The difference between these two videos is almost palpable:
1 - "Jaws" Trailer
2 - BBC Shark Footage
Before the 20th Century, sharks were seen as harmless pests to fishermen. There were even rewards given (which were not collected) for people who could prove they had been bitten by a shark, because bites were so uncommon. Sharks were seen as uninteresting because they were not targets of fishing industries and thus seen as unimportant. In addition, and partly due to the above mentioned factors, shark physiology and social structure were largely unknown.
Then, during World War II, sinking ships and airplane crashes during battles increased the number of bleeding, helpless people in the middle of the ocean miles from the nearest landmass. This increased the opportunity that humans would come into contact with sharks, and thus there was in increase in the number of attacks sharks made on those humans. This made shark bites more common, and thus sharks were seen as a threat for the first time.
This notion of sharks being threats was swept up by the media during the summer of 1916, when a rouge shark off of the New Jersey coast attacked multiple swimmers in a relatively short time period. This event became the basis for a book, which in turn became the basis for the movie "Jaws". The book was an exaggeration of the attacks, and the movie even more so.
Following the release of "Jaws", and largely due to its popularity, sharks and shark attacks were given a lot more attention than ever before. Sharks were seen as dangerous monsters of the sea, since in the movie they were portrayed as vengeful creatures which should be hunted and killed. There were tournaments held to catch sharks, and no remorse were given to sharks which were rare or juvenile, and the sharks which were caught were killed and used as trophies.
Now, thankfully, through scientific research we have come to understand sharks as important to the local ecosystems in which they live and so should be protected from unnecessary slaughter. However, in most of the world, shark finning is practiced without moderation and without control. As poaching is devastating to rhino populations, the modern finning industry is disastrous to sharks worldwide.
Finning is widespread throughout the globe, unmonitored, and thus extremely hard to control or even locate perpetrators in the act. Fins are usually bought at $300 per pound, which creates a high incentive to continue these practices. Because it is a multimillion dollar operation, 100 million sharks on average are slaughtered annually. As the rhino's horn is sawed from its face and the rest left int he dirt, shark fins are hacked from they're bodies (even if they are still alive) and tossed back overboard to be eaten alive by the other creatures of the deep. Up to 99% of the shark is wasted because shark meat is unprofitable.
Not only is finning harmful to sharks, but it threatens local fisheries who rely on the ocean's bounty for survival when foreign organizations infiltrate their waters and strip it of its shark supply. While many countries agree that shark finning is a destructive process, each country is responsible for patrolling their own coastline. And so, some of the larger countries may have the ability but lack the will to patrol their waters, and some of the smaller countries may have the desire but not the funds nor the manpower to take on such a responsibility.
Wildlife conservationists and policy makers can talk all they want about how sharks should be protected, but if there aren't enough individuals aware of the issues and willing to make a difference, nothing is going to change, and the global shark population will continue to decline.
After "Jaws", the drop in shark populations inspired interest in the animals, and scientific research continues to be conducted today. And yet, there is still very little that we know and actually understand about shark lives and behavior tendencies. There is still so much to learn, so much to discover about sharks and other creatures lurking in the ocean blue.
These are the sites I used as resources:
1 - Live Science
2 - Shark Water
Some sites for shark organizations and more information about sharks:
1 - Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
2 - Ocean Health Index
3 - Research Site
4 - Team Orca
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