The Ocean’s Most Fearsome Predators

May 2, 2009

Release from: Jim W. Harper
Biscayne Times (Florida)

What’s the one word you don’t want to hear at the beach? No, it’s not what you think. “Police!” In 2003 a police SUV ran over and killed a French tourist sunbathing on Miami Beach. If you were thinking “shark,” you should know that no tourist in Miami has ever died from a shark attack. In fact there has never been a confirmed death by shark in Miami.

Peter Benchley, the creator of Jaws, spent his later years fighting to save sharks. I saw him speak about shark conservation at the University of Miami shortly before he died in 2006. Sharks had become the victim, he realized, and man had become the jaws of death.

Every year some 100 million wild sharks are killed by man. How many men are killed annually by sharks? About ten. The real difference, however, is that the human population and its capacity to harvest the sea is rising, whereas the shark and other fish populations are shrinking. It’s the same sad story in the sea as on land: Man is taking too much and caring too little.

Global studies on sharks estimate that their populations have shriveled in the past century by 90 percent. Moreover, those that remain are being pursued more relentlessly than ever.

But why care about such a dangerous animal? The answer is essentially the same as the answer about insects and snakes and bears. People may find them terrifying and inconvenient, but their existence is linked to everything that humans depend on. Balanced watersheds, including their inhabitants from the microscopic to the intimidating, provide clean drinking water. Insects pollinate our crops; animals are our main source of protein. It’s the simple circle of life that makes each species valuable.

Sharks are valued for their fins. Shark-fin soup is a delicacy in Chinese culture, and demand for shark fins has skyrocketed as East Asian countries have gained wealth. Check out the 2007 documentary Sharkwater to gain insight on this international market and inhumane fishery. The most barbaric fishers will slice the fins off of live sharks and dump the living bodies back into the water to die a slow death. They don’t want to carry the extra weight of the shark’s body, which is much less valuable than the fins.

Shark-finning is illegal in the U.S. and many other countries, but the practice is nearly impossible to regulate on the high seas. It requires a correction from the marketplace.

One guy in Miami could care less about the fate of sharks. “Mark the Shark” runs a popular charter-fishing operation and claims to be the world’s leading shark fisherman. Sportfishing is not the main enemy of sharks (industrial fishing is), but killing sharks for sport gives the impression that there are many to spare.

At the other end of the spectrum are shark conservationists, and South Florida is home to many of the world’s best. The granddaddy of shark conservation is Sonny Gruber, a Miami Beach native who founded the Bimini Shark Lab and retired not long ago from the University of Miami. Following in his flippers is current doctoral candidate at UM and great-white-shark fanatic Neil Hammerschlag, who has led several groups of South Florida high school students on shark expeditions to Africa. Check out his conservation Website and awesome shark photos at neil4sharks.org.

At the University of Florida is the International Shark Attack File. It runs one of my favorite Websites, which attempts to answer the question on every beachgoer’s mind: How long will it be before I’m attacked and killed by a rouge shark?

The data tells us that Florida leads the world in shark attacks. The good news is that the vast majority of attacks are not deadly, and they are concentrated in the state’s northeastern quadrant (be careful in Daytona Beach).

According to the International Shark Attack File, the Florida Keys has not had a fatal shark attack since 1952 and Miami-Dade since 1961, although Broward registered a fatality in 2001. Both of these fatalities involved scuba divers, as did a fatality last year in the Bahamas, where diving expeditions feed sharks. Shark-feeding is banned in Florida.

What’s the total number of shark attacks in Miami-Dade during the past century? Ten. Fatalities? One. What’s the number of attacks in Florida from the great white, the shark portrayed in Jaws? Zero. More facts: Most attacks occur on surfers. Alligator attacks in Florida are less common but more deadly. More people are killed annually by dogs, but those attacks don’t make the news.

Simply put, sharks are not out to get us, but they do bite. If they taste a surfer, they usually spit it out. They much prefer turtles and seals.

Humans, on the other hand, are definitely out to eliminate the shark, although most people remain ignorant of the pillage. Instead of adding ignorance to fear, be aware of this situation and study it. You will find that sharks deserve more than just respect. They need protection -- like the wolf and the polar bear and the sea turtle.

Add this bumper sticker to your collection: Man Attacks Shark. Save the Shark.