Shark Week

Shark week comes once a year. And as much as I fear sharks, I am just as fascinated by them. In the past few years it hasn't been as good because of the Discovery channel's need to incorporate their shows (i.e. Dirty Jobs, and Myth Breakers) into the week. But every year there are a few of the shows that stand out. Sharkbite Summer was the most interesting. It told of the attacks during the summer of 2001. Most of us probably remember the craziness that followed. Between july and september the media ate the stories up. In the end there were no more attacks then in years past. The last attack told happened on September 3, 2001 and 8 days later no one cared about sharks. Most of these attacks happened in water waist deep or less. And with that knowledge... I will never enter the ocean again. The other great hour talked on the shark attacks on the Jersey coast during the summer of 1916. Within days and only miles apart 4 people were attacked. Prior to this summer no one believed sharks, or any creature in the ocean, attacked people. And certainly no one had the power to kill a full grown man. One attack happened in the ocean. The three others? In a river. Did I mention I am NEVER entering any body of water that isn't a pool? This summer forced researchers to take a different look at sharks and people to never enter the ocean withough knowing something cold easily kill them. We now know that bull sharks can survive in fresh water and because of this many think that this shark was the attacker.

Shark week ended on Sunday and 60 minutes caught my attention with a piece on feeding sharks. This segment talked of great whites in south africa and the tour boats that chum the water so tourists get their money's worth. The tour operators think this is no big deal, the surgers think it raises the attacks on humans. In fact on that beach alone their have been six shark attacks in the last year, 4 were fatal. Their argument is that sharks associate people with food and that no other wild animal can be fed by humans, why is it ok to attrack great whites? The other thing happening in this region? Shark fin hunting. Boats the size of oil tankers go out and catch sharks to cut off their fins for shark soup. I will spare you the graphic images... Just know that I cried. Seemed a fitting end to Shark week. I start on Sunday watching programs on shark attacks and watch victims tell their stories of fear and suffering. Then watch victim's relatives tell of their loss, and end the week crying because of the sufferig and fear of the sharks themselves. How fitting. Until next year! That is assumming this blog is still active.