Save the Shark

Ever since the release of the movie Jaws, people have been afraid of sharks. And each summer the media feeds this irrational fear with news stories of close encounters. The image of an evil great white patrolling the shoreline, ready to attack, has unfortunately left an indelible mark.

But it's the sharks that should be scared.

According to SharkAngels.org in 2008 only four people worldwide were killed by sharks. In 2007 there was only one death.
Yet every day human beings kill over 200,000 sharks.

Many species of shark are now seriously threatened due to over fishing and "finning" - where the fin is removed at sea and the body discarded. Some may be close to extinction.

But this week there was some encouraging news for sharks. Palau, a small Pacific Republic, is to create the first 'shark sanctuary', banning all commercial fishing in its waters. The announcement was made by Paula's President Johnson Toribiong at the UN General Assembly. It will protect about 230,000 sq miles of ocean, an area roughly the size of France, and conservationists are celebrating the move as 'game-changing".

"These creatures are being slaughtered and are perhaps on the brink of extinction unless we take positive action to protect them," said President Toribiong, who has also called for a ban on shark-finning. Shark fin soup is a delicacy in Asian countries, and victims of this dish include two species of hammerhead shark listed as endangered.
"The need to protect the sharks outweigh the need to enjoy a bowl of soup," was President Toribiong's message to diners.

Other countries have implemented restrictions on shark finning, and taken steps to protect the creature, but conservationists see Palau's initiative as a breakthrough.
"They've decided to do what no other nation has done and declare their entire Exclusive Economic Zone a shark sanctuary," said Matt Rand, director of global shark conservation at the Pew Environment Group.

Shark admirers worldwide now hope many other nations will follow suit and take serious steps to protect sharks before its too late.

And now for a personal account.

I used to be one of those people terrified of sharks, and yes, it was after watching Jaws.
But one day changed all that. I no longer fear sharks, I admire them.

I'd only seen two sharks before this summer. One was a tiny corpse rotting on the beach. The other was a foot-long baby a fisherman had tossed away. It was flopping around in the shallows, so I scooped it up and put it back in deep water. Its body felt smooth and rubber-like.

But in July 2009 I saw plenty. I was kayaking on the southeast coast in an inlet teeming with dolphins and an area well-known as a breeding ground for sharks.

As I paddled along, a little nervous knowing there were sharks around, I witnessed a terrible scene. A group of guys caught a shark, cheered and whooped, then tossed it onto the sand where it flopped around helplessly. Upset, knowing there was nothing I could do, I turned away. Later I saw it dead on the beach. I have no idea if they intended to eat it, but it took a long time to die.
They seemed to be competing with another group of fishermen nearby and were obviously proud of their catch.

The other group caught a four foot shark and mercifully released it back into the water. I kayaked over to see it, and although traumatized after its ordeal, it swam slowly towards me. I've never seen a large shark this close up and it was exhilarating.
Whether it survived or not, is anybody's guess. But at least it had a chance.

Another shark caught on the beach that day was stabbed in the head, chopped up and carried away in a cooler. Its death was at least quick.

This all took place in a few hours on one American beach. Imagine such incidents multiplied across the globe, then add all the casualties of commercial fishing and it seems plausible that nearly 100 million sharks are killed each year around the world.

A sobering thought.