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The Meaning of Headlines - 'turf war' - animals




CNN published a video on January 30, 2016, with the headline: ‘Shark eats shark in aquarium "turf war."’ What does ‘turf war’ mean? What does turf (on land) have to do with sharks in water?

The Free Dictionary defines turf war as ‘a dispute between criminals or gangs over the right to operate within a particular area’ or ‘any dispute in which one party seeks to obtain increased rights or influence.’ It adds that turf war ‘is a bitter struggle for territory or power or control or rights.’ It could be a conflict, struggle, or battle. This seems to be about the ‘war’ part of turf war – but where is the turf?

Specifically, Oxford Dictionaries defines turf as grass, lawn, a horse racecourse, or ‘an area or sphere of activity regarded as someone’s personal territory.’ Cambridge Dictionary defines turf as the ‘area that a group considers its own.’ Home turf is regarded as home ground.

Turf war is therefore a battle over space or territory that a person or animal regards as its own and is therefore defending its territory.  
The commentary during the video says a larger eight-year-old female shark ate a smaller five-year-old male shark. It took about 21 hours to devour it. The female shark was a sand tiger shark, about 2.2 metres long (7.2 feet), and the male was about 1.2 metres (3.5 feet) long.

The public relations manager, Oh Tae-youp, at Coex Aquarium in South Korea, said that sharks have their own territory. He added, ‘However, sometimes when they bump against each other, they bite out of astonishment.’ The CNN commentary added that Coex Aquarium staff thought the attack had been caused by a turf war.

There are contradictory scientific views regarding whether sharks are territorial or not. The sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) is also known as a bull shark or grey nurse shark – very common around the world and well known in Australian waters. It is not related to the tiger shark. The sand tiger shark is quite placid and is slow-moving. It is one of the most popular aquarium sharks due to its calm temperament. They are not known to attack humans or other sharks, but may compete and attack for food.

Scorecard for the CNN headline is 95%. The term ‘turf war’ was mentioned in the video. As with all animals, shark behavior can be unpredictable. Perhaps, as the aquarium’s public relations manager indicated, the female may have been ‘astonished’ by the male’s sudden appearance. In any case, the male shark got a little too close to the female shark – and the female shark’s personal space was compromised. Although turf is a plot of grass or land, the generalized interpretation was used in this video to indicate that the territory in the seawater tank – in terms of personal space – was an issue. It was not quite a conflict, struggle, or battle, and more like an astonished reaction that involved a fast but fatal bite.  




MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).



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