Friend or Foe? The True Dark Shadow in the Water…
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
“Open your minds, my friends. We all fear what we do not understand.”
As humans it is natural to have rational and irrational fears. A common fear is a fear of deep water, especially when you are unable to see what is beneath you. As a child before running to paddle in any open water, I would look up at my parents and ask “Are there any snarks in the water?” Now, having learnt how to say shark properly, and learning more about them, I ask the question in anticipation and excitement, not fear.
When going for a leisurely swim, it can be hard to keep the evasive, haunting Jaws soundtrack from slipping into your psyche. After all, sharks have been around for 400 million years…they are, after all, in every ocean on Earth and have evolved into slick, speedy, killing machines. [1]
However, a common perception of humans is to think our species is the epicentre of the world. We dominate and colonise spaces that we believe we have a right to as the most evolved animals on the planet. This human arrogance is the main killer of sharks. Unfortunately, these beautiful creatures are not out to eat us. We are not their prey. But through media perceptions and demonisation, we have come to accept sharks as a danger to humans, not appreciating how much of a danger we really are to them.
You may be asking yourself… but what do sharks actually contribute? They are scary and attack and kill people? I have fallen into the trap of asking myself these questions before. Many are ignorant to their importance in keeping the marine ecosystem healthy. Sharks are key to our ocean’s health, without sharks, algae will take over the reefs. This is because if you take out the key predator, medium sized fish become the key predator, they kill more small fish who help keep the reefs clean and free from algae.[2]
Not only that, but many countries also rely on the fishing industry. Without sharks, this will also cease to exist as populations of smaller fish slowly grow extinct, leaving nothing for the now key predator to eat. I, personally, would not find a lifeless, green, algae infested ocean particularly pleasant to swim in. Shark conservation is a hard brand to sell, purely because, unlike other predatory animals such as tigers, sharks aren’t fluffy and cute.
There are more than 1,000 species of sharks and rays living in our oceans around the world. Out of these species, three are known to occasionally attack humans. As a little research task, I asked 10 of my friends to name at least ten shark species (that is 1% of Sharks and Rays). Few could manage more than five: Hammerhead, Great white, Reef, Tiger and Basking.
75% of News articles mentioning sharks, name the Great White and Tiger Shark, often in association with attacks.[3] This puts a huge red target on these sharks leading to nations culling them. Shark culls and fishing competitions applaud the suffering of these creatures. However, 4 people on average die of shark attacks a year, yet humans are responsible for killing 100 million: that’s 25 million sharks per human. This proves devastating to many populations; we are decimating populations by 90% EVERY year.[4]
The delicacy of shark fin soup has meant that targeted Sharks, often blue sharks, are caught, their fins are removed, and the sharks are then thrown back into the water.[5] Unable to swim, they die a very slow and painful death. This is brutal mistreatment of creatures that do so much in preserving reefs as well as inspiring streamlining research, aeroplane shapes and even contributing to a study for curing cancer.[6]
We have put ourselves at the forefront of the narrative. The shark’s home is our oceans, this is a perspective I cannot stress enough. Would you thoughtlessly get out of a safari jeep and wander up to a lion? This is not me saying we should not swim in open water. This is me saying we need to learn to live in peace with these amazing animals. We need to stop putting more and more shark breeds on the vulnerable or endangered list. After surviving an ice age and the sea for 400 million years, think how tragic it would be if we allowed our fear to kill them.
It is time to change the narrative and understand we are the dark shadow in the water, not sharks.
By Juliette Hughes - English Pathway, Marketing Director
For more info:
Emperor’s of the deep by William Mceever
@Oceanramsey and @juansharks – follow on Instagram for tips on shark behaviour
Sign the petition to stop shark finning
Learn about breeds in our UK waters here.
[1] WWF, Shark, Species, <https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/shark>.
[2] William Mceever, Emperors of the Deep: Sharks – The Ocean’s Most Mysterious, Most Misunderstood, and Most Important Guardians.
[3] Melissa Cristina Márquez, Inaccurate And Biased Global Media Coverage Is A Threat To Sustainable Shark Conservation, (Forbes, 12. August 2020) <https://www.forbes.com/sites/melissacristinamarquez/2020/08/12/inaccurate-and-biased-global-media-coverage-is-a-threat-to-sustainable-shark-conservation/?sh=7d7e64c63fc1>.
[4] William Mceever, Book - Emperors of the Deep <https://williammckeever.com/book-emperors-of-the-deep/>.
[5] Humane Society International, Shark Finning, <https://www.hsi.org/issues/shark-finning/>.
[6] William Mceever, Emperors of the Deep: Sharks – The Ocean’s Most Mysterious, Most Misunderstood, and Most Important Guardians.