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November 26, 2005
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:icondovsherman:
Based on an article by A. K. Dewdney ("Sharks and Fish on the Planet Wa-Tor"), this is a simple ecology simulation.

In this simulation, fish swim and reproduce while sharks swim, reproduce, and eat the fish.

About the parameters...

Breed Time: How old a fish or shark needs to be before it will reproduce. (On Wa-Tor, fish and sharks all reproduce by parthenogenesis, like amoebae.)

Starve: How long a shark can go without eating before it will starve to death.

Initial Population: The total number of each species with which to start the simulation.

World Size: The world wraps around so that, when a fish or shark swims off an edge, they come back on the opposing edge. The world can be anywhere from 2x2 to 20x15.

What parameters will provide a self-sustaining eco-system in which the sharks never hunt the fish to extinction but never starve to extinction themselves?

The original program Dewdney described in the article, back in the mid-1980's, used a simple text display in a grid with 0 . and * to indicate sharks, water, and fish.

Update: The simulation has been updated to remove the upper limit on world size. Very large worlds may cause the simulation to slow down but think about experimenting with the effect using larger worlds or long, thin worlds.
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:icongonernow:
~gonernow Jan 14, 2013
Have you had any requests from fish scientists or biology teachers to do other simulations? This could be a very good learning tool.
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:iconsilverclawpetshop:
~SilverclawPetShop Oct 18, 2012  Hobbyist Artist
1629 seconds!
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:iconroxie-the-charizard:
~Roxie-the-Charizard Aug 21, 2012
Very interesting. In my case sharks got overpopulated, the fish almost got excint, but then most sharks starved to death so fish started populating again. And then sharks got overpopulated again, and it became a big endless cycle.
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:icondetrimentality:
Mood: Love ~Detrimentality Oct 30, 2011  Student General Artist
this is so cool
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:iconproudgeek8:
!Proudgeek8 Jan 5, 2011
it seems as if this could be rather useful for some science classes, because of the way it shows the basic predator-prey patterns (Predator rises, prey falls, predator falls, prey rises, predator rises......)
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:iconawes132:
Mood: Joy ~awes132 Aug 29, 2010
i parameters wich will make it last forever or at least that long that you cant watch it till the end
shark
ini. population 1
starve 1
breed 9999999²³³ or something less but still incredible high
fish
ini. population = rest of tiles
breed 1
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:iconsonicfan570130:
~SonicFan570130 Aug 15, 2010  Hobbyist Writer
Over 4000 seconds~
Fish:
Breedrate- 2
Original population- 120
Sharks:
Breedrate- 20
Starve- 1
Original population- 40
Size: 40 X 15
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:iconnaught101:
~naught101 Jan 29, 2010
Awesome.
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:iconsonicfan570130:
Mood: Wow! ~SonicFan570130 Aug 22, 2009  Hobbyist Writer
I think that I have success fully made an ecosystem that won't die!
Fish:
Breed rate: 1
original population: 550
Sharks:
Breed rate: 20
starve rate: 5
original population: 90
I'll stay 'til they die...
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:iconveclock:
~veclock Oct 9, 2008  Student Digital Artist
what a perfect simulation! I've tried that, but the predator or the prey always died out... How did you do that?
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