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IMAX pits predator vs. prey

By TERRY TOMALIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 19, 2001

Take a walk along the beach at dawn, look across the water and you will see bait roiling at the surface.

Are those tiny fish: A) Happy? B) Getting some exercise? C) Running from predators?

If you answered C, you are probably a fisherman. Then again, you may have seen Island of the Sharks, an IMAX movie that opened Friday at Channelside Cinemas in Tampa.

As the title implies, there are plenty of sharks: hammerheads, whitetips and silkies that feed in the water surrounding Cocos Island, located about 300 miles off the coast of Costa Rica.

While most of the shark footage is nothing new (just tune in to Shark Week on the Discovery Channel), the shots of these predators ripping apart bait pods is nothing short of extraordinary.

Anglers view bait from above. They may see a bird dive into the school, but what is taking place below the water is seldom seen except by the occasional diver.

But Island of the Sharks offers a glimpse at the relationship between prey and predator as thousands of baitfish whirl themselves into a ball for safety, trying to avoid the jaws of the sharks.

If you are a fisherman, diver or just love the ocean, the three minutes of film showing sharks, billfish and sea lions feeding is well worth the price of admission.

SCALLOP SEARCH: Old-timers can remember the days when Tampa Bay supported a thriving recreational and commercial scallop fishery before unregulated development and pollution in the 1950s and '60s all but wiped out the shellfish. But bay water quality is improving, and scallops are bouncing back.

You can do your share by helping next weekend's Great Bay Scallop Search sponsored by Tampa BayWatch and the Tampa Bay Estuary Program. Boat captains and volunteer snorkelers are needed at 9 a.m. Saturday. Organizers need 40-50 boats and 200 volunteers to search sites in Lower Tampa and Boca Ciega bays. Reservations are required. Call (727) 896-5320. BARRACUDA SPECIAL: Some of the divers competing in Friday's St. Pete Open Spearfishing Tournament brought more than snapper and grouper to the weigh-in.

Barracuda, the nemesis of tournament fishermen, is a popular target for spearfishermen. But don't think these fish are being killed and discarded. Small barracuda caught in local waters have long been a favorite food for anglers and divers. Barracuda, however, also have been implicated in ciguatera poisoning. Ciguatera, the most common nonbacterial, fish-borne poisoning in the United States, is caused by eating fish that feed on and around coral reefs. The symptoms -- vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea and nausea -- usually occur within three to five hours of ingestion, but neurological symptoms may recur for months and years.

In Florida, most cases of ciguatera occur in the Keys. According to the Florida Marine Research Institute, there has never been a case of ciguatera in local waters. To learn more, go to www.floridamarine.org.

RACE CANCELED: The Suncoast Offshore Grand Prix, the longest-running race on the American Power Boat Association's Offshore circuit, will not run in 2002.

Officials with APBA Offshore, the sanctioning body headquartered in St. Petersburg, said they asked local race officials to shorten the course from 13 miles to 5 or 6 because a long course is unsafe for drivers and marine life. APBA chairman Michael Allweiss said the race scheduled for St. Petersburg in October will go on as planned.

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