The Dorsal Fin

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.

At this point, I know I’m beating a dead horse, but I really feel like Discovery Channel’s YouTube campaign is just going overboard, particularly the Shark Week 2009 promotional video below, titled “Swimming girl is in for a surprise,” in which a girl is swimming along and is then snatched by an unseen force (presumably a shark). It’s followed by some bloody “Shark Week” text and then a Discovery Channel logo with the Earth apparently bleeding in the water.

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.
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The North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores will be featuring Shark Week from July 26 through August 1. According to their website, Shark Week will “offer a close-up look at these mysterious and often misunderstood predators,” and will offer family-oriented activities including:

• 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

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The San Diego Union Tribune article, Fisherman releases great white, reports that Jeff Patterson, a client of Conway Bowman of Bluewater Bowman, hooked a small great white shark off La Jolla (San Diego, CA) on July 17, 2009. Bowman estimated the shark to be around 6′ (1.8 meters) in length and 150 lbs (68kg) in weight. The white shark was hooked on a a fly-rod and was brought it within 25 minutes of being hooked. After removing the fly from the white shark’s mouth, both Patterson and Conway patted the shark on the head, and then the shark was released back into its natural environment. Bowman was quoted as saying, “To see a great white shark that close is the pinnacle of my guiding career.” Patterson also caught and released 3 mako sharks and 8 blue sharks over the course of his two-day fishing trip with Bowman.

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.

That’s the question that the Orlando Sentinel is asking in an online poll. To cast a vote and give your opinion on the subject visit the Orlando Sentinel Back Talk poll.

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.