Sharks in Stories, Media, and Literature 207
kill inspired stories, legends, and myths. Sharks are also a source of pro-
tein that can (or previously could) be caught year round, although subdu-
ing large sharks certainly required courage and skill. Specially constructed
large shark hooks were common. Devices for luring sharks took advantage
of the way that repetitive, low-frequency sounds attract sharks (see “How
well can sharks hear?” in chapter 2). In the Pacific, fishers made rattles
from multiple coconut husks strung together, lowered them from a canoe,
and shook them, perhaps mimicking the sound of an injured fish. Sharks
and stingray parts have also been used for leather, tools, and weapons (see
“Is there such a thing as shark leather?” in chapter 10). Stingray spines in
particular have made effective awls for poking holes in leather, as well as
serving as knives and daggers.
Shark teeth have been widely used as tools to carve wood and prepare
food; as weapons attached to clubs, daggers, and swords; as spear or arrow
points; for skin-piercing tools to create tattoos; and as ceremonial objects.
Easter Island, home of the famous moai stone statues, is also famous for
wooden rongorongo tablets covered in hieroglyphics (picture writing) that
were apparently carved with shark’s teeth. Native Hawaiians produced for-
midable war clubs edged with shark teeth, especially from Tiger Sharks.
These leiomano included a variation on brass knuckles but edged with shark
teeth and clubs edged with shark teeth. Shark teeth and stingray spines aug-
mented the destructiveness of weapons in other Polynesian cultures such as
on Kiribati (central tropical Pacific) and Nauru (Micronesia), where sting-
ray skin was also used as a type of armor worn by men in battle. (Women
also fought in such contests but apparently weren’t allowed to wear armor.)
Shark teeth also found their way into Japanese culture, where traditional
Ulisse Aldrovandi’s apparent rendition of a sawfish, circa 1613. According to an early-twentieth-century histo-
rian, “It would be hard to find any creature treated by artists in more diverse fashion, and it is frankly evident
that none of them knew what it was like, if indeed it was to be seen in the flesh at all.” A gallery of other, equally
imaginative early portrayals of sharks and sharklike animals can be seen at http://www.strangescience.net/stsea 2
.htm. De piscibus libri V et De cetis lib unus. Bononiae, [Bologna, Italy]: Apud Bellagambam