“Fish are friends, not food!”
After the tragic news about the recent shark attack on a tourist in Fish Hoek, a lot of friends have been sending me news snippets, especially knowing how much sharks fascinate and interest me (and knowing my activist leanings). It’s all over the bloggisphere too, with varying views on whether sharks are the man-eating monsters they’re made out to be or not.
I do of course have quite a lot of thoughts on this issue, and while I have tried to keep my opinions to myself to avoid endless debates, all this media frenzy has gotten on my nerves now and I think it’s time I voiced a few of my thoughts. You may not agree with me, and obviously anything I post here is solely my own opinion, but some of these facts are pretty solid. Bear with me here… this may not be what you want to hear.
Fact #1: This does not happen every day
In 2000, the year with the most recorded shark attacks, there were 79 shark attacks reported worldwide, 16 of them fatal. In 2005 and 2006 this number decreased to 61 and 62 respectively, while the number of fatalities dropped to only four per year. Of these attacks, the majority occurred in the United States (53 in 2000, 40 in 2005 and 39 in 2006). The New York Times reported in July 2003 that there had been only one fatal attack in the previous year.
The United States has had more shark attacks (1,032) than any other country. According to the International Shark Attack File, the states in the U.S. where the most attacks have occurred are Florida, Hawaii, California, South Carolina and North Carolina. Outside the U.S., Australia and South Africa have had the most attacks. As of 2009, the ISAF recorded a total of 2,251 attacks worldwide since 1958, with 464 attacks being fatal. The location with the most recorded shark attacks is New Smyrna Beach, Florida. [via]
Fact #2: Compare this with how many sharks are killed by people
JAWS?
If you didn’t know by now, Great White and many other shark species populations are declining at a rapid rate. Great White species have dropped by as much as 60-95% over the past 50 years, and reported statistics on the number of sharks killed each year for sport, finning, pollution and other purposes is somewhere close to 100 million. The fact is, despite what ‘documentaries’ such as Shark Con may say, sharks are in real danger – and mostly from us humans.
Fact # 3: It is a fish, big scary teeth or not
The big blue…
Just like lions, crocodiles, hippo (which I might add kill far more people, as do mosquitos) and any other wild animal, sharks are just animals at the end of the day. They are one of the most interesting and complex fish species we will ever know, and have managed to remain largely undisturbed for millions of year, without the need to evolve. As apex predators, sharks are the key to our survival, and without sharks, our oceans (and soon after, the planet) cannot survive. Just like any fish though, sharks are not invincible – big teeth and all.
The moral of the story?
You have more chance of drowning in the sea than you have of seeing a shark, let alone being attacked by one. Panic and fear only makes things worse, and since we don’t freak out whenever we drive on Dewaal Drive (where people die every year), or the N1 (where people die almost every month) or even walking around in our cities (where people die every day), why should we freak out when we go to the beach?
Freak accident people, it happens so infrequently that it makes front page news. Jaws was responsible for shitty attitudes in the old days, and look what a mess that made for conservation efforts. Let’s try and keep it together now and remember how many people DON’T get killed by sharks when they swim in the sea.
Also, read this to find out what may have happened with the recent Fish Hoek attack.
Let’s save our fear for the real baddies out there like criminals, psychos and komodo dragons. 
I was wondering when you were going to write about this
Hey princess! … long time no blog xD
Just popped in to say “Hi!” and a Happy 2010!
Regards,
D
@D – heya hun, happy happy to you too! x
@Chris – I was planning to just leave it, honestly don’t see this as a major issue at all or worth having to explain, but I’d had so many people trying to get a reaction from me that eventually decided to give my 2 cents, hehe.
[...] honestly don’t know why people make such a big deal about sharks, when something far more dangerous looms over us every single moment here in Cape Town. Table [...]
i love this entry
sharks are a scary thing
but seriously just because people get killed from it doesnt make them evil
they’re just being animals
they way they were taught by their shark parents and natural instincts
yea, when they kill a human or a human is severly injured by a shark it hurts the family of that person. but they dont care and they dont know.
all they know is that they are hungry
yet people are exterminating them like they did to Jews (and other races) in WWII…
it’s bull shat and…friggin wrong
love this entry girl
Thanks Mandy!
Ye, sharks have more to worry about than we do, too true!
Wtf is ronq wiith yuu ppl??? leave dem alone dey diidnt do anythiinq to yuu!!!
humans are putting many animals in danger, humans are ignorant in thinking they want to get even with animals , or they want to take control. Eventually the horrible things we do to animals will come back to haunt us. Saddens me to see that picture
Sharks may be considered the monsters of the deep, however they are just animals like humans. They eat to survive and they fight to survive. Dolphins can kill a full grown Great White and swim away without a scratch. Sharks don’t have fingers, like a dog, they feel with their teeth. When a human is “bitten” the Shark didn’t do it because they were hungry or felt like killing something for the fun of it, your swimming has made them curious. They are attracted by the electrolites that you send out when you swim. Just like a seal, your pattern is unique and they want to know what it is. It makes me sick to my stomach seeing these beautiful creatures being ripped apart for their fins to be sold in an “anti-aging soup” in China for minimum $200.00 a bowl…depending on the breed of shark you are sipping on. To have their teeth cut out, their fins cut off and thrown back into the water to bleed to death.
Many people think that we cannot compare animals to humans, that the human life is more important and worthwhile…to me without animals, would humans be able to exist?
We, as humans, think that we have the “right” to poach, torture and kill innocent animals who are only trying to live. I would gladly give my life if it meant saving a breed of animals.
Shark breeds used to be in the thousands…now they are down to hundreds if that. They are some, if not, the longest living creatures on the face of this earth…they have survived “evolution” doesn’t that say something to you? We as humans have to constintly change to match our ever decreasing environment whereas Sharks are Mother Nature’s Perfect Creation.
One day soon…maybe..hopefully…humans will wake up and realize what a mess we are making of things. There are thousands, including myself, who already know…we need more. Without these precius creatures, where will the world be?
My heart breaks each and everytime I see something like this happening…I only wish I could do something more to help.
I seriously cannot believe people like you. “You have more of a chance of drowning that seeing a shark”
Tell that to all the people who’ve lost appendages to these vicious creatures.
I’d tell you to share that fun fact with all the people who’ve been killed by sharks, but oh yeah. They’re dead.
Obviously you didn’t take the time to read the post fully, or click through to any of the research links provided – I’m not saying that sharks are harmless fluffy kittens, I’m saying that more people die just getting into their cars and driving to work, or getting hit by lightning or drowning or taking drugs or getting killed by a random chair falling out of the sky.
If you swim in the sea, you have to realise that you run the risk of being attacked by a shark – you wouldn’t go and play with lions at a game park either, or go walkies in a township after dark, armed only with a camera, a mini skirt and a handbag loaded with cash would you?
It’s time to wake up and splash some reality on your face – sharks are just big scary fish, and they pose no major threat to humanity beyond the silly hype that people make when there is an attack.
People’s lives and safety are just “silly hype”? Wow.
Y’know, I completely agree that you’re putting yourself in danger when venturing into a shark’s territory, but I’m merely commenting on the semantics of your argument. If you’re going to argue for one side, argue for the other. How about doing some research on the shark related deaths? Or maybe some research on the many sightings off the coast of Florida? Sightings lead to encounters which lead to death. Just sayin.
I live in Cape Town, we have FAR more sightings than Florida – but very few actual attacks. Sightings do not always lead to encounters, and encounters do not always lead to death.
If you look at some of those links above on actual numbers of shark attacks world wide, you would be able to see that shark attacks are not all that common at all. Yes, it’s tragic when someone gets bitten or killed – but it’s just as tragic that millions of people are maimed, killed and even burned alive sometimes in road accidents that happen every day.
Then there is the crime rate across South Africa and the world. How many people get killed by family or people that they know compared to sharks? How many people die of AIDS or drug overdose compared to sharks? More people die from getting bitten by MOSQUITO than sharks. So I guess mosquitoes are even more vicious and dangerous?
For most of these dangers, you can be killed just driving around and living your normal every day life. But to be killed by a shark, you actually have to get into the ocean. It’s preventable, and avoidable.
How about doing some research on how many sharks are killed every year – those numbers are way more shocking than the number of shark attacks on people.
Are people less important that sharks?
Men are hunters. Are you seriously defending a shark’s life over a human’s? If one person dies by a shark, that’s more important than a million sharks lives. People are precious, and valuable. Animals aren’t people. I’m not saying it’s not tragic that a shark is killed for its teeth, or it’s fin, but what I am saying is that it is more tragic to see a person dead by a shark than a shark dead by a man.
You’re probably going to get up in arms about me being a person that hates animals. If that’s what you think, I’m afraid you’re wrong. But I certainly think that human life is more important.
Of course humans are more important than animals – that isn’t the point here at all. But if there are no sharks, there will be no oceans; without oceans, there will be no planet, and we’d all die off anyway. If you had done your homework, you may know that as apex predators, sharks play a vital role in our ecosystems, and killing them off at such a rapid rate is going to end up doing us ALL damage.
You can’t compare a rare shark attack with the huge volumes of sharks being killed by finning, sports fishing and various other commercial aspects at all either – research has shown time and time again that sharks do not HUNT people; but people hunt sharks.
I do see all sides of the argument, and I’m not a tree hugger type who is totally out of touch with the world… but I’ve read enough and learned enough over the past 15 odd years to be able to realise that sharks are not monsters that trawl the deeps looking for hapless victims to maul.
wow what a jerk why on earth would you kill that shark sharks kill less people in a year than aligators do. every one makes sharks out to be these horrible creatures but they arent they actually tend not to ever bother humans the only attacks by sharks happen when we are stupid enough to get out to far during their feeding time. During shark attacks the victim rarely gets killed by the shark if some one ever does die its from lack of blood due to the attack and they just mistake us for other ocean life most of the time. But sharks arent even protected and tons of them die each year from people killing them and they are a major part of the oceans eco system. pictures like the one above just make me sick people killing sharks out of ignorance…
you suck big hairy balls from your mom