Si Muddell: Sharks - They REALLY need our help against ourselves

Every now and again you watch something that hits home, it strikes a chord, and you instantly feel saddened by the human race.

You ask yourself 'why', and then in that moment want to do something that helps, but then even that actionable thought is quickly lost to the quagmire of life. You just get left with the sickened insight of what goes on in the world, all of which gets silently swept under the carpet for a significant few to get rich.

This post is a rare one for this blog in that it isn't about marketing, or psychology, or TED Talks - It is about something else that I feel strongly about, and I believe this topic needs as much awareness as possible.

So to keep the blog consistent, let's just say this post is about 'Marketing' - that is driving awareness of Shark conservation and preventing them becoming extinct. We MUST do something, and I am starting right now with this post.

The Situation

Like many people in this world, I am passionate about the ocean, about wildlife, and about protecting these things. I am not a vege eating hippy (not that that is a bad thing btw), but I am an ocean dwelling person and despite my love for eating meat, I am not into driving an entire apex species that has been around for 500 million years into extinction.

So what is going on?

Over 100 million sharks are killed every year (Source)
Only 5-12 People on average die from Shark attacks a year yet 11,417 sharks are killed per hour by humans! (Source) See a shocking visualisation of this. (Two different sources hence two figures)

Why is this happening?

Shark Fin Soup - The main reason they are killed is for their fins, which I hear is a delicacy to add superficial flavours to an extremely over-priced soup, aka 'Shark fin Soup'. The sharks are hauled out of the ocean to have their fins cut off, and then most are thrown back into the sea to drown.

Long-line fishing - In some of the most marine abundant areas of the world (Galapagos Islands, Costa Rica, Ecuador), long line fishing is / or has been until very recently allowed. The lines are around 60 km, that is long enough to reach into space! Many sharks and other marine life die because of these lines.

Why does this matter?

Fishing rates of Sharks are outstripping the ability of populations to recover. They will become extinct if they are not protected.
Sharks are at the top of an entire ecosystem, remove the sharks and this will have devastating effects on the ecosystem.

Sharks - those human blood seeking killers....

Well, if we had any sense at all we would know that sharks aren't the human flesh seeking sea satans that media would have us believe, sure they have and are more than capable of killing humans but let's consider the facts for a moment. Bees kill many more people per year than sharks, and let's not forget other animals like mosquitos, crocs, lions and also other huge killers like road accidents, cancers, other diseases, famine, oh and and war; we seem to like that one!

Through films like Jaws, sharks have been put up onto a pedal stool to represent blood thirsty, human eating carnivores. The stats simply do not back this up and even Peter Benchley (the author of Jaws), hugely regrets the consequences that jaws had on the shark population, and public stereotyping of sharks.

Peter now campaigns to save sharks and has done a complete u-turn about his opinions of sharks...why? The facts.

SharkWater - The Eye Opener

In 2006, Canadian wildlife photographer Robert Stewart whilst working in the Galapagos Islands discovered a multi-billion dollar underground business in illegal shark finning. Whilst out there, he saw a huge number of dead sharks and other wildlife, and decided to make it his mission to uncover what was happening.

Risking his own life multiple times (and that wasn't through diving with sharks!) and teaming up with Paul Watson, the infamous founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Robert set out to create 'SharkWater'. Shark Water is a beautiful and yet disturbing documentary that not only raises awareness about this appalling situation, but also tells the story of how Robert and co confronted the Mafia groups who were controlling this shameful industry.

The documentary is available on YouTube but keeps getting taken down. If the video below does not play then just search 'Shark Water' on YouTube and you will find it.

For further information on this documentary and how we can help click here.