Jaws

                Sharks have been known to be very dangerous creatures. They eat surfer’s legs, go on massive rampages, and are the monsters of the big blue. Based on the millions of movies made about them, and weeks of shows about them, we find that sharks are portrayed as the scariest and most dangerous animal on earth.

                This is far from true; about 10-20 fatal injuries are caused by sharks each year. That is less that vending machine incidents and air fresher incidents. Sharks are interpreted as something you have to be careful of when at the beach.  They are the menace lurking in the waters waiting for you to come and take a swim. There are so many other things in the ocean to be afraid of like rip currents, jellyfish, drowning.  All are much more deadly than the star of Jaws. Discovery Channel is a huge culprit of perpetuating fear and imprinting it on sharks. Shark Week has many programs twenty four seven for a week that show the rush and thrill of fighting these animals and working and being around them. Sharknado, a humorous movie with terrible acting and a ridiculous plot, also gave the sharks an image that they are extremely dangerous creatures when really the monster is the ocean. Thousands of people die every year from just being stupid out in the ocean, it’s a dangerous place. Not because a shark is hunting you down like everyone fears but the danger of drowning or being tangled up with something is much more common than a shark.

                Sharks should be afraid of humans, not vise-versa. We kill so many more annually for their fins, teeth, meat and other things that are totally unneeded just to kill a shark. Shark Fin soup is something common in eastern countries indulge in.   And Shark Week always seems to increase the demand for shark meat.  Maybe the reason shark attacks seem so scary and are talked about so much is because there really is not an example of any other animal that attacks humans and treats us like food.  We think that it is our job to hunt and catch animals as food not the other way around.