Sharks Unfairly Attacked
Thursday January 10, 2008
If it’s summer in Australia that must mean it’s time for the media to sensationalize every minor shark sighting to the point where it seems that there are sharks waiting to attack at every beach in the country.
I recently read an article in the Sydney Morning Herald with the headline ‘Predator should become prey’. The author is calling for culling of sharks and even goes on to speculate that marine parks lead to more sharks (which is apparently a bad thing!) and claims that fisherman should be allowed to kill more sharks. The author relies upon a seafood retailer to provide her information about shark migration patterns.
This type of uninformed and irresponsible journalism really bothers me. It perpetuates the myth that sharks are vicious killers who are constantly seeking to eat humans, a myth that began with the movie ‘Jaws’ and has been reinforced over the years in movies such as ‘Deep Blue Sea’ and ‘Open Water’. The reality is that there have been 26 recorded fatalities from shark attacks over the last 20 years in Australia, which is hardly an epidemic. Over the last 200 years, less than one person a year has died as the result of a shark attack. To put this number in perspective, you have a better chance of dying while surfing, rock fishing, or even from being stung by a bee.
Journalists also frequently omit the fact that the vast majority of sharks in the ocean are completely non-aggressive. The sharks most commonly found in Sydney are Port Jackson Sharks and Sand Tiger Sharks (known in Australia as Grey Nurse Sharks), both sharks that I’ve had the pleasure of diving with on multiple occasions. They are both beautiful and elegant fish that are in fact quite timid.
It’s disappointing that this type of sensational news reporting continues to gives sharks such a bad name. As divers we can do something about this by writing to the editors of newspapers that publish these articles and letting everyone we know that the majority of sharks are gorgeous animals that are a long way from the blood crazed killers they’re made out to be. Read more about shark attack statistics here.
I recently read an article in the Sydney Morning Herald with the headline ‘Predator should become prey’. The author is calling for culling of sharks and even goes on to speculate that marine parks lead to more sharks (which is apparently a bad thing!) and claims that fisherman should be allowed to kill more sharks. The author relies upon a seafood retailer to provide her information about shark migration patterns.
This type of uninformed and irresponsible journalism really bothers me. It perpetuates the myth that sharks are vicious killers who are constantly seeking to eat humans, a myth that began with the movie ‘Jaws’ and has been reinforced over the years in movies such as ‘Deep Blue Sea’ and ‘Open Water’. The reality is that there have been 26 recorded fatalities from shark attacks over the last 20 years in Australia, which is hardly an epidemic. Over the last 200 years, less than one person a year has died as the result of a shark attack. To put this number in perspective, you have a better chance of dying while surfing, rock fishing, or even from being stung by a bee.
Journalists also frequently omit the fact that the vast majority of sharks in the ocean are completely non-aggressive. The sharks most commonly found in Sydney are Port Jackson Sharks and Sand Tiger Sharks (known in Australia as Grey Nurse Sharks), both sharks that I’ve had the pleasure of diving with on multiple occasions. They are both beautiful and elegant fish that are in fact quite timid.
It’s disappointing that this type of sensational news reporting continues to gives sharks such a bad name. As divers we can do something about this by writing to the editors of newspapers that publish these articles and letting everyone we know that the majority of sharks are gorgeous animals that are a long way from the blood crazed killers they’re made out to be. Read more about shark attack statistics here.
Comments
Remember when viewing the ISAF stats on shark attacks that they only count certain attacks that meet one person’s criteria. There is never any proof offered by the ISAF to prove the stats you are now reading.
If you visit www.sharkattacksurvivors.com/shark_attack/ you can read about each attack reported for the year 2007. Out of almost forty people known to be eaten or killed by sharks in 2007 only one is counted by the ISAF.
Bathers, swimmers, surfers, or anyone planning to visit the beaches you should visit www.sharkattacksurvivors.com to get the actual shark attack figures.
The figures you are reading from the ISAF are biased toward tourism and shark conservation, NOT your safety.
Al Brenneka
www.sharkattacksurvivors.com