‌Appendix III

The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway’s List of Principal Sharks in

Cuban Waters

Ernest Hemingway’s list of sharks in Cuban waters. Two-page typewritten list preserved in two drafts, the 1rst with handwritten annotations (see 1g. 10). Ernest Hemingway Fersonal Fapers, Stories and Fragments, Box MSS7, Folder 10, at the John F. Kennedy Fresidential Library and Museum, Boston.

Frincipal Sharks in Cuban Waters
Local Name	English Name	Remarks
DENTUSO	Mako Shark	Rare. Vicious. Grows to 1000 pounds and over. Could be man- eater but ordinarily follows schools of mackerel and sword1sh.
‌CORNUDA	Hammerhead	Common, especially in spring and summer. Frequents entrances of harbours and small rivers and along reefs. Is de1nitely a man- eating shark and reaches weights of 1200 and over. Rarely attacks during breeding period in April.
CABEZA BATEA	Tiger Shark	Abundant, slow, stupid shark which will eat anything from garbage to gasoline tins. When blood is present in water, will attack anything including man. Reaches 1000 pounds but most common at &00-G00 pounds. They have been known to take

		bathers from the rocky beaches oI the Funta Brava at Havana and if they have become man eaters, are dangerous.
GALANO	Shovel Nose	Most common Cuban shark and the most consistently dangerous. If hungry they will attack anything. If not hungry they are shy and wary. They are found in all parts of the Gulf Stream and will come instantly to the scent of blood. Have a 1ne sense of smell – will come where any objects dropped in the water especially those containing grease or anything nauseous. The smell of blood maddens them, so that they will attack blindly even when wounded.
TIBURON DE LEY	White Shark or True Shark	Comparatively rare. Have never known them to be man-eaters as they are comparatively shy and never attack hooked 1sh. Reach great weight. Much nonsense has been written about this shark as a man-eater. OI Cuban coast, those sharks which have attacked human beings, have been the Hammerhead, Galano, or Tiger Shark. The Mako will rush at a man who has him hooked but he is primarily a 1sh-eating shark and there are no instances of his ever having attacked human beings, as far as I know.
BOCA DULCE	Blue-Fin or Soup-Fin Shark	An exceedingly shy 1sh-eating shark which is only caught at night. No instances of ever attacking human beings.
GATA	Nurse Shark	Abundant in shallows. Has no teeth. Dark brown in colour. Absolutely inoIensive.
ZORRO	Thresher Shark	Very shy shark in deep water.

Never attacks human beings, nor hooked 1sh.

Black-Tip Shark or Mackerel Shark

Rarely goes over three hundred pounds. Flump, full bodied, extremely voracious. A 1sh shark which might, and has, attacked men who have had 1sh slime or 1sh blood on them and might attack a man who is bleeding.

Runs, usually with the schools of migratory 1sh such as king1sh, bonito, etc.

Notes:

Believe any tests of repellant are valueless unless sharks have a live, bleeding object to stimulate their appetites. Their behaviour when there is no blood in the water is completely distinct from when there is blood. For a repellant to have any value conditions of wounded men in the water must be simulated, either by bleeding porpoise, or black1sh, bleeding 1sh, or a bleeding warm blooded animal such as a pig. I myself would consider any tests of a repellant valueless unless it were made under such conditions. A shark can change from a comparatively harmless object to a de1nite danger the instant it smells blood. Without plenty of fresh blood from a live object in the water, any repellant tests will be worthless.

E.H.