This feature from 60 Minutes, , which originally aired in December of 2005 was updated on August 6, 2009. It covers the whole gamut of shark tourism and conservation. The segment does feature some footage that will clearly be seen by some as being detrimental to attitudes towards sharks and the shark tourism industry. Most notably a cage breach in which Simon implies that the divers would have “been toast” if the shark had not lost his bearing.

The lead-in to the segment also seems to state in a somewhat “matter of fact” manner that many people believe shark diving has resulted in an increase on shark attacks on beach-goers. It does seem to be somewhat balanced in featuring opinions of those both for and against shark diving, although I think it would have been more informative to see some references to research to support or contradict either point of view. I know there is at least one study on the effects of shark tourism on white shark behavior that was conducted in South Africa, which could have been relevant to the argument.

The segment started out with what I felt like was a somewhat negative attitude towards sharks from Bob Simon, in that he seems to be focused on fears toward sharks early on. However, Simon definitely seems in awe of the white sharks that he dives with in South Africa and even comments that the experience is less about fear than it was marveling at seeing white sharks up close. In the latter half of the segment, the focus shifts from shark tourism to the finning industry and the threat to global shark populations. By the end of the segment, Simon seems to be conservation-minded and even calls for people to give sharks a break.

When the film was shot, whale sharks were not protected in India’s waters under the Wildlife Act of 1972, allowing the slaughter of the animals to go unregulated. While the film does feature footage that might be difficult for some to watch, it had such an impact that the government of India introduced legislature protecting the whale shark in 2001. Aware that legislation protecting whale sharks would have a detrimental financial impact on the fishermen who hunted them, Pandey also explored ways that the fishermen could earn a living as guides for whale shark tourism targeted toward tourists and divers interested in seeing the animals in their natural habitat.

The big thing that jumps out at me about this documentary is that, while Pandey clearly is against the hunting of whale sharks, he does touch on the livelihood of the fishermen who hunt them and does not turn a blind eye to their need to sustain themselves and their families. Pandey points out that the fishermen, who actually expose themselves to the risky whale shark hunts, actually do not make a lot of money off of their kills, while exporters reap about 40x as much financial gain as the fishermen in the southeast Asian markets. Pandey is not so one-sided that he is only concerned about the welfare of the whale sharks while ignore the welfare of those who make a living off hunting them. His ideas of preserving the whale sharks and turning Gujarat into a whale shark tourism site is a win-win situation for the fishermen and the sharks.

For more information about the film visit Shores of Silence – Green Oscar winner at Wildscreen at UnderwaterChannel.tv.

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.”

I wonder if the video above is what Ford considers to be striving to “educate and inform.” If this kind of media is the “highest quality content on television,” people might be better off pulling an Elvis and shooting their t.v.

I really wish the Discovery Channel would put “ALL their media weight” into a conservation-minded Shark Week, but it seems like a good chunk of their media weight has been put into promoting fear and misconceptions regarding sharks. For Shark Week 2009, The Discovery Channel has “put their media weight” behind 4 different ads involving fictional shark attacks on humans (like the one seen above), the Frenzied Waters website, and a YouTube Channel page, which features bloody water and floating articles of clothing presumably to be from shark attack victims.

Kerry was quoted as saying, “We need to get serious, and I’m thrilled to see Discovery Channel’s willingness to roll up its sleeves and help get the job done,” in reference to shark population declines and the disruption of the oceans as a result of the finning industry. Eliciting fear towards sharks to increase your ratings (and ad revenues) and then turning around and proclaiming to being committed to shark conservation is hardly “rolling up your sleeves” and helping to “get the job done,” as far as I’m concerned.

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.

If that’s not enough, Discovery’s YouTube channel page features a watery background with blood and articles of clothing floating about. The first seven videos in their “Shark Week Archives” playlist focus on shark attack on humans.

Here’s a list of first seven videos from  “Shark Week Archives” (in the order they appear on Discovery’s YouTube page)…

• Caught on Video – Girl Attacked By Shark!
• Shark Week- Tiger Shark Attack: Beyond Fear
• Shark Expert Attacked While Filming
• Tiger Shark Attack
• Shark Week- Shark Attack Survivors
• Shark Bites – Man Loses Arm to Shark
• Best of Shark Week – Shark Attack: Predator in the Panhandle

If that’s not enough, the eighth video in the playlist, Shark Week- Fisherman Meets a Great White Shark, is a video that displays a fisherman’s tale of netting two great whites and features video of people parading around the carcass of a large white shark, including a guy sticking his head near the mouth of the dead shark for a photo op.

Discovery Channel needs to take some responsibility for this ad campaign. It does nothing but paint sharks in a negative perspective by focusing on shark attacks, fear, and terror. Discovery Channel claims on their Shark Conservation page that they are teaming up with the Ocean Conservancy “during Shark Week to help viewers learn more about one of the ocean’s most imperiled creatures and how viewers can help save them from the threats of overfishing and habitat loss.” Yet, they continue to perpetuate long-standing negative stereotypes about sharks as mindless killers  with their fear-based promotional campaigns. Discovery Channel has the power to do something good when it comes to altering the misconceptions that people have about sharks. People are going to be far less likely to be conservationist-minded when it comes to sharks, if they’re duped into believing that sharks are like the monsters they see in horror movies and misguided advertising campaigns.

Discovery Channel, it’s time to step-up. You’re better than this.

• touching a bamboo shark
• competing for prizes in Shark Jeopardy
• classroom activities for children involving shark-related crafts and games
• a chance to have your picture taken in the replicated jaws of a huge, prehistoric megalodon
• viewing shark-feeding programs
• talking to Aquarium divers as they swim with sharks in the Live Dive programs

Sand Tiger Shark at NC Aquarium - Pine Knoll Shores (Living Shipwreck exhibit)

Shark conservation and education is not overlooked on the NC Aquarium’s Shark Week website, which points out that, “Most shark bites along East Coast shorelines have been attributed to sharks mistaking swimmers for fish…The human impact on sharks poses another sort of threat. Over-fishing, hunting, pollution and other factors have caused shark numbers to decline worldwide. Many shark species are classified as endangered and all northwest Atlantic shark species have dramatically declined in the past 15 years.”

The NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores (located in Atlantic Beach, NC) is home to sand tiger sharks, nurse sharks, a sandbar shark, and a bonnethead shark.

It’s nice to see the aquarium organizing what appears to be a environmentally-responsible and educational Shark Week. Perhaps, other organizations will wake up to the idea that conservation-minded, educational content can be also be fun and interesting.

Juvenile Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias)

It’s refreshing to see a news article about a white shark without any references to Jaws, monsters, killers, etc. It’s also refreshing to read about responsible fishermen respecting the sharks that they’ve caught and safely releasing them back to their environment. In fact, upon visiting Bowman Bluewater’s website, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they are sponsoring a catch and release mako tournament in which the proceeds of the tournament will go to the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Casting for Recovery. The proceeds donated to the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research will be used for research on Southern California mako sharks.

The Orlando Sentinel also featured a brief opinion piece on “Getting over Jaws.” The article mentions possible tougher restrictions on killing certain shark species in Florida and also mentions the shark attack survivors lobbying for a ban on finning.