Sharks
Updated: Sep 17
Every year, an average of 5 to 10 people are involved in a fatal shark attack. Every year, 30-50 people, that's an average of 40 people, are killed by domestic dogs. Yet dogs are man's best friend and in Australia alone, nineteen million, five hundred and eighty-four thousand people have admitted to being scared of sharks. Imagine what that would be worldwide.
Why Are People Scared of Sharks?
You're probably thinking, well if dogs are more deadly than sharks, why are so many people afraid of them? Humans like to stick to what they believe in and look for information that backs them up rather than challenging their thoughts. For example, if someone is afraid of sharks and heard about an attack on the news, they'd believe it'd give them even more of a reason to stick to what they think.
I know lots of people who fear the ocean. Not water, but the ocean and the thought of diving into what lies beneath the surface and what might be there scares them. Growing up on the east coast of Australia, I've always been around the beach and ocean, and I've swam with reef sharks multiple times without any trouble. But I've been shocked to hear that people have been so afraid and it made me realise that because the ocean was so unfamiliar, people thought it was scary and the best way to fix this is to educate people. Educate them on sharks and the ocean and show them that it's not so scary after all.
Media Messages
You probably hear about almost every fatal shark attack because it's on the front page of newspapers, on television and often becomes the centre of conversation, but what you hardly ever hear about are the millions of sharks being killed by humans every single day. The amount of attention given to shark attacks can make people forget how rare they really are.
Lots of movies, such as Jaws, Deep Blue Sea and 47 Metres Down also exaggerate sharks and portray them as dangerous man-eating monsters. Over time, these can create fear, rumours and misleading ideas about sharks.
Numbers
Every second, about three sharks are killed by humans. Every minute, that number goes up to 190. And every hour, it's 11,000. Every day over 274,000. And every year, humans kill on average 100 million sharks.
Sharks are not the problem; the problem is an ocean without sharks - Paul Watson.
An ocean without sharks means a crumbling ecosystem that affects creatures lower down in the food chain, like fish. Tuna, salmon, shrimp and cod are some of the most eaten seafood in the world and without sharks to sustain a balanced ocean, fishers will no longer be able to fish for them and, for many communities and countries around the world that rely heavily on the mass catches to eat, it could be life-threatening.
But none of these numbers matter - the 5 to 10 people who lose their lives and the 8 billion people in the world - if you're one of the people who were involved in a fatal shark attack. Many people ask, "how do I stop myself from encountering a shark when I go into the ocean?" and, the truth is, you can't. It's the ocean and sharks live in it. You can't change that. And whenever you go swimming, you can't be sure whether you'll see a shark or not, but that's what humans are so afraid of; the unknown. By not swimming because you're scared, you're missing out on the wildness of the sea. Because the ocean is wild. So are sharks. But that's what makes them beautiful creatures. Protect them today and protect our planet.
International Fund for Animal Welfare, BBC, The Conversation, ISAF, World Health Organisation
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