The Shark Podcast: Valentine's Day

 

What better day to revive The Shark Podcast than for Valentine's Day? It's that one most overrated and annoying day of the year. I would find just as overrated and annoying if I wasn't single. I buy myself flowers if and when I want. 

That being said, I do have my own list of love songs that I think are truly beautiful. 

1. You're still the one - Shania Twain
2. Always and forever - Shania Twain
3. Ain't no mountain high enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
4. Come what may - from 'Moulin Rouge'
5. Lost in your eyes - Debbie Gibson (I wanted to draw the little copepod sitting in the Greenland shark's eyes singing this song)
6. It's your love - Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
7. When you say nothing at all - Alison Krauss
8. Beautiful in my eyes - Joshua Kadison
9. Top of the world - The Carpenters
10. Everything I do (I do it for you) - Bryan Adams
11. Have you ever been in love - Celine Dion
12. Deeper than a river - Olivia Newton-John

EarPods, Eye-pods and Copepods

For those of you who don't know, the Greenland Shark (Somniosus microcephalus) have these little parasitic copepods (Ommatokoita elongata) attached to the corneas of their eyes. They don't help with the vision, but luckily sharks have other senses to help them stay on top of things.

It's been a while since I did a comic panel and this has been in the pipeline for a while and I didn't want to wait any longer.

Remoras, Pilots and Copepods

It's good to be back. I've always enjoyed cartoons that help you put your tiny problems in perspective while also teaching you wonderful lessons about life and the world. For those of you don't know the companions to the sharks, we have:
Pilot Fish:
While these fish do prefer Oceanic whitetip sharks, I had to choose between a sucker fish on The Shark vs being followed by a striped fish and I think the latter appealed more. Here's a bit more information on pilot fish.
Remora:
These unique fish have a suction cup on top of their heads which helps them to attach themselves to sharks and other creatures. This way they can eat scraps around their host and clean their host's skin too.
 Which brings us to why the Greenland shark is annoyed. There's a tiny little parasite, a copepod (Ommatokoita elongata) that attaches itself to the EYE of these sharks!
So, when one considers all that they have to complain about for the day, do remember that at least you don't have a copepod hanging from your eye. If you do, I suggest you try and make friends since you're going to be together for a long time.