Everyone who knows me well knows that I have a love of sharks that started in the fifth grade after reading a short blurb in a textbook about the ocean, its creatures and, of course, its treasures.
Loving sharks does not mean I don’t entertain a fear and healthy respect of their ability to rip me to shreds if they so desired. Having admitted to that, let me share some facts about sharks and their “attacks“.
Worldwide there are approximately sixty to eighty reported shark bites each year. That is WORLDWIDE. That means, statistically speaking, you are more likely to be murdered, struck by lightning, killed by killer bees or win the lottery then to be bit by a shark. Fatalities from shark bites are rare.
For every human killed by a shark – roughly ten million sharks are killed by humans. The scoreboard is a tad bit uneven, wouldn’t you say?
The sea sustains all life on earth, controlling our climate and atmosphere, generating the air we breath and the water we drink. Sharks are critical to the health of our seas, without them life would eventually cease to exist.
Oceans have an average depth of two miles with mountain ranges taller then the Himalayas. We know so little about the ocean itself or the creatures that live within it. Had “Jaws” not over-dramatized the dangers of Great White sharks, would most people even know they existed? Can you name every species of, let’s say, frogs? Don’t think so unless your field of study happens to be frogs.
Sharks breed late in life – some not until they are 25 to 30 years old. Of the few young they do have, most do not make it to maturity. Do you see why I get upset when a shark is needlessly slaughtered?
For those “Pirates of the Caribbean” fans, according to the International Chamber of Commerce Crime Services there were 469 attacks by pirates in the year 2000. Seventy-two people were killed – six times the number reported killed by sharks.
Nature is very careful with her apex predators. Only enough needed to keep the balance in the ecosystem are allowed to survive. Nature never over-stocks just in case a few extra are needed here or there.
“We mustn’t let ourselves be distracted from the genuine problems that exist in the sea, problems that can be solved only by us and only if we will reexamine our place in nature and rethink our conduct in the natural order.” Peter Benchley
Facts and tidbits of this were gleaned from Peter Benchley’s book “Shark Trouble”.
Well said. I recently returned from a dive trip where I was fortunate enough to swim with the reef sharks and get some great photos, posted on my blog. Events like “Shark week” present such a warped view of the world because they do anything for ratings. Always showing that caged people, never showing the uncaged cameraman. To do that would be to show that the animals are not as dangerous as the show paints them to be.