I became interested in sharks when I was about 10. Ironically after seeing the movie "JAWS". I was both terrified, and fascinated. I read everything I could, saw every movie, documentary I could, just so I could learn more about them, specifically Great White sharks. I am convinced that I was killed in some previous life by one, and now I've come back to find out why it thought I was lunch! (LOL) But in all seriousness, I have always had this overwhelming curiousity with Great White sharks. And I do plan on going on a shark diving expedition, just so I can experience these amazing animals up close....
Hopefully before they all become extinct by our stupidity....
Shark swam past thousands of swimmers
October 28, 2006 12:00
A GREAT white shark spotted off Perth today swam past thousands of swimmers and surfers, said a reporter at the scene.
The five metre white pointer was seen by an aerial surveillance team this morning and water police were able to guide the shark out to sea – but not before it had come within 300m of five of Perth's most popular beaches.
"It (the shark) would have covered probably five our most popular beaches," Nine Network reporter Michael Thompson told Sky News.
"So it would have cruised past, literally, thousands and thousands of beachgoers."
Mr Thompson said a glorious morning had meant beaches, including Scarborough and Trigg, were inundated by swimmers and surfers.
"Absolutely perfect beach weather... lots of people just down to enjoy the sunshine and go for a swim."
Thompson said some people refused to leave the water, even after alarms were sounded.
"After people were told to leave the beaches and when the helicopter is hovering over a shark 300m off the shore, some people are still wanting to surf and still swim in the water."
The beaches reopened at about 10.30am (WST).
Shark Finning
Shanghai, China (Nov 10, 2006 17:52 EST) Experts on shark conservation, research and management from Australia, China, Singapore, United States and United Kingdom, recently participated in the International Shark Conservation Meeting in Beijing, China.
The shark experts said many species of shark are facing a serious threat to their existence because of worldwide fishing trends. Fishermen "used to cut the lines and let sharks go," said Pete Kinghts, executive director of WildAid, a San Francisco-based conservation group, told the shark conservation conference. In recent years, however, fishermen have kept the sharks to sell their lucrative fins.
One-third of the more than 500 shark species are threatened with extinction or are close to being threatened, said Sarah Fowler of the World Conservation Union.
Fisheries can remove 50 to 90 percent of an entire shark (species) in only 10 years," said Fowler, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
WildAid, which co-sponsored the conference, persuaded NBA star Yao Ming in August to pledge to give up eating shark's fin soup, a Chinese delicacy, as part of a campaign to promote wildlife protection in his homeland.
WildAid says China is the world's biggest importer of shark's fins, which conservationists say are cut from sharks that are thrown back into the ocean to die. WildAid put the worldwide trade in shark's fins at 10,000 tons a year.
Fowler estimated that 38 to 70 million sharks are killed each year for their fins.
As part of the meeting, the panel of experts drew up an official consensus, which follows:
Sharks have swum the world's oceans for over 400 million years – long before the first dinosaurs appeared on land. They inhabit every ocean and play a vital role in the health of marine ecosystems, and they are considered of significant ecological, scientific, and economic value. Therefore, it is important to conserve sharks for marine ecology, the protection of biodiversity and the promotion of sustainable development. Throughout the world, sharks are being threatened due to human activity and need to be conserved by global efforts. The experts make the following recommendations:
1. To conserve sharks we should expand regional cooperation, enhance data collection and information exchange, and promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
2. Increase the funding for professional training, research activities, and the improvement of science and technology for shark conservation.
3. Actively conduct shark conservation activities, enhancing the management of shark fishing, minimizing by-catch and resource waste, promoting sustainable utilization.
4. Stop illegal fishing, strictly control coastal residential and industrial waste discharge, and protect the marine environment.
5. Improve awareness of marine ecosystem conservation, enhancing public education, and conserving sharks and their habitats. The Earth is a blue planet. The sea is humanity's means of livelihood. The length and breadth of the sea has bred several thousand years of human culture. Let us collectively conserve our sharks, marine environment and share the deep blue sea with our marine species, to build a harmonious and glorious future between humans and nature.
