Save the sharks

I know I've railed against charities before (particularly the ones who harass people in the street), but I saw Sharkwater the other night, and I would highly recommend you go and see it.

I don't really swim in the ocean, largely because I'm afraid of waves (yes, waves. I don't like being splashed), but I have been diving at the Great Barrier Reef, and have also watched William swim with sharks at Seaworld. I don't have a great fear of sharks, and when you look at the statistics of how many people they kill each year (about 5, compared with hundreds of thousands from drugs, traffic accidents, etc), there really is no reason for anyone to be terrified of them. Think about it - people swim in oceans all the time (particularly in shark feeding zones), and less than 10 people each year are killed by sharks? People have greater respect for the territory of elephants, and they kill more people each year than sharks do. Ridiculous.

The film was really an eye opener to the treatment of sharks, and in particular the finning business. I was so appalled. I am now trying to work out a way I can assist somehow (financially or otherwise). Sea Shepherd are one of the only organisations fighting for the protection of sharks. Millions of sharks are killed each year, many inhumanely, and hardly anything is being done about it. As the film says, if they are wiped out, humans are at great risk, because the fish populations below them (which they currently control) will go out of control, with many feeding on the plankton that produces 70% of the world's oxygen, which we breathe. Imagine what would happen if sharks were wiped out, causing fish populations to explode, eating more of the plankton and thus depleting our oxygen? Catastrophe.

Something needs to be done about this now.

I really do urge you to go and see the film. I swear your opinion of sharks will be changed. They're not manhunters. They just very rarely make mistakes and confuse us for food. It's not intentional. They don't deserve the harsh treatment currently being meted out to them.

www.sharkwater.com; www.savingsharks.com