Sharks Are Not Monsters

I HAVE been following the news in Cape Town and have watched a couple of programmes on DSTV such as ‘Summer of the shark’.

I become enraged when I see how people go on about sharks. Making them out to be cold-blooded killers.(Well I guess they are.It is a fish after all.) But you know what I mean.People making out as if a shark is out to get every person paddling in more than a foot of water.How sad have we become as a society when we condemn animals for not having human emotions.I used to do a little surfing as a teen and can tell you that when a surfer gets “attacked” he sees it as nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.Have you ever seen a shark really eat a human? No.They usually bite off a limb.This is because we taste like crap.Sharks burn huge amounts of energy and need to replenish it by eating things like seals and fish.They move around in? Yes, come on …that’s right, the ocean.If I put salt in the sugar pot, how many people do you think will dump salt in their coffee and only realise that they did so after they taste it? If a guy gets bitten by a shark then we blame the shark.If that same guy climbs over the wall at Okaukuejo and sits at the water hole, we say he is an idiot because he knows that lions drink there.If a human attacks and kills another human they blame his parents for not giving him enough love or some uncle who gave too much.He gets put in a cell and gets to study and be a burden to the taxpayer.God forbid his human rights be violated.A lion nibbles on someone or an elephant gets fed up with a cocky tour guide and the animal gets shot because it is a ‘problem animal’.In every national park there are signs saying “Don’t get out of the vehicle”, “Wild animals”, “Danger” and so on.Why not have that on the beaches? We have the ability to send people into space yet we cannot comprehend that if a couple of million people splash around in a shark’s backyard, chances are, a few might be seen as a potential meal.If we don’t like those odds, then we should stay out of the water.Oh, and here is a thought.More people die each year by eating sharks than are attacked by sharks.Delano Via e-mailMaking them out to be cold-blooded killers.(Well I guess they are.It is a fish after all.) But you know what I mean.People making out as if a shark is out to get every person paddling in more than a foot of water.How sad have we become as a society when we condemn animals for not having human emotions.I used to do a little surfing as a teen and can tell you that when a surfer gets “attacked” he sees it as nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.Have you ever seen a shark really eat a human? No.They usually bite off a limb.This is because we taste like crap.Sharks burn huge amounts of energy and need to replenish it by eating things like seals and fish.They move around in? Yes, come on …that’s right, the ocean.If I put salt in the sugar pot, how many people do you think will dump salt in their coffee and only realise that they did so after they taste it? If a guy gets bitten by a shark then we blame the shark.If that same guy climbs over the wall at Okaukuejo and sits at the water hole, we say he is an idiot because he knows that lions drink there.If a human attacks and kills another human they blame his parents for not giving him enough love or some uncle who gave too much.He gets put in a cell and gets to study and be a burden to the taxpayer.God forbid his human rights be violated.A lion nibbles on someone or an elephant gets fed up with a cocky tour guide and the animal gets shot because it is a ‘problem animal’.In every national park there are signs saying “Don’t get out of the vehicle”, “Wild animals”, “Danger” and so on.Why not have that on the beaches? We have the ability to send people into space yet we cannot comprehend that if a couple of million people splash around in a shark’s backyard, chances are, a few might be seen as a potential meal.If we don’t like those odds, then we should stay out of the water.Oh, and here is a thought.More people die each year by eating sharks than are attacked by sharks.Delano Via e-mail