July 24, 2012
Why the Idea of Killing Sharks to Make Waters Safer Is Absurd
With jaws made to kill, do great white sharks still deserve protected status in Western Australia, where they have killed five people in less than a year? Conservationists believe so. Photo courtesy of the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation.
The fifth fatal shark attack in less than a year in the coastal waters of Western Australia has put local swimmers, divers and surfers on edge. Authorities have tried to catch and kill the individual before it attacks again—but their efforts may not stop there. Some officials are already suggesting that lawmakers take a 180-degree turn in shark conservation practices, lift protections from great white sharks and allow people to fish for and kill the animals again after a 14-year moratorium.
The great white shark is a protected species in much of the world and considered vulnerable and threatened in places. Once the popular target of trophy fishermen, who used rods and reels like cranes to haul in sharks as large as two tons, the great white received protection in Western Australia following the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s labeling of the species as “vulnerable.”
But Western Australia Fisheries Minister Norman Moore says he will now be lobbying to legalize sport and commercial fishing for great white sharks in the waters under his jurisdiction.
The most recent attack took the life of 24-year-old Ben Linden, who was paddling on a surfboard on July 14 when a large great white bit the young man in half. A jet skier who came to assist said the shark circled around the victim’s remains before nudging the jet ski, then seizing Linden’s torso in its mouth and disappearing.
Linden’s death was preceded by several other similar events. On September 4, 2011, bodyboarder Kyle James Burden was killed at Bunker Bay, about 190 miles south of Perth. On October 10, 2011, Bryn Martin went missing while taking a swim at Cottesloe Beach in Perth. Later, only his Speedos were recovered. Then, an American tourist, 32-year-old George Wainwright, was killed October 22, 2011, while diving at Rottnest Island, near Perth. Finally, on March 31, 2012, another diver, 33-year-old Peter Kurmann, was attacked and killed near Busselton.
Now, after the Linden attack, people are rethinking how dangerous sharks are, how safe the water is and whether animals that kill people should be allowed to live. Certainly, the rapid-fire recurrence of shark attacks in the past year in Western Australia has been alarming, horrifying and sad, and Fisheries Minister Moore believes a heavy hand must be delivered to protect his state’s precious tourism industry.
“Five fatalities in Western Australia (in ten months) is unprecedented and cause for great alarm,” Moore recently told the press. “It won’t be helping our tourism industry, and those people who want to come here to enjoy an ocean experience will be turned away because of this situation.”He also said recently, “Further action is necessary to deal with it.”
Already, action has been taken. Shark cage diving, though a micro-tourism industry of its own, will probably be banned in Western Australia. Critics, including Moore, had said even before the Linden attack that such operations, which sometimes involve the use of bait and chum to attract sharks to the area and within viewing range of paying customers, could be responsible for bringing great whites into the proximity of heavily used beaches—and, worse, instilling in the sharks an association between humans in the water and free food.
Using hunks of tuna and mammal flesh to lure sharks toward tourists in cages (this shot was taken in Mexican waters) is a popular activity worldwide, but in Western Australia people have charged that chumming for great whites could be endangering swimmers at nearby beaches. Photo courtesy of Flickr user Scubaben.
It sounds terrifying. The thing is, sharks aren’t very dangerous. At least, they’re a lot less dangerous than cars, which we cherish and wash on Sunday afternoons and use for driving our kids to church, and for whose deadly wheels most societies all but lay out red carpets. In Western Australia alone, 179 people were killed in 2011 in automobile accidents. And in America, 150 vehicle occupants are killed every year when their cars hit deer in the road.
Sharks killed only 12 people in 2011—worldwide—according to the International Shark Attack File. So, if tourists are afraid of going into the ocean, they should be petrified at the thought of traveling on a paved highway to get there.
For now, lifting protections on great white sharks remains just an idea, and if the suggestion advances toward the desks of Australian lawmakers (who likely drove their cars to work), we will surely hear firm opposition from conservationists and others. In Santa Cruz, California, independent white shark researcher Sean Van Sommeran hopes that people will simply accept that sharks are a part of the environment in Australian waters, rather than back-stepping and rescinding protective regulations on the species.
“People need to come to terms with the environments they go into to recreate,” said Van Sommeran, the founder and director of the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation. “There are streams with crocodiles and forests with poisonous snakes, and there are sharks in the water. You just need to adjust your behavior to a place, not the other way around.”
Van Sommeran was among those who first campaigned for the protection of great white sharks in the early 1990s. By 1994, the species was fully protected in California waters, and by 1997 white sharks were illegal to take in all United States federal waters. Elsewhere, the species is likewise protected. In South Africa, a fishing ban took effect in 1991; in Namibia, in 1993; in Australia, in 1998; in Malta, in 2000; and in New Zealand, in 2007.
But Van Sommeran notes that these laws have been repeatedly bent to allow for white shark capture in the name of science.
“By 2001, the laws were being undermined by aquariums and scientific collection projects,” he said. The Monterey Bay Aquarium, for example, has offered payment to commercial fishermen who accidentally catch and then turn over juvenile great white sharks, with fees varying depending on the condition of the animal—and top dollar going for live juvenile sharks, which have periodically become popular tourist draws at the aquarium. And in the past several years, laws forbidding white shark fishing have been waived for documentary television crews. The shows Expedition Great White, Shark Men and Shark Wranglers have each portrayed teams of scientists hooking and landing adult great whites, hauling them aboard their vessels and spending 20 minutes or more prodding the animals and fitting them with SPOT, or Smart Position and Temperature, tags. Many critics of the activity have warned that SPOT tagging procedures are potentially harmful to larger sharks.
In many locations in the world, boat captains attract sharks toward their vessels as paying clients in underwater cages watch. In a few places, anglers may still fish for great whites. Here, a great white shark swims beneath a California research boat and its admiring crew. Photo courtesy of the Pelagic Shark Research Foundation.
The popularity of sharks in mainstream culture seems to have increased with more and more televised presentations of sharks in their natural habitats, and the men and women who study them—but concern for sharks’ protection has not necessarily grown, Van Sommeran believes.
“Sharks generate a strange kind of enthusiasm that isn’t at all confined to conservation,” he said. He explains that many of the people stoked on sharks are only stoked on the prospect of catching them. Even today, catch-and-kill shark tournaments are held every year in the United States.
Van Sommeran warns that any steps backward in protecting great white sharks could set a precedent for changing laws that protect other large predators.
“If we remove the protected status of every species that runs afoul of humans, we’ll run out of bears, lions and tigers really soon,” he said.
The International Shark Attack File reports that sharks of all species made unprovoked attacks on 75 people in 2011. The database file adds that shark attacks have grown increasingly common since 1900—a trend that most likely reflects the increasing popularity of surfing, diving, bodyboarding and other water sports. It’s also a trend that comes in spite of the world’s declining populations of sharks, of which people kill 30 million to 70 million per year, according to the International Shark Attack File.
So, perhaps the bottom line to this story should be that although shark attacks are frightening and tragic for those involved, they are not a relatively significant per-capita danger. You might even be safer in the water today than a century ago.
Just be really, really careful while driving to the beach—and beware of hitting a deer.
Following recent attacks, is it time that laws protecting great white sharks be changed? Tell us what you think in the comment box below.
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When you go into the ocean you assume that risk. You are in their territory and you know that going in there. We should not kill sharks because we want to play in the ocean. It would be different if the sharks were coming on land just to eat people, but that obviously is not happening.
I think it’s pointless to throw all the years of conservation of the Great White away and start right back where they were 14 years ago. The ocean is THEIR home, not ours! We need to respect that and understand that these creatures aren’t man eating machines, but are essesential components to the health of the ocean ecosystem. I hope the government makes the right choice, and keeps the species protected.
The idea of taking these sharks off of the endangered list is preposterous!! The reason why they are endangered now is because they have been over fished for far too long. The ocean is their habitat and we are encroaching when we enter it. It is truly very tragic anytime someone is attacked, so please don’t misinterpret what I’m saying. However, when someone gets on a surf board, wearing a wetsuit (a good majority of the time), they look like a seal! White sharks are prevalent this time of year with the seals breeding and appropriate precautions need to be taken. Given the number of tourists that enter the water each year, there are not many attacks at all. Ever heard the saying, “you have a better chance of being struck by lightning than being attacked by a shark”? It’s true! 100 people have been struck so far this year. Half of these accidents occurred due to people being careless. That’s what we are doing now, being careless. Please don’t destroy a magnificent animal who is near the top of the food chain because we don’t want to share the ocean with it. It lives there, let it be!
Good article, and no, protections should not be lifted. It’s an absurd, knee-jerk reaction.
Here is an excellent article that advocates re-assessing our view of the beach: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1669080/How-to-avoid-shark-%27attacks%27
Sharks have been in the world’s waters for millions of years. They live there and they belong there. People don’t. If humans are going to swim in the ocean, they need to take responsibility and act accordingly. Be
alert, and don’t do anything to attract large predators.
There is a certain risk factor in everything we do, especially concerning wildlife. Don’t eradicate an apex predator, which is an indicator of the health of our oceans, when they kill fewer humans than any number of things, including other humans.
sharks were in the water well before humans were maybe we should stop entering their territory!
Sharks are such amazing creatures that have survived longer on this planet than any other animals, except maybe crocodiles. We have no right to “cull” them, just so our holiday time is less fearful. I have logged more than 500 dives, on most of those I have encountered sharks of different species, including bull and tiger sharks.
I have never been threatened or felt unsafe at any time.
I’d be more supportive if governments were first to ban firearms in public possession or lock up for life all drunk / drugged drivers, drug dealers, knife carriers, murderers, bullies etc etc etc – all of whom cause more deaths than sharks do.
In fact more people in the US die from ‘toilet related incidents’ each year than there are people killed worldwide by sharks.
It is unfortunate for anyone to be attacked by a shark,or any other wild animal.All my deepest sympathies to all the victims, and their loved ones.I want all to understand, that I do not put anything over human life, but to start culling sharks because of these incidents will be fruitless, since the reaction is based on fear- not scientific bases. If the number of shark attacks was to decrease after culling- then with the shark finning industry killing millions of sharks a year, we shouldn’t have had a shark attack for years. Slaughtering these animals does not deter attacks, and that is a fact. Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over and expecting a different result…and here we are again and again debating shark culling.I do not agree with, nor, will I ever support sharks being killed for nothing, and I would like to thank everyone who does not support this type of action.
It is the law of the sea. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top.
I would like to emphasize only 4 deaths have occurred worldwide this year. Thousands of beaches and millions of people. Any shark death is accidental. In addition, Western Australians, as mentioned in the story, are doing some fairly irresponsible things like chumming to promote shark tourism. This must stop immediately. Proper scientific study on behavior patterns, shark populations, etc. is necessary before we consider any type of “open season” on these magnificent creatures.
Finally, as an aside, according to U.S. Navy estimates, the use of high frequency underwater sound for testing in Hawaii, the California and Atlantic Coasts, and the Gulf of Mexico will deafen more than 15,900 whales and dolphins and kill 1,800 more over the next 5 years. Whales and dolphins depend on sound to navigate and live.
I hear the same arguements from shark sympathisers constantly. Firstly there is no shortage of Great Whites in fact profesional fisherman who have been taking their boats out for the last 30 years are all saying across the board in the last 10 years they have never seen so many Great Whites, please do not confuse them with other endagered species of sharks. As for govt. focusing on other problems cars, drugs guns etc. theses issues get millions of dollars thrown at them and every precaution taken to avoid these sorts of tragedies yet we can’t cull Great Whites when we pull untold amounts sealife out of the ocean to dine on. As for not entering the ocean Australia prides itself on it’s beach culture and telling surfers and divers who were brought up in the ocean and is there main passion in life to get over it is just offensive. It’s very easy to have an unreasearched opinion from the safety of your couch while you eat your fish and chips, I just wonder how you would feel when your kids start surfing.
The laws that protect Great Whites should stay put. The increase in human population is another thing to take into consideration. So many of us are interacting in one way or another with Shark habitat that its inevitable for these encounters to occur. Besides, sharks don’t go around hunting for humans which is something that many people believe. We need to stop endangering species because we fear them. We should fear ourselves for the things that we’re capable of doing. Conservation is a key strategy in times like these. We have already annihilated so many habitats that its crucial to save whatever we can.
I am not that familiar with the ecosystem of this area, but humans need to understand they are entering a complete ecosystem and humans are not at the top of this ecosystem. Some humans believe they own nature, or they can control nature, and that is a mistake, big time. I am not in favor of killing the sharks, nor hunting the sharks. If humans do not take the careful precautions to be safe in dangerous waters then it is at their own risk. And yes, it is sad to loose such a young person, but if we do not begin to change our view of nature, will there be any animals left? Will there be any ecosystems left? And then where will humans find themselves?
Sharks 12, Humans 70,000,000
The comparison between the risk of shark attack and road accidents is ridiculous. Most of the population use cars, a much smaller percentage are regular surfers or divers. To accurately calculate the risk you need to factor that in. If you don’t your argument is completely meaningless. OK for the tabloids perhaps but please not here!
Humans are so utterly foolish. What we don’t understand, we fear … what we fear, we kill.
Let’s see, the ratio of the number of sharks that attack & possibly kill humans to the number of sharks that are killed by humans (I think that 70 million is awfully low with the recent increase in the horrible finning) is infinitesimal. There is NO justification whatsoever to kill sharks. If you are afraid, take precautions (don’t swim near sunset, etc.) or stay out of the water.
Extinction is forever and once they are gone, they are gone. And when that happens, the whole ecosystem of the oceans will be disrupted … and humans will also be suffering as a result. Stupid humans.
my comment: after reading this latest news about concern for safer waters i was horrified that the solution being suggested is to relinquish the current laws protecting the great white shark. REALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why do humans want to kill everything that gets in their way. if it’s an inconvenience, lets kill whatever is causing the problem. Have we lost all sensibility with regard to co-habitation with creatures of this earth. My solution is ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. SHARKS LIVE IN THE WATER SO IF YOU DON’T WANT TO GET BIT DON’T GO IN. How about not going in alone. Australia is known for shark inhabitation. Maybe let’s look at why a great white is attacking a human. How about looking at HUMAN WASTE POLLUTION> could that be the sharks environment. What right do we have to dump tons of human waste into the ocean where these creatures live. They can’t do anything to prevent this so oh well for anything that lives in the ocean. Killing sharks is not the answer. We must stand up for their rights and protest any aggressive actions. it is tragic that anyone loses their life in any way other than natural causes. We send our men and women to war for senseless causes yet the parents can’t kill anyone when their child dies for our country. it’s o.k. because there was a cause. this country is so bad i hate living here. the end
How many humans have sharks killed?
How many animals have HUMANS killed only for sport, just because, for the sake of it or pure stupidity?
How many animals have HUMANS killed THAT WERE REALLY NEEDED for feeding (like all animal hunters kill)?
Compare the numbers and then ask who should be killed for SAFETY? Who is actually violent or murderous.
A supporter of Life and Nature, most supreme values, from Portugal.
It is the heritage of the dregs of the Anglo-Saxon diaspora to kill off herds and shoals of magnificent creatures for all the wrong reasons. In the Americas they did it to the bison and in Australia they are doing it to that which comes easily withing harpooning range.
I am a direct descendant of the A/S diaspora. We are as a race, a pestilence.
Maybe we should stop over fishing their food sources.
And how many sharks have been killed this year? More than 5 I believe.
……..of course if there were lions roaming your suburbs and eating the odd child I imagine you would all stick to your fine ecological principles.
misanthropia sharklover !!!
This infuriates me !! Useless governmental bureaucrats just thinking about getting a platform to prove they are “working” for the people’s interests. More people are killed yearly by bees and wasps. 40 to 100 deaths yearly ( I researched this fact before posting this) are due to bee and wasp stings. Next thing you know these insects will be on the “hit-list” as well. Sharks are in the ocean, bears are in the forest and lions are on the savannahs. If you don’t want to run into these creatures, don’t go into THEIR environments
I am a surfer and I feel at home in the ocean when I am surfing. Those sharks for any reason or association with humans and easy food have become a danger.For this reason should be eliminated. I don’t think that anybody wants to go in vacation to ended in a shark’s menu.The people who want to protect them does not dare to surf or challenge the dangers of the ocean. They want to see the sharks through their tv screen and think they are doing something good protecting the sharks. Go surf and face them, I would like to see how you change your mind. Although probably you will be scared to death already. Kill them all.
i think sharks should be culled. we have done this before for wolves and other predators. but along with this i agree that human interaction with sharks should be limited. we had shrimp boats dump offal on the east coast which made it dangerous for swimmers. and i have noticed that sharks tend to hang around piers a lot. fishing of any kind can be a problem.
i did not see a good reason not to cull sharks in this article. comparing shark attack to roadkill is a serious error. many more people drive than swim, and you are not addressing the problem; fear. culling will help curtail fear.
rather than worry about culling, i would focus on reef building. sharks will always be with us as long as there is a good reef system. we have good technology developing to enhance and build reef systems. legistation against culling will backfire in the end. better to take steps to make sharks more attracted to places people do not swim as much in. legislation against human interaction would be more effective i think.
And some of these comments are absurd.
For more on Aussie shark attack stats, and the absurdity of Minister Moore’s ridiculous vote-scrounging proposition, see http://conservationbytes.com/2009/01/07/man-bites-shark/ and http://radioadelaidebreakfast.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/the-sharking-truth-about-sharks/
if you think about topics like evolution, food chain, global warming and so on one thing gets clear pretty fast: in all the things humans interfered with nature they take second place. this will not be any different if you start killing even more sharks. the balance in the ocean will be changed and therefore other species will become more dominant and in the end a threat to mankind…
Oscar, you are in the minority when it comes to water-sports enthusiasts. In general, the people most likely to encounter a shark are the most supportive of their protection. I am a diver and kayaker and spend much of my time in great white shark habitat. However, I would give up my aquatic hobbies before calling for the eradication of sharks.
If you want to surf in a shark-free zone, I’ve heard that Lake Superior has decent waves at times. Or you might try one of those indoor water parks in Disneyland or Vegas. Have fun!
we must protect their habitat, it is not ours. there are other dangerous things than sharks
Having surfed for many decades, I was ashamed to see a surfer advocating killing sharks in a previous comment. I believe that a vast majority of surfers would disagree. My wife and I were once “chased” out of the water by one of the biggest great whites observed in California. Though sharks are an occasional threat to surfers, we knowingly take that chance when we go in the water.
Cheers,
Steve
Personally, I think the lives of human beings are much more important than the lives of sharks!
These arguments are false.
1. We enjoy cars so we decide to take the risk of driving. As a society we have decided to take the risk.
In case of man-eating sharks, what is the benefit versus risk? Did we ever have a conversation about that, assess the benefits they have to us, and the risk? What will it do to the environment if we don’t have great whites anymore? Has anyone done research? we’re not talking ALL sharks, just the man-eating ones. Let’s do some research.
2. “Ocean is their habitat, not ours!” That’s also false. Why else are people being eaten? Obviously we want to hang out in the ocean. We have been for years. Is this even an argument??
wow
The principle that rests on the premise “the ocean is the sharks environment therefore we have no right to impose anything on them” has little merit when we take into account the fact that humans very much impose themselves on the land, the air, rivers and oceans and every species that inhabit them. We fish and farm the oceans, killing vast numbers of fish and mammal and reptile species for recreation, food, through pollution, in the name of progress, blah blah, blah. Any or almost all the fish species that we capture and kill represent no threat to swimmers, divers, surfers et al. We kill bacteria, insects, birds, mammals in all environments, because they are inconvenient, dangerous, edible, and all because humans get to decide how the planet gets run. We destroy dogs when we consider them to be a menace, mans very best friend gets to die just because it maims or kills a human being. Is this fair or right and a demonstartion of respect for inherent canine rights? Should we not recognise that we have , frankenstein like, bred, conditioned, incarcerated and maltreated dogs to the point where they can kill and maim humans pretty much because owners have no idea to train and control their pets, yet we seem prepared to destroy these beloved animals? We have moulded dogs without any form of canine consent or moral objectivity, in effect violating all the principles we seem think appropriate to bestow on great white sharks. Why is sauce for the dog not sauce for the shark?
For dog you could read mosquito, numerous species of pelagic tuna (surely more innocent than white sharks?) camels, kangaroos, et al ad infinitum.
The above simply illustrates why the argument of “the ocean is the sharks domain” is not a rational or informed position to dictate a course of action without taking other relevant factors into consideration. GWS are listed as vulnerable, yet we have very little idea of their numbers, their breeding behavior, the possibility of conditioned responses to repeat attacks, or exposure to cage dive chumming. As sharks occupy the apex as oceanic predators (a title disputed by orcas), would their total removal simply allow another currently subordinate shark species like bull sharks or tiger sharks to step up or perhaps a more temperate water shark species (given tigers and bulls inhabit warmer waters that GWS)? Would our whale and seal/lion populations (already protected in their own right) exhibit uncontrolled and detrimental expansion damaging the delicate eco balance? Would demersal and pelagic fish species, already thought to be severely damaged by over fishing, recover in the absence of GWS?
Aside from the inevitable human politics, this is a complex scenario suffering from too little data and too much emotion, however since humans claim to have the capacity of reason, lets make an attempt to be rational instead of blindly extolling slogans like, “we have no right to do x to sharks because the ocean is their home”. The reality is that when the life of any person or their near and dear are threatened we protect this as blindly as every living organism does without regard for the consequences or morality. When the personal risk is non existent or remote, we offer political, emotive and mostly irrational self-serving arguments on how we should act. This approach distracts from the real need to act with the limited information we have, recognise that we do place human life ahead of all other species (regardless of idealist claims to the contrary), and not feel guilt in hindsight when we realise that socially mediated paralysis had won the day once again.
What or how can people be so stupid and how shamefully embarrassing of Western Australia but what else would you expect ,little enough too eat in the sea and attracted too practices of burly baiting for fishing and viewing ,what do you expect . Five unfortunate attacks in ocean waters ,how many hundreds of thousands of sharks killed that year for flake food pharmacy or sport for Christ s sake wake up you idiots sharks of some species are nearly extinct . You naughty bad shark biting a swimmer in your home .try walking across a freeway