Shark Attack!
Sharks are often painted as monsters, whilst the vast majority are shy in addition to peaceful animals, fundamentally important to the ocean’s health. in addition to the probability of being bitten by a shark while swimming or surfing is usually incredibly low.
Back in 1975, Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” movie became one of the most successful motion pictures of all time. Leveraging on the people’s ancestral fear of big predators, one of the main results of This specific movie is usually keeping millions of people out of the water, imprinting on the audience’s mind the idea in which sharks are cold-blooded assassins in addition to in which killing a shark is usually not such a bad idea.
This specific favorite feeling, coupled with the increasing request of shark fin through the Chinese market for shark fin soup, have lead many shark populations close to their extinction.
Having a close look at actual numbers of shark attacks in addition to related injuries, the reality is usually very different than perceived. According to the last International Shark Attack File (ISAF) report, in 2012 there were about 80 unprovoked shark attacks on humans. “Unprovoked” are defined as incidents where an attack on a live human occurs inside the shark’s natural habitat without human provocation of the animal. So spear-fishers, shark riders in addition to these kinds of interactions are not included in “unprovoked”.
Most of these episodes occurred in North American waters (42), followed by Australia (14), South Africa (4), in addition to Reunion (3). one particular incident was reported through Canary Islands, completely new Zealand, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Tonga in addition to Indonesia. Among these attacks, only seven resulted in a fatality (3 in South Africa, 2 in Australia, 1 in California in addition to 1 in Reunion), following the trend of about 7% of fatalities since the data began to be recorded (approximately first decade of 1900, more than 100 years).
Even if these numbers would likely appear worrying at first glance, let’s investigate a little bit more in detail. I would likely not explain about how dangerous operating a car is usually in every country or, even worse, operating a motorcycle in Bali or Jakarta. Let’s remain inside the natural world for these examples. inside the USA only, inside the last 50 years, about 2,000 people died through a lightning strike, compared to the only 26 shark attack fatalities. In southern USA, inside the same period, 18 people died by an alligator attack, in addition to only nine by shark bite. In Florida, 125 people died as results of tornadoes, compared with six shark attack fatalities.
If you still think in which sharks are terrible killers, you might be interested to know in which inside the last 10 years inside the USA, 263 people died by a dog attack, in addition to sharks killed only 10. in addition to in completely new York City alone, approximately 8,000 people are bitten through another human (!) in addition to some of them even die.
Having a look at all This specific data, the idea’s clear in which the diffused “shark dread” is usually more a society in addition to media-induced fear than an actual risk. Some very low-level movies like “Sharknado” (a tornado of sharks hitting Los Angeles), “Sand Sharks” (sharks swimming below the sand eating people on the beach) or even “Shark Avalanche” (sharks attacking skiers swimming below the snow) have been produced, hoping to arouse these ancestral fears (with low success, I have to admit – watch the trailers on YouTube).
Annual Risk of Death During One’s Lifetime. Source: International Shark Attack File
Millions of sharks are killed every year for their fins in addition to meat. Several international scientists have already pointed out in which such removal of “apex predators” through the oceans may cause irreversible damage on these fragile ecosystems, already threatened by many additional factors, including chemical in addition to plastic pollution, waste disposal, climate change in addition to overfishing, just to name a few.
In Bali especially, to find a shark during a dive or through a boat has become a very uncommon experience. Indonesia is usually one of the main shark in addition to ray fisheries inside the planet, especially in waters surrounding Lombok in addition to Bali. Some attempts at creating social awareness about the shark’s disappearance are already working very well. Apparently the demand of shark fins has decreased in recent months, in addition to some organizations in Singapore in addition to Hong Kong are proposing strong campaigns against the shark fin soup tradition.
Organizations like Bali Sharks (www.balisharks.com) in addition to the Gili Shark Foundation (facebook.com/gilisharkfoundation) are raising awareness among tourists in addition to locals about the importance of keeping Indonesian sharks alive. The Thai-based UK Charity, Shark Guardian (www.sharkguardian.org) has just finished a two-week tour visiting schools in addition to dive centres/resorts in Sanur, the Gili islands in addition to Nusa Lembongan. The Directors, Brendon Sing in addition to his wife Liz, have been educating more than 17,000 people since February This specific year when they committed to their projects full time. They have visited Hong Kong, Brunei, Indonesia in addition to Malaysia in This specific time, as well as locations throughout Thailand. Through educational presentations in addition to workshops on sharks in addition to marine life they aim to inspire change in addition to get people involved in shark conservation. Shark guardians visited Bali International in addition to Dyatmika schools to talk to the students. They also presented to more than 30 women at Bali Wise in Nusa Dua, demonstrating how important sharks are for maintaining long-term tourism benefits on Bali. Divers in addition to tourists were the target of the local islands in addition to in total around 500 people saw Brendon in addition to Liz in action during their time in Indonesia.
With everyone’s involvement in addition to help, we can stop the fear of “Jaws” in addition to guarantee a brighter future for our oceans.
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Shark Attack!
Shark Attack!