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| Photo courtesy of Ocean Ramsey, One Ocean Diving |
At first, they were just pale forms beneath the boat as we
pulled up over a section of deep blue water off the North Shore of Oahu,
Hawaii. The sharks rose quickly, their forms growing larger until fins broke
the surface, circling one another in a frenzy of excitement. I peered over the
edge of the boat and counted seven sharks in the water, many larger than
myself. They rose higher and as a couple began jumping, our guide, Ocean Ramsey
told us to gear up. It was now time to get into the water. Naturally, I was
nervous but excited as I donned my snorkel and fins. And oh, one more thing, I
also just started my period.
By going into the water, I was dispelling two myths at the
same time: 1) sharks are blood thirsty man eaters, and 2) it’s deadly for a
woman to swim in the ocean on her period. But mainly, I was there because I wanted
to understand these creatures the way our guide does. Ocean Ramsey has devoted
her life to shark study, and is one of the leading marine biologists trying to
protect them. You may have seen her in recent videos taking the internet by
storm – she’s that tiny blonde girl who dives down next to the Great White and
holds onto its pectoral fin, riding it for as long as she can hold her breath.
The shark is aware of her presence but doesn’t seem to mind her touch in the
slightest. Ocean herself is the epitome of grace, oozing a gentle confidence, at
home in the water. On the ride out to the site, she and our other guide Sophie
shared some alarming facts about shark population decline and explain the rules
of our excursion very clearly.
Rule number 1: maintain eye contact. Prey tries to hide,
looks away as it turns and flees. When you look eye to eye with a shark, you
meet it predator to predator. Rule number 2: no thrashing, no wild swimming
with your hands. Don’t give the sharks any reason to believe you are struggling,
or nervous, or moving so fast it looks like small fish (fingers) around you are
up for grabs. Rule number 3: don’t get below them. Sharks school in a
hierarchy with the apex predators on top in the shallows and lesser, lower
individuals on the totem pole down deeper.
It took a while to relax. Climbing down the ladder, I was trying
to control my thumping heart because I just learned that sharks can feel your
heart beat, feel your electromagnetic energy and know when you are confident or
afraid. It wasn’t fear I felt, but
adrenaline, holding on to the rope strung on the side of the boat looking down
on more sharks than I could count at one time. It wasn’t eyes I saw when I
looked at them below me, it was graceful sleek grey bodies. The sharks were
curious. Even though we hadn’t baited them by throwing chum in the water, they
stayed near our boat, circling in an unpredictable manner. A large female
Galapagos Shark approached and swam by, just feet from me. Obviously the apex predator, she had bite
marks on her body and a tall sharp dorsal fin. This shark became my favorite,
as I tried to see them as Ocean does, big beautiful powerful beings with names
like “Unicorn” and “Waffles,” not the fictional man eaters starring in horror
films. The media has spoon-fed humanity a misunderstanding of sharks and taught
us to fear them. I meet so many people who are vacationing in Hawaii while
scared to death of the ocean, not putting a toe in because a shark might attack
them like it did in that recent movie.
Which is sad and silly, considering people are ten times more likely to
get bit by a New Yorker than a shark. More people die annually from getting hit
by lightning, from falling coconuts, from vending machines toppling over for
goodness sakes! Cows are more dangerous! The truth is, there are on average ten
deaths a year by sharks, and we are killing over one hundred million annually
around the globe. So who is the real blood thirsty murderer here?
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| Photo thanks to Ocean Ramsey, One Ocean Diving |
As Unicorn circled back around, Ocean invited me away from
the boat to swim with her. That was a relief, as it was getting exhausting
trying to hold on, trying to maintain eye contact, to not get swept under the
boat by the changing current, not get hit by the ladder as it bounced next to
me in the churning surface. Ocean motioned me forward, pointed in the direction
that was safe to dive, and I went down without hesitation. Underwater, it was instantly
calm, quiet, and I was comfortable in my deep blue element (that is, with 17
schooling sharks). Being beneath the surface in their territory was amazing.
The sharks didn’t change their path at all, they didn’t swim up to me, nor swim
faster. As I dove, I looked up to the boat and when I looked back I was in
shark traffic, making eye contact with a Sandbar shark. With a more pointed
nose than the Galapagos, his stare was intense. His eyes cut straight through
me and my heart stopped for a second. There was nothing evil nor menacing in
his gaze, but it was without a doubt the most direct look I have received in my
life. Realizing I was below the apex and lower in the school than I should be,
I swam up ten feet and Ocean and I switched direction and swam up the water
column back to the boat.
During the entire hour and a half we were in the water, the
sharks paid no more attention to me on my period than anyone else. The myth
about them being able to smell a drop of blood a mile away and heading over to
eat you immediately is just that: a myth. They do have an incredible sense of
smell, but our blood doesn’t smell appetizing to them as we are not on their
menu. Seals, tuna, sure. Attacks happen when sharks confuse us in murky water
for their food source, not because we have a scrape or are on our period. Let’s put it this way: just because you can
smell a rotting dumpster half a block away doesn’t mean you want to run over
there to eat out of it. But when you smell bacon on the street, you are
interested, looking around, wondering which house it is coming from. Tuna blood
is the drop of blood a shark would follow to investigate. Human blood is not.  |
| Photo Courtesy of Ocean Ramsey, One Ocean Diving |
They belong in the ocean more than we do, they are an
intricate part of the ecosystem and we are wiping
them out at a rate of three every second.
Primarily, this slaughter is in Asia for a prestigious Chinese delicacy
that represents high stature – shark fin soup.
It is a tasteless bowl of luxury, and millions of sharks lose their life
for it annually. But it’s not only in Asia, shark meat is also used in dogfood,
and shark cartilage in supplements - both of which are on the shelf in your
local grocery store.
The other main reason behind our widespread hunting is fear.
I have met sharks face to face, and felt safe the entire time. But most of
humanity meets computer generated shark images face to TV screen where they are
portrayed in an evil light and feel afraid. Yes, they are bigger and stronger
and faster (sorry Michael Phelps) than us, but they don’t want to eat us.
They’re not interested in our blood at all. Sharks are not hunting us, it is
the exact opposite. And if it continues at this rate, the delicate balance of
the underwater ecosystem will be damaged beyond repair. At top of the food chain, sharks keep the
underwater homeostasis of the ocean. Without them, algae may overtake coral
reefs, disease may wipe out hundreds of species of fish, including ones we rely
on for food, and our fisheries would shut down.
Australia has implemented a cull, meaning that in attempts
to make murky waters safer for surfers who look like seals in their wetsuits
and thrash like they’re struggling when off the board, sharks are being caught
in masses on drum lines and killed. 94%
of those caught are Tiger sharks, which are nearing endangerment and have not
been responsible for a fatal attack in the area since 1929. What if, instead of killing the sharks, we
could kill our own fear? That’s why Ocean Ramsey’s work is so important. As
Baba Dioum reminds us, "in the end we will conserve only what we love; we
will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are
taught." Education is a key piece to sharks’ and our oceans’ survival.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
- Try keeping an open mind and understand the reality behind our spoon-fed perception of sharks. Don’t believe everything you see on TV. Understand that your fear is learned, and sometimes it is not based on facts at all. If you can learn it, you have the power to unlearn it.
- Be a conscious consumer. Don’t buy products made from sharks. The obvious one is the shark tooth necklace – if it isn’t a fossil, don’t buy it. Sharks are also often found in vitamins, supplements labeled as shark cartilage, squalamine lactate, AE-941 and U-995. Sharkskin is used in several countries including the United States for belts purses, shoes and labeled as shagreen. Sharks are often dogfood ingredients labeled as: spiny dogfish, rock salmon and thresher.
- Support organizations that are fighting to save marine wildlife. Sea Shephard, Wild Aid, Humane Society International, Shark Savers, Shark Research Institute, Shark Angels, Project AWARE, just to name a few.
- If you’re up for it, go see Ocean Ramsey and meet her friends the sharks face to face in a safe environment. See how beautiful they are and see for yourself and how different they are from the demons media portrays them as. (Meet Beast, and see not the monster but the heart) If you can’t get to Hawaii to do this, or your fear won’t let you, talk about it with others, recommend it. Live vicariously through them, and at least spread a more positive outlook. Get different information out there that is closer to the truth. www.oneoceandiving.com
- If you are seated at a restaurant with Shark Fin Soup on the menu, get up. Respectfully explain to the manager why you will not be dining there as you will not support any place that serves this dish, therefore promoting mindless slaughter. Ask them to consider removing it from their menu and calmly walk out. It is only by hearing opposition and seeing dollars walk out the door that restaurants will withdraw their financial support of shark finning. You don’t have to be rude about it, but please understand that even by ordering something else on their menu, you are still supporting a business that contributes to the decline of a critically endangered species. In the two minutes this takes to do, 360 sharks are killed by humans.
- Ask your local restaurants where their fish and chips are sourced from. Keep in mind that shark meat is served under different names such as: spiny dogfish, rock fish, rock salmon, thresher, huss, rig or rock eel and flake. Shark species used in restaurants are being fished to the brink of extinction.
- Educate yourself and others with facts. Read the articles produced by Shark Research Institute and other organizations that have studied sharks, not criminalized them for entertainment. Watch Ocean Ramsey’s TED Talk. Watch the videos of her swimming with Tiger sharks and Great Whites and coexisting in a peaceful manner. You Tube the man who cuts his wrist in a school of Great Whites and see how uninterested they are as he bleeds around them. Sharks are not mindless killers. It is not their intent to harm us. We are not on their menu, but they certainly are on ours. We kill 11,4017 sharks per hour.
For a powerful visual graph of the comparison, click here
