A Pause from "Jaws"

In the past month, seven people swimming in the ocean off North Carolina alone have been attacked by sharks--a huge increase from the normal rate. Worrying as this is for the beach tourism industry, it is even more so for the sharks. Few animals have as double-edged a relationship with humans as sharks do. On the one hand, we revere sharks for there perceived ferociousness--they become symbols of aggression, power, and destruction. But at the same time, they are not valued in the same way that other predators like big cats and birds of prey are, and they are often killed out of fear.

Most sharks, it cannot be emphasized enough, are harmless to humans, and even those that could theoretically hurt a person rarely do. This does not, of course, mean that one should voluntarily swim in waters where large sharks have been sighted, but it does mean that they are not to be considered natural enemies of humans. In fact, it is estimated that the majority of shark attacks on humans are committed by only four species--the great white shark, the tiger shark, the bull shark, and the oceanic white-tip, or white pointer, shark. All of these are apex predators that live in the open ocean and prey on marine mammals such as seals and porpoises. Attacks on humans, then, are usually the result of curiosity or investigative behavior on the behalf of the shark. 

Unfortunately, even the educational media has done little to inform the public of the truth about sharks. The Discovery Channel's annual Shark Week, which will air this year starting this week, was originally intended to do this, but has since devolved into a festering heap of pseudoscience and exaggeration. Last year's Shark Week was especially terrible, featuring only one truly educational program ("Alien Sharks", about deep-sea sharks) and no less than six pseudoscientific ones.

Fortunately there is a lot that an ordinary citizen can do to help sharks. One solution is to only buy fish that was not caught in gill nets. This fishing technique involves laying huge nets over wide areas of ocean, and these often unintentionally trap other animals such as sharks. If your local zoo, aquarium, or natural history museum has a sea life conservation fund, donate to it as well. 

And for goodness sake, if there's a sign that says to stay out of the water, read it!