Okay, I have to throw my $0.02 in!
As someone who is an admitted Armchair Shark Expert, and trust me I wish I had field experience, sharks are one of the top predators of the sea. Orca's (killer whales) eat sharks, therefor making them top. Anyway, my point is that sharks don't have poor eyesight, just not good when it comes to surface prey. Yes, surfers, boogie boarders and people who swim poorly appear to be prey to the sharks. The outline of surfers and boogie boarders tend to most resemble the favorite foods, seals and sea turtles, of the "man eaters", the tiger shark and great white shark. Swimming poorly or thrashing and splashing about attracts them for other reasons, injured fish do the same thing, and in murky waters that doesn't help. When it comes to the ocean, we are not the top dogs there, we were not meant for it. It is the sharks home. In Brazil there were an increase in shark attacks due to a port being built in a shark nursery and not far enough away from beaches and the ships would travel near those same beaches dumping trash, which I might add sharks will eat, and with the nursery gone sharks would go towards the beaches in search of more food, and boom, humans thrashing about and having fun makes for a bad day for humans with a hungry shark in the area. Sharks also have no hands and bite people to see if we are eatable or just to figure out what we are. Yes, blood in the water once a investigative bite occurs can sometimes lead to an all out attack, but sometimes the shark leaves after that first bite. Bull Sharks are just aggressive animals, like Kodiak bears, rhinos and crocs. Leave them alone and stay the heck out of the water where they tend to reside, just for safety's sake. If anyone has seen that Shark week special where the Bull Shark Expert was attacked, not doing anything, note that no one else in the crew was attacked when getting him out of the water, and that area was filled with them. Sometimes I think that the bull shark is around to remind us that we should never underestimate anything with "big nasty sharp pointy teeth"-John Cleese. And I believe that some attacks occur to people who are just plain stupid, and therefor have earned a good mauling or even death, such as surfing near large populations of seals, going into water on a period, etc. There is a guy that goes urchin diving out at the Farallon Islands, an area that is known for its LARGE Great Whites. He has been diving there since the late 70's and never been bitten, attacked yes, but he landed on top of that shark when jumping into the water. So there is proof right there that sharks don't actively hunt us.
Now for the political side, UGH! I agree with didibii that shark fin fishermen are wasteful, not using the whole shark. We here in the states eat Mako, (My all time favorite shark). Now as it is my favorite shark, at first I was deeply offended, but after growing up and doing the research, I realized that if the whole animal is used, then there is no waste. Up here, in the Pacific Northwest, we also catch and eat (I think) Salmon sharks, which seriously look like smaller versions of the Great White (google them, I'm not joking!). But what those countries are allowing is wrong in my opinion. Here is another problem, Americans have that almighty holier than tho ego of enforce what we want you to or else! Granted that the fin industry like any other is propelled by Money and money alone. If you want to act out against fin fishing, show friends and have them show friends of the videos that you didn't want to show us because they were too bloody. Boycott the industry and make them hurt in the checkbook! Petition the UN to create rules for fin fishing at least, Pay Taxes to your government so they have the money to enforce those rules!
Okay, I'm done!
_________________ "It is better to type nothing and be assumed an ass, than to type something and remove all doubt." - Me
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