The Dorsal Fin

In a prime-example of media sensationalism, The Korean Times is reporting in the article, Vacationers Warned After Sharks Spotted, that two hammerheads were spotted off the coast of Tongyoung, South Gyeongsang Province “not far from” Mondol Beach. The article quotes a researcher of the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute as saying, “the hammerhead shark is a violent and dangerous species,” and “Our beaches are no longer safe from sharks.”

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A Cleveland.com article, Shark Week about to begin on the Discovery Channel, discusses how “the Discovery Channel every year charts a tricky course between exploiting our fear of sharks and demythologizing them.” The article makes the statement, “If ever an animal was burdened with an image problem, it’s the shark.”

The article goes on to quote, John Ford, president and general manager of Discovery Channel, as saying the following…

“We do play off the fear to some degree.That’s good marketing. But we also give people solid information, and viewers understand that. We play with people’s fears, but we ultimately allay them. One thing we do is run regular public service spots about dangers facing shark populations. After all, if sharks could experience fear, they would be much more fearful of us.”

I wonder if by “us,” Ford meant humans, in general, or the Discovery Channel. Running public service announcements about the decline in shark populations during programming that is promoted primarily by media campaigns featuring fictitious shark attacks on humans (and even dogs) hardly makes sense (although, it will likely make plenty of “cents” for Discovery).

According to the article, Kerry teams with cable channel to protect sharks, the Discovery Channel has “teamed up” with Massachusetts Senator, John Kerry, to support the The Shark Conservation Act of 2009, which is intended to strengthen the ban on shark finning in the U.S. and encourage international shark conservation. The article features a letter from John Ford, the President & General Manager of Discovery Channel, in which Ford states that Discovery Channel will be participating in “a public service announcement campaign, to air throughout Shark Week, with the goal of educating viewers about the plight of sharks and encouraging them to take action.” and that they will be “putting all of our media weight behind this effort.”

Ford also says, “As the #1 non-fiction media company in the world, Discovery Communications strives to educate and inform viewers about our planet. The flagship network, Discovery Channel, reaches over 98 million viewers in the U.S. alone and is committed to providing the highest quality content on television.”

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The video above is one of the shark conservation Public Service Announcements (PSA) that will be run during Discovery Channel’s Shark Week. If you’ve witnessed any of Discovery Channel’s promotional media for Shark Week, you’ll notice a stark contrast between the above message and the fear-based ad campaign. The PSA showed up today on The Ocean Conservancy’s YouTube Channel and is listed as being presented by The Discovery Channel and The Ocean Conservancy. While I fully support The Ocean Conservancy’s efforts, I find it hard to buy into Discovery’s commitment to shark conservancy, when they continue to exploit and misrepresent sharks for their own personal gains.

Expatica.com is reporting that Friday’s reported “shark attack” on an 11-year-old British girl at Sant Salvador de El Vendrell beach is now actually believed to be a bluefish attack. According to the report, “maritime experts later concluded that the bite suffered by the girl was too small to have been caused by a shark and was compatible instead with the marks that would be left by a bluefish.”

A blue shark had been seen, prior to the attack, 20 miles away from Sant Salvador de El Vendrell. In a knee-jerk reaction, maritime police caught and a killed a blue shark in the area after the attack, prior to the “shark attack” being debunked. Neighboring beaches were closed after the non-shark attack but have since been re-opened after maritime police patrolling the beaches found “no signs of bluefish.”

The knee-jerk tactics of attempting to hunt sharks down after a supposed attack is utterly absurd given the scientific information available today about shark attacks on humans. It’s also ridiculous to think that bluefish are no longer in area where bluefish live, as if a rogue bluefish swam in from some mystical bluefish hiding spot to bite someone and then left the area. The thought of maritime police patrolling for bluefish is comical, at best. No word on whether or not the police were able to sleep soundly after executing the wrong perpetrator.

Here’s to hoping that the 11-year-old victim of the bluefish bite heals up quickly and is able to enjoy the rest of her vacation. An animal bite which requires stitches is no less severe regardless of the species.