks that dash in to take the fish that sent out distress signals when speared. "We all do foolish things in our lifetime". The bronze Whaler was another shark that was dangerous in those waters and I actualy caught a large one once on my fishing line off the sea cliffs. When snorkling around the coral reefs I would regularly find the sand sharks sleeping on the sea bed and was able to stroke them and even hold them in my arms. They are a harmless shark but still grow up to about seven feet in length. I'me no expert on sharks but my experiances have taught me that they are a facinating creature and should be protected.