Besides the thrill of watching a great white throw itself into the air, the Mythbusters deciding whether or not rotten fish can drive away a shark, or watching some celebrity up close with one of the most feared animals, Discovery Channel’s Shark Week has brought attention to one of the oldest, most important creatures of the sea for the last twenty six years.
Fossil records show that sharks have been swimming in the sea for the last 400 million years, a time period longer than dinosaurs roamed the earth. Sharks play an important part as the vacuum cleaner, or the trashcan, of the ocean. In fact, some of the weird objects found in the stomach of the tiger shark include tires, license plates, un-opened cans of sardines, driftwood, and even cattle.
“A lot of people are scared of sharks but they don’t really understand how they’re important to the environment and how cool they actually are,” senior Daniel Sefcik said. “That’s just kind of my favorite part of summer, I love shark week!”
However, as a result of overfishing, sharks have been put in extreme danger, which is where Shark Week comes into the picture. Sharks are in danger of extinction as 100 million are being killed each year, so the Discovery Channel dedicates a whole week to bring awareness to one of the most feared predators in the sea. With help of Oceana, senator John Kerry is helping to support the Shark Conservation Act of 2009 to help strengthen the U.S. ban on shark finning.
“I think it’s really important that awareness is brought to animals at risk of extinction,” junior Cassidy Fuller said. “It’s not only entertaining to watch Shark Week, it’s for a good cause and that’s why I love watching it.”
Besides raising awareness, Shark Week also brings truth to many misguided myths. One of these being the Rogue theory, the theory that once a shark has had the taste of human blood they crave it. This theory stemmed from the Jersey Shore Attacks of 1916 which are also the “true story” behind the classic movie, Jaws. However, the odds of someone getting bitten by a person wanting to eat them are higher than the odds of being bitten by a shark, even if that shark has previously tasted human blood.
“I saw Jaws as a kid and I was terrified of the ocean for year,” sophomore Caroline Brugge said. “That puts sharks in a bad light, I don’t actually think there’s any harm in me going swimming because the odds are so incredibly slim.”
For more information on sharks, check out the links below.
Top 10 Shark Conservation Projects
