204 Sharks: The Animal Answer Guide
of a spirit named Manta Ray Man, a violent drunk. Manta Ray Man started
fights by flailing and flapping his arms the way that manta rays flap their
“wings.” Respect for manta rays and their power has shown up across cul-
tures and centuries. For example, pottery unearthed in Peru and dated to
over 1,800 years old contains obvious manta ray images.
Throughout the Pacific, island cultures were dependent on the sea, with
much local art, wisdom, and lore focused on sea creatures such as sharks
and their relationships with humans. Sharks still show up in contemporary
art forms in many nations. In the Palau Islands of Micronesia (Republic of
Belau), legends say that when a shark swims upside down and bites your
canoe, your wife is cheating on you. Many such stories were carved into
the walls of the men’s meeting houses or onto storyboards, now sold to
tourists.
Native Hawaiians have always respected sharks, known collectively
as mano. Many aspects of Hawaiian history and culture reflect this rever-
ence. Hawaiians recognized a number of animal deities or gods who were
thought to embody their ancestors. Among the family deities (amakua),
sharks are considered the strongest. Families that had shark amakuas would
neither eat nor catch sharks. Fishing for the largest and most dangerous
niuhi sharks, namely Tiger and White, was an activity reserved for chiefs.
Eating the eyes of niuhi brought mystical powers and strength. The mother
of King Kamehameha I ate niuhi eyes to give her unborn son greater lead-
ership qualities and bravery.
An oft-repeated Hawaiian legend relates how the king of sharks fell in
love with a human woman, to whom was born a shark-human son named
Nanave. Nanave swam daily in a pool connected to the ocean. He often
asked passing fishermen where they were going to fish and would then van-
ish into the pool to warn his fish kin of their peril. Upon discovering that
Nanave was part shark, the villagers attempted to kill him, but he escaped
into the pool. From that day, Hawaiian fishermen have not revealed where
they are planning to fish. As with many legends from across the globe, the
story of the king of sharks may explain a natural phenomenon. Nanave’s
tale may reveal that an absence of fish on the reef could be due to a large
shark patrolling the area, frightening off other fish.
Cultures outside the tropics also incorporate large sharks into their my-
thologies. The Inuit of Greenland hunted Skalugsuak (Greenland Sharks),
one of the world’s largest predatory sharks (up to 6.4 m, or 21 ft, long).
Greenland Shark meat contains high concentrations of urea and must be
processed correctly to be edible (and even then, it’s an acquired taste). An
Inuit legend recounts the origin of the Greenland Shark. An old woman
washed her hair in urine, dried it with a cloth, and when the cloth blew into
the ocean, it became Skalugsuak. Another Greenland legend tells of Sedna,
http://www.ebook3000.com