SHARK VS. HUMAN

Humans are fascinated by sharks. They either love, fear, respect, or plain hate them.
Whenever the subject of sharks comes up you will hardly find a person that doesn’t feel emotional about them in one way or another.

Unfortunately there is still a huge amount of misinformation.

Considering how dependent our life is on the health of the oceans, it is amazing how little is taught in schools about sharks and ocean life in general.

Misunderstanding and fear permeates our common knowledge of this mysterious "realm of monsters". Sensationalistic TV shows and news coverage fuel the myth.

It’s an ancient fear of being "chased down and eaten" that is so strong in us that we can’t seem to overcome it. Even after watching many years of educational shark programming, after being presented with statistics that show how ridiculously unlikely a shark bite really is, the news of ONE person getting bit sends exclamations of horror across the globe. Often a task force is called to “take action” against this horrible threat!

Never mind the fact that thousands of people die in car accidents every month.

All the positive shark PR in the world can’t counteract the incredible impact of movies like "JAWS" or "Open Water", which are seen by millions of people.

The Truth is that it’s unlikely that sharks will ever beat their bad reputation. In a way it seems that humans want to desperately hang to this "primal fear".
And maybe that’s ok, and that’s what we have to work with.

But what we need is a REASONABLE and respectful response. Humans need to learn to accept sharks and other scary creatures in the ocean. And the more they learn the less they will fear.

We need the ocean – The oceans need sharks – Therefore we need sharks!

So what? Why should anyone care?

Sharks keep our oceans healthy and clean. Without sharks the oceans would be a cesspool of the sick, dying and dead. Fisheries would collapse. The balance would be disturbed to a point of no return.

The extinction of sharks would impact the environment and economy on a global scale.

When we recognize that we have to respect and protect sharks we are also taking one step towards saving the oceans!

What goes on in our oceans is barbaric and short sighted! They may seem vast and limitless, but the reality is that they are rapidly being emptied of all fish stock and reefs are being annihilated.

Long line fishing, purse seiners, shark finning, cyanide and dynamite fishing…humans are raping and pillaging like there is no tomorrow.

As individuals the challenge can seem overwhelming, and there isn’t a lot of time to change this alarming trend. But everyone counts and even the smallest gesture of support will contribute to the bigger picture.

And if we can combine our efforts we can make a difference.