Sharks: A Species Endangered By Humans
By Natalie Garrett
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As I began my descent I could already see the difference. The green and red pieces of coral popped out; it was the most vibrant colored coral I had seen in my entire life. As I approached the reef wall I could see the abundance of marine life. Blue queen parrotfish, bright yellow tang and striped sergeant majors circled along the top of the trench. At first I was enamored by the number of sea amenities and the tiny clownfish that were hopping in and out of the anenimies tentacles. But the clownfish were only the beginning. The further I descended down the reef wall, the more I saw. Tiny black cow fish with polka dots, deep blue tang, and fairy basslets weaved in and out of the crevices on the coral. Every once in a while I would catch a glimpse of a trumpet fish darting past.
Toward the end of the dive, my dive buddy started frantically shaking my fin. I turned around and saw my dive buddy giving the shark hand signal and pointing to a large grey figure in the distance. My heart stopped. Was I finally going to get to see a shark? I was both ecstatic and terrified at the same time. Before I knew it the shark was less than ten feet away from me, and I froze. The ten-foot long Caribbean reef shark glided past my dive group and we were all in awe of this majestic sea creature’s beauty. The shark appeared to not even notice the group of awe-stricken divers hovering beside it. It was as if my scuba diving group did not even exist. As the shark swam away I glanced up and saw the grand reef wall that I had just dove down. At that moment I realized that I had entered an entirely different world. A world that not many humans have explored: the ocean. The ocean covers over 70% of our planet, yet 95% has been left unexplored.
During my dive at Tent Reef Wall in Saba, the fish and other creatures living in the reefs were not scared of me because they had no reason to be: no human had ever harmed them. While I was diving it was as if I did not even exist, which is exactly how it should be. Instead of the marine animals darting away the second they see scuba divers, or the shark attacking the humans as the public assumes it will, the marine animals continued to swim about. Needless to say, Saba has the best diving conditions that I have ever seen.
And the fact that the entire Island of Saba is a Marine Park is not a coincidence. By being exposed to both protected and non- protected marine environments I can see the vast difference between the conditions of the two. Historically Sharks have been viewed as killers, but in reality humans pose more of a threat to Sharks. Since not everyone has had the experience with the ocean and sharks like I have I can not help but wonder: if more people saw how beautiful of creatures sharks are, and had experiences like I have had, would they see that our sharks are something worth protecting? Moments like this have showed me that sharks are something worth protecting and that I need to show others that they are something worth protecting too.
Sharks have been gliding through earth’s oceans for over 430 million years, making them one of the oldest mammals still alive today. Currently there are 400 living species of sharks categorized into 8 orders and 30 families such as lamniformes, squaliformes, and carcharinforms. Overall, species of sharks have different designs. In general they have a streamline body shape, they are constantly swimming so water flows over their gills, which is necessary for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. While swimming water goes into their mouths over their gills and leaves through lateral gill slits behind their head. Sharks do not have true bones; their skeleton is made of cartilage.
They also grow teeth continuously throughout their life, replacing every broken tooth. ix
It is no secret that sharks are known to be one of the most ferocious predators in the ocean, which is partly due to their sixth sense, the Ampullae of Lorenzini. Near sharks’ snout are small pores called Ampullae of Lorenzini and connected to those pores are long jelly filled bulbs that lead to the nerves below the skin. Electrical signals coming from the movement of other organisms are received by the ampullae and go through the jelly filled bulbs where the signal strikes the nerves and sends signals to the brain. Usually sharks have several thousand Ampullae of Lorenzini pores; hammerheads, for example, have over 3000. So when a shark’s pray is swimming through the water the pray sends an electric signal, which the shark can sense from miles away. This sense is also used to help navigate the globex.
Whenever the average human hears the word “shark” a large ferocious human-killer generally comes to mind. Perhaps the most well known shark, the Great
White, averages 10-21 feet long, 2600 lbs, and live 30-40 yrs. They have long ocean migrations, a widespread habitat of tropical and temperate waters, and are from the
ix 5461, 106 Cong. (2000) (enacted). Print. ix Gale. "Sharks." Environmental Encyclopedia. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Science in Context. Web. 7 Mar. 2013.
Archipelago is a group of islands located off of the coast of Papua New Guinea and are one of the few locations where shark calling is still practiced by indigenous people.
Toxok is an example of a shark caller that lives on the Island of New Ireland. The shark callers are an elite group in New Ireland and regard shark calling as if it is a religion rather than an economic practice. Toxok goes out into the ocean by himself with only a canoe and a noose made of plaited cane, he then proceeds to subdue the creatures by hand. Toxok refers to shark calling as a game: "It's like a game, because I have prepared all the rituals. I have caught sharks, and I know every time I will go out, I will catch a shark". The shark callers on New Ireland have a respect for sharks that has been lost by the rest of the world. For Papa New Guineans shark calling is a ritual and skill that no other civilization in the world hasxii.
While cultures do exist that respect sharks, there are not nearly enough cultures to save certain species from extinction. There are some estimates that for every person killed by a shark; people kill 25 million sharks each year. Over 150 million sharks are slaughtered each year, that is 270,000 a day. The incredible number of deaths is due
xi "Great White Shark (Carcharodon Carcharias)." Encyclopedia of Endangered Species. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Science in Context. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.
The liver oils of sharks are added to some cosmetics because they are the cheapest oils closest to natural skin oils. Sharkskin is also used as leather for shoes, wallets, and purses. Cartilage is used as replacement for human skin for burn victims and teeth are used in jewelryxiii. It is estimated that tens of millions of sharks are lost to by catch each year. By catch is when fisherman catches more fish than they intended by using some of the following methods:
-Longlining is when fisherman use thousands of baited hooks hanging from a
miles long line to catch fish.
-Trawling is pulling a large net through the water by either one or two boats.
-And Gillnets are long walls of invisible netting hung in the water.
Finally, it is guessed that the most sharks are lost to shark fining. Fisherman will catch millions of sharks, cut the shark’s dorsal fin off, and then throw the shark’s carcass back into the ocean. From there the sharks either starve to death or drown because they are unable to swim effectively without their dorsal fin.
xiii Bright, Michael. "Jaws: The Natural History of Sharks." Natural History Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013 xiv The millions of dorsal fins are then used to make shark fin soup, a clear broth that has been prepared by dried shark fins for over 2,000 years. It is considered a gourmet food and is mostly an Asian delicacy.
Bowls will be sold for anywhere from $40-$500xv.
Shark conservationist have started to voice their opinions all over the world in order to save our oceans dying population of sharks whom date back to the Jurassic time period. Only a few countries like USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada have fishery management plans for sharks. In USA National Marine Fisheries Service's Atlantic shark fishery banned fining, oversaw tagging problems, and set quotas. In 1997 it cut quotas of sharks in half and banned shark fining in US Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean waters. South Africa passed legislation, which made it illegal to hook a great white within
200 nautical miles of the coast in April 1991. Tasmania, Maldives, and Namibia followed this idea. In September 1999 Malta became the first European country to ban the fishing of great white sharks. In Australia in 1997 Great White sharks were officially protected in
xiv Rotman/Corbis, Jeffery L. Dead sharks lie on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Digital image. The Guardian. March 11, 2013. Accessed March 12, 2013. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2008/feb/19/endangered.sharks#/?picture =349300129&index=9. xv "Shark Bycatch." Oceana. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.
Prohibition Act was passed. The Act “make it unlawful to: (1) remove any of the fins of a shark, including the tail, and discard the carcass of the shark at sea; (2) have control or possession of such a fin aboard a fishing vessel without the corresponding carcass; or (3) land such a fin without the corresponding carcass”xvii. In 2011 the United States also passed the Shark and Fishery Conservation Act which “establish catch levels for those portions of fish stocks within their respective geographic areas covered by the Under- standing on the date of enactment of this Act that exceed the catch levels otherwise required under the Northeast Multi- species Fishery Management Plan”xviii. Baby steps have begun to be made in favor of shark conservation, but not nearly enough steps to stop extinction
Since the 5th century Greek historians gave sharks a bad rep. The Greek historian
Herodotus described sharks defeating an entire Persian war fleet. Apparently the sharks
"seized and devoured the sailors after their ship was lost to the rocks on the shore of athos”. This kick started sharks being portrayed as ruthless, cold-blooded killers. In the
19th century European readers were scared by a story of a shark eating an entire family out at sea. Not only were sharks demonized then, but they are also portrayed quite negatively in media around the world today. By doing research for this paper alone I found an astounding number of articles about shark attacks, but I had to dig quite deep to find articles that showed sharks in a positive light. Later that same article states that an
Australian University analyzed all of the articles published about gray nurse sharks xvi Bright, Michael. "Jaws: The Natural History of Sharks." Natural History Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. xviii S. 111-348, 111 Cong., U.S. G.P.O. (2011) (enacted). Print starting in 2001. The research concluded that 82% of editorial submissions about sharks were negative. xix
Undoubtedly the most press that sharks have gotten is from the movie Jaws. To this day whenever anyone hears the word shark the movie poster image of Jaws the shark’s wide-open mouth with razor sharp teeth usually comes to mind. Jaws was Steven
Spielberg’s first big blockbuster movie, based off of the novel by Peter Benchley about a rogue shark. The book was inspired by record of 4000-pound shark that was caught off of the coast of Long Island. When Jaws was written, our knowledge of sharks was minimal, so gaps in facts were filled with fiction. So from the start the movie was already based off of a book with unsure information regarding sharks. While filming, Spielberg made a huge mechanical shark to use in majority of the shots. Therefore the entire movie is filled with scenes of a fake mechanical shark pretending to eat a boat and the people on board.
However some of the shots were actually filmed with real great whites. During the movie the main character tells a very moving story about Indianapolis, an American vessel during World War II that sunk and left 300 sailors abandoned in the ocean. It was rumored that the sailors that died were killed by sharks, when in reality majority of sailors died from dehydration. This is a prime example of sharks being demonized in the media. Jaws was so groundbreaking because it was so different from any movie of its time. It left such an affect on audiences that to this day people still do not swim in the ocean because of it. Jaws induced panic. Yet Jaws did not create all of the negative press.
It was because of this movie that marine biologists actually started studying Sharks,
xix "Killer Sharks? Shark Perceptions Evolve From Cold-Blooded Killers to Environmental Saviors." Discovery Channel. Accessed April 1, 2013. http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/shark-week/about-this-show/killer-sharks.htm which is why we have so much information about them todayxx. However, I cannot help but wonder how different of a reputation sharks would have if this movie was never made. While watching Shark Week on Discovery Channel I actually saw an interview with Steven Spielberg where they asked him if he regretted making the film. His response was that from a technical standpoint him and his crew created an extremely innovative technique by actually filming on the ocean rather than in a tank. But, he feels awful about the bad reputation that the movie gave sharks. Him and his wife often volunteer with shark organizations and do everything they can to promote sharks as the non-threatening animals that they truly are.
Granted, sharks do not get their killer reputation for no reason. There are about 75 to 80 unprovoked shark attacks each year worldwide. For example, the 39-year -old surfer Francisco Javier Solorio Jr. of Orcutt had been surfing and swimming in the waters of Santa Barbara since he was a child. On October 23, he was surfing in the waters off of
Surfer Beach in Santa Barbara, California when a shark bit him in the torso. Despite his friends’ efforts Francisco died at the scene. In 2010 a UCSB student also died at this site while body boarding when a shark nearly destroyed his legxxi.
Since sharks rarely ever eat an entire human it is clear that sharks do not bite humans because we are potential food. So there are four different theories as to why sharks bite humans. First the investigatory theory; sharks are at the top of the food chain so they have no natural predators. They are confident and curious creatures so when they
xx "The Inspiration for Jaws." In How Jaws Changed the World. Discovery Chanel. August 2013 xxi "California Surfer Killed in Shark Attack May Have Been Mistaken for Prey, Experts Say Read More: Http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/23/california-surfer-killed-in- shark-attack-off-vandenberg-air-force-base-beach/#ixzz2PGKoo6Kr." Fox News. October 24, 2012. Accessed April 1, 2013. are unable to figure out what an object or organism is they unfortunately use their investigative bite to figure it out. Keep in mind that sharks do not have arms like humans do to test out what things are. Second is the mistaken identity theory; attacks occur when water conditions are poor, murky, turbid, bad visibility, and background noise from heavy surf can cause sharks to mistake humans for other pray. When surfers lie on surfboards with wetsuits on they look exactly like seals from beneath, which are one of sharks main prey. Third, the social/ defense theory; Great Whites defend their personal space so a surfer above the water would be unaware of a shark below them defending their space until the shark bit them. Finally, other researchers believe that once sharks bite into their pray they can detect the ratio of fat or bone to muscle, and therefore determine whether they want to continue eating their prey or not. That is why a shark only bites so many humans once and then the shark swims away, because humans are not on a sharks’ natural dietxxii.
In general it is extremely unlikely to encounter a shark while swimming, I have spent so many years swimming and scuba diving in the ocean and have only seen a total of four. And it is even less likely to be bitten by a shark. In 2012 there were only 80 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide. In the United States only 2% of shark attacks proved to be fatal in 2012. So the chances are pretty slim of encountering and dying from a shark attack. Here are some facts from the Florida Museum of Natural History and
National Geographic about things that are more likely to injure you than a shark: lightning killed almost 76 times as many people (1,970) as did sharks (26) between 1959 and 2010 in the Costal United States. In the United States from 2001 to 2010, dogs killed
xxii "Why Do White Sharks Bite People?" Save Our Seas. Accessed April 22, 2013. http://saveourseas.com/articles/why_do_white_sharks_bite_people more than 26 times the number of people (263) than did sharks (10). Finally in 1996, toilettes injured 43,000 Americans, buckets and pails hurt 11,000 and room fresheners were responsible for 2,600 injuries in the nation. Sharks only injured 13 people that same yearxxiii. So to put things in perspective it is much more likely to be killed by lightning or a dog, and be injured by a toilette, bucket, or room freshener than a shark.
Sharks do actually play an essential role in our ecosystem. Sharks keep the food chain in balance by eating efficiently and going after the older/slower fish. They "groom" fish populations to the right size so the fish species are not too populous and therefore do not harm the ecosystem. They are also an example of "keystone" species; if they are removed the whole food chain could collapse. Sharks keep their prey populations healthy by feeding on the sick and weak of their prey populations. Some also feed off of dead carcasses on the sea floor. Therefore by praying on the weakest individuals sharks strengthen the gene pools of their prey. Sharks keep sea grass beds and other vital habitats healthy as well. Via intimidation factors sharks can keep their prey species from overgrazing their own habitats. For example, in Hawaii tiger sharks eat turtles and turtles graze on sea grass beds. In the absence of sharks the turtles were constantly feeding on the sea grass beds and destroyed their own habitat. Sharks have survived in our oceans, which cover 2/3 of our planet for 450 million years, so if sharks go extinct it would not only have a major affect on the ocean, but also on the entire planetxxiv.
xxiii McLaughlin, Eliott C. "Report: Shark Attacks up but You're Not Going to Need a Bigger Boat." CNN. February 12, 2013. Accessed April 1, 2013. http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/11/us/shark-attack-report xxiv "Sharks' Role in the Ecoystem." Shark Savers. Accessed April 23, 2013. https://www.sharksavers.org/en/education/the-value-of-sharks/sharks-role-in-the-ocean/ Luckily there are other people like me in the world who are concerned by the declining shark populations. For example, Shark Angles is focused on raising awareness about the declining Shark populations, but much more on taking action. Their "Special
Ops" team goes to trenches and all over the world to document the actual harsh reality and conditions that sharks are in and have localized campaigns such as getting the shark nets removed in South Africa. It was started by the Addisen Family and runs out of South
Africaxxv. Sea Shepard embarks on voyages on ships around the world to save and protect marine life. Founder Captain Paul Watson has a reputation for being very aggressive: pursuing illegal whalers and long liners, organizing rallies, and getting involved in government affairs that would rather just turn the blind eye. This type of activism is not for the faint-hearted, the crew has been locked up, deported, threatened and roughened up on many occasions. Although this may seem like an intense approach, Sea Shepard has had quite a bit of success over the past few yearsxxvi. However there are activist groups that take a more low-key approach. Shark Alliance is a global non-profit dedicated to restoring and conserving shark populations. It aims to improve European fishing policy and guide the International Trade of Endangered Species. "The mission of the Shark
Alliance is two-fold: To close loopholes in European policy regarding the wasteful and unsustainable practice of shark finning; To secure responsible, science-based shark fishing limits for long-term sustainability and ecosystem health"xxvii.
xxv "Our Mission." Shark Angels. Accessed April 1, 2013. http://sharkangels.org/index.php/what-we-do/our-mission xxvi "Operation Requiem." Sea Shepard. Accessed April 1, 2013. http://www.seashepherd.org/operation-requiem/ xxvii "About Us." Shark Alliance. Accessed April 1, 2013. http://www.sharkalliance.org/v.asp?rootid=3&level1=3&level1id=3&nextlevel=3&depth =1 The very same dive instructor that took me on the Tent Reef Wall dive has had many experiences dealing with sharks. Hannah Tannah lived at a Shark Conservation site in Fiji for a month. Every day Hannah would go diving with the sharks at least twice and on at least one of those dives Hannah would feed the sharks tuna guts. Hannah said that she would wear chains on her arms and hands while feeding the sharks in case one of the sharks accidentally scraped their tooth against her hands during the feeding. However,
Hannah’s dive master, the man who runs the conservation, never wore any chains while feeding the sharks. The dive master has been swimming with sharks for years and has never had an incident where a diver got hurt. The Fiji Shark conservation is a prime example of how sharks act when human beings do not threaten them. The public would generally assume that if one fed sharks that someone was bound to get bit. Yet, inside the conservation sharks are never threatened, thus they are not a threat to us. Hannah could not say enough good things about sharks and her experiences with them throughout that month she spent in Fijixxviii. She is one of the lucky people who have been able to interact with sharks in what I like to call Pre-Jaws period. Before sharks were feared and hunted by humans they just swam freely through the oceans like they have been for the past 430 million years. Throughout those 430 million years sharks never posed an actual threat to humanity, and today humanity poses as an actual threat to sharks. Need more info on conservation efforts. Bibliography?
xxviii "Fiji Shark Conservation." Interview by author. July 21, 2012