Article by Support Our Sharks (Date: 03 September 2012)
Imagine a world where every car crash death was printed in the
newspapers or every drowning mentioned on the radio or even every
bee sting fatality broadcast on the evening news.
We
would quickly be so overwhelmed with the sheer volume of reports
that soon enough nobody would ever drive, swim or even step out of
their house, due to the irrational fear of what might be awaiting
them. Yet every day, the inaccurate and unjustified portrayal of
sharks in the media fuels our fear that they are lurking off our
coasts waiting for their next meal ... us!
The number of shark bite incidents occurring each year is directly
related to the amount of time humans spend in the sea. With
increasingly more people venturing out into the oceans every year
the likelihood of someone encountering a shark increases, with which
there is very likely to be a corresponding increase in shark bite
incidents. Unfortunately, the vicious reputation of sharks ignited
by Hollywood, through movies like
Jaws,
and fuelled by the international media, means that the public rarely
oppose the killing of sharks.
However, the tide of fear and vengeance against sharks is changing.
In recent years some countries have recognised the importance of
sharks, affording them extra protection by establishing sanctuaries.
But recent calls for culls in WA and Reunion Island are a sobering
reminder that things have not changed enough. The public, especially
friends and family of victims, are understandably emotional, but it
is at these times there is an even greater need for educated
decision-making rather than emotionally-driven retaliatory actions.
During
the latter half of the 20th century, shark culling was carried out
in Hawaii in an attempt to make the waters safer. From 1959 to 1976,
the state of Hawaii culled 4,668 sharks including 554 tiger sharks.
No significant decrease in the rate of shark attacks was detected.
Yet here we are 40 years later, again attempting a failed strategy.
The whole notion of a cull seems to imply some sort of quantitative
strategy based on scientific data, which in the case of sharks is
certainly not true. It is simply an appeasement tactic, one of
emotion rather than real science.
As predators at the pinnacle of the marine food pyramid, sharks
play a critical role in ocean ecosystems. They regulate the natural
balance of these ecosystems at all levels, and so are an integral
part of them. As they usually hunt old, weak or sick prey, they help
to keep these populations in good condition, allowing the healthy
and strong animals to reproduce and pass on their genes. The effects
of removing sharks from our oceans, although complex and rather
unpredictable, will be ecologically and economically damaging.
Studies have shown what happens to ocean ecosystems without sharks.
Fisheries shut down due to increases in normal prey species which
decimate commercial stocks. Coral abundance declines and is replaced
by macroalgae. Species diversity declines. Ecological chain
reactions are set in motion which cannot be undone. We should fear a
world without sharks far more than one with them.
If
we really want to make the public safer, the focus should be on
education and research. Public awareness and education about sharks
and attacks will stop the hysteria, stop the media sensationalism
and turn public opinion from fear to acceptance of sharks as being
critical to the health of our oceans and a necessary part of the
ecosystem. The way to reduce attacks is not to kill anything that
poses a threat to us. It is to educate people on how to minimise
their risk, the times of day and conditions under which attacks are
most likely to occur, put warnings at beaches that these areas are
known to be frequented by ‘dangerous' sharks.
There really needs to be some perspective involved as to the
calculated risk we take when we enter the ocean, and some real facts
as to how small that threat is, especially in comparison to other
daily activities which hold a much higher risk to our health and
wellbeing. With the correct information, we can make a reasoned
judgment as to whether or not we accept the risk to enter the
oceans.
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