Friday, February 11, 2011
How Shark Skin May Help Save Lives
Shark skin could help save lives in the near future! CBS
If you're a news correspondent, there are a lot worse places to do your reporting than the Bahamas.
But I'm not here to play, much. I'm here to investigate a 400-million-year-old material that's about to change modern medicine.
To see this amazing material, I have to go underwater.
Scuba guide Christina Zenato conducts underwater nature hikes with an unforgettable feature - touching s shark.
"Yes, just nice, gentle strokes," she advises.
"Hey, I'm not just an American tourist here - I know how to touch a shark," Pogue says bravely.
Zenato says she's had people who bit her sharks. Oh no! That gives "man-eating shark" a whole new meaning.
Zenato has developed an astounding rapport with these reef sharks. She lures them to her spot with fish guts, then, by rubbing a female shark's nose in just the right way, she puts her into a sort of trance called tonic immobility.
And then, you can touch.
In those memorable 10 minutes, I learned two things about shark skin: First, it's spotless. No algae, no barnacles - nothing grows on a shark.
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