Canadian Shark Wrassles

One 0f the highlights of the short Canadian summers are the vinyl shark wrassles. The vinyl shark's most common habitats are in department stores where they can lie dormant for years in plastic bags. It is only when they are subjected to chlorinated pool water that they regain their level of activity.
Although not exactly known to have a dangerous bite, these sharks have the capacity to give an earnest nudge to the unfamiliar swimmer.
One way for Canadian children to build the upper body strength so necessary for playing hockey is to wrassle vinyl sharks during the summer. The brave young swimmer in the photo is not only doing a magnificent job of shark wrassling, but is also utilizing the mammalian diving reflex of the frigid Canadian pool to lower his body core temperature and give him a longer fight time with the shark. The average temperature of a Canadian outdoor pool is - 23 degrees celsius, just 2 degrees centigrade, or 69 degrees Kelvin (approx.), above freezing.
Canadian vinyl sharks have their lineage traced to the far east, to such places as China and Hong Kong. It is believed they arrived in Canada in the holds of Chinese freighters and were released into the cold Canadian water when the holds of the freighters were flushed out.
Americans must not try to copy the Canadian shark wrassles due to the warmth of their pools. Several Americans are rushed to the local emergency rooms every summer with serious abrasions and contusions caused by nudges from warm water vinyl sharks.
(reprinted from "Vinyl sharks - the furtive menace" by Jack Coos-toe)