On the 10th October 2011 64 year old local Bryn Martin takes his regular swim in the sea off Cottesloe beach, Perth. Bryn Martin did not return to the shore. He seemingly disappeared about 300 meters out to sea with not so much as a ripple. Divers later retrieved his bathers from the bottom of the ocean floor which had the markings of great white shark teeth on them. The body has yet to be found. This is pretty chilling stuff and I ‘m not going to lie I was shocked when I heard this-but why? We know we share the ocean with sharks, we know they can be dangerous. However, fatal shark attacks on humans are rare, so rare in fact they always make international news. I guess it is the fragility of life and when we hear of a death in such a scary way that makes it so shocking.
As you the reader have probably guessed I have a love for animals and I am especially engrossed and fascinated the dangerous animals, these being ones I consider dangerous to humans. I often think, talk and joke about this as I did below with the Kangaroo. Putting aside the fact in the paper this week a women had been viciously mauled by a kangaroo (!), I do not really believe the ‘jokey’ stuff I say, I just have an incredibly healthy respect for all wild animals especially ones that can kill you. But I do not believe any wild animal wants to kill you and most animals will try to escape rather than fight. I certainly do not believe sharks are killing machines that are hungry for human meat which is more often than not reported in the media. In South Africa I went cage diving with Great White Sharks and was humbled by the experience, I genuinely did not think I would ever say this but the experience was peaceful, the sharks beautiful and it was not a scary experience at all. This is not to say I ever want to be that close to a shark without the metal bars and I sincerely hope with all my heart I never have to be ‘that’ situation, I’m not sure my heart would hold out, but the truth is I have probably swam unknowingly very close to a shark at some point in my life-maybe many. According to scientists who mapped tagged sharks in Sydney showed that thousands of swimmers are very close to sharks in the water but very rarely is anyone ever attacked. This suggests that we are not natural prey for sharks and that they are not mindless killing machines. However, not everyone chooses to take this view and I was disgusted and shocked when after the disappearance of Bryn Martin I saw on the news a surfer saying they were calling for shark culls. This utterly blew me away, surely a surfer knows the risks? Loves and respects the ocean and the animals in it? That will teach me for making assumptions but it seems ludicrous to me that this could be a serious suggestion. Humans have, believe it or not, come leaps and bounds in changing our attitude towards the environment, how could we risk going backwards? It has taken years to change people’s attitudes towards sharks and is still on going. Despite my very natural fear of sharks I don’t want to kill them and I feel disappointed other people do. Humans kill thousands upon thousands of sharks every year in the most inhumane way. We fish them chop off their fins causing unimaginable amounts of pain chuck them back in the water still alive to ‘drown’ at the bottom of the ocean-who is the mindless killing machine now? All this for shark fin soup, a false belief this will boost male libido. We accidently trap them in nets along with many other innocent marine life so we can satisfy our needless need. I am guilty also, I have been told many of the fish in fish and chip shops in Australia is shark. We have done so much damage that sharks are now an endangered species. Sharks have only fatally killed 60 people in Australia in the last 50 years. Research strongly suggests that despite popular belief sharks do not prey on humans. There would be a huge increase in attacks if this were the case. There are several theories as to why shark attack humans, one theory suggest the shark attacks as a case of mistaken identity for its food of choice the seal. Another theory is that the shark ‘mouths’ to test what the mysterious object is, unfortunately for us can cause fatal injury. Thankfully the Australian sharks are protected so a cull would not take place but it scares me how lack of knowledge can lead to such harmful views. There are thousands of people that enjoy the ocean every day. Looking back on shark attacks divers appear to be most at risk with surfers the least at risk. We are much more likely to be killed another way than by a shark yet we do not all stop driving our cars. Calling for a cull makes me think again that us humans want everything ‘our’ way…I beg people to know the facts before taking such a strong viewpoint, isn’t it misinformed prejudice that leads to such unbelievable human acts as genocide? Thankfully again, many many people believe as I that these viewpoints are a waste of time and Australia is a country that seems to look after the environment that they have been given for free. I am proud of this attitude and the natural world I am privileged to be a part of. THINK BEFORE YOU DECIDE.
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