The IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group
Shark News 2: October 1994
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Some of my best friends are sharks!
Bernard Seret reports on a fabulous adventure in
Bimini
In April 1994, a group of twelve young people from France, aged from
14 to 17 years, lived through one of the most exciting experiences of
their lives in Bimini (Bahamas): they now have new friends! However,
these friends are not ordinary ones. They usually have a bad reputation
and people do not like them because of their 'ugly mugs'! Still, they
are wonderful "buddies" when one makes an effort to get to know
them.
Our young peoples' new friends have curious names: Galeocerdo
cuvier, Ginglymostoma cirratum, Negaprion brevirostris, Carcharhinus
perezi, etc. These esoteric labels are those of fearsome creatures,
sharks! They fascinate us, but we are also afraid of them - mainly
because we are frightened of what we do not know and understand.
However, the sojourn in the Bimini Shark Laboratory (the
Biological Field Station run by Professor Samuel Gruber) allowed
our young people to learn a lot about sharks and also to like and
respect them.
The initiation started months ago in Paris with Bernard Seret
(Elasmobranch Scientist in ORSTOM) with a series of lectures and
personal homework. Then, at last came the first encounter in Bimini
waters. What an opportunity! The first shark was not only one of the
most feared, a tiger shark, but the encounter also took place by night.
Hardly surprisingly, there was some hesitation among our young
people when they had to jump into the sea - what an ambiguous
feeling is produced by conflicting fear and eagerness to communicate
with a mythical creature! The first contacts were very hesitant, but
step by step the kids started to pat the rough skin of the shark, its tail,
its body then finally coming close to the head and famous jaws.
following this first experience, other encounters took place. Then we
had to restrain the excitement of our teenagers who wanted to swim
with the sharks and play with them. Well, the aim of this adventure
was not to play, but to discover these living myths and to put an end
to the sad and unrealistic 'jaws' image which has been given to sharks
for so long. This ocean planet is becoming more and more widely
colonised and exploited by humans, but it is possible to share
the oceans with their inhabitants, even with the most feared
of them, the sharks.
This message was clearly received by the
young Frenchies. There is no doubt that Stephanie,
Martin, Mathieu, Momo and the others are now
willing to share their own experience to make sharks
better known (a TV video is available and a special report
is in preparation). As a result all of them can assert that 'some of
their best friends are sharks'. Indeed, this kind of educational
programme is in keeping with the aims of the IUCN Shark Specialist
Group.
Acknowledgements
This adventure was made possible thanks to the collaboration
between the Ushuaia Foundation, the City Hall
of Paris, the French Research Institute
ORSTOM and the diving school
'Blue Dive'. Special thanks are due to
the whole staff of the Bimini Shark
Laboratory: 'Doc' (Professor Samuel Gruber),
Dr Enric Cortes, Ms M. Gruber ('Shark Mum') and Aia.
Bernard Seret, Antenne ORSTOM, Museum national
d'Histoire naturelle, Laboratoire d'lchtyologie, 43 Rue Cuvier,
75231 Paris cedex 05, France.
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