I came across a headline on the shanghaiist website. "JAWS NOW IN SHANDONG" Shandong fishermen haul in horrifically giant shark!The article states: "Fishermen in Rizhao, Shandong Province, hauled in an utterly massive 10-meter-long (32 foot) whale shark on Sunday, and took plenty of photos as a friendly reminder that oceans are terrifying places full of monsters. The giant fish weighed some 10,000 kilograms and was dead on arrival, but the fishermen brought it back to land where, with the use of a crane, dropped it into a truck."
The ocean is a terrifying place, full of monsters? Now just in case someone is not clear on this, whale sharks, while indeed massive animals, are feeding on plankton and are NOT a predatory shark! What is terrifying, is the fact that there are still "journalists" out there that write this utter rubbish, without having any understanding of what they are talking about and a newspaper publishing it, without checking any facts about these gentle giants.
The article concludes with: "This shark, along with that terrifyingly massive beast a few years back, serve as steady reminders to never go into the ocean ever."
The "terrifyingly massive beast a few years back" was also a harmless whale shark, a fact the author actually alluded to a few times in that blog post. Is that journalist, Eric Crouch, actually as stupid as his article suggests or is he just looking to create controversy?
Idiots like these try to scare people, instead of informing them. They never let a good fact get into the way of a headline!
We at Shark Diver are trying to educate people and give them a first hand look at how sharks really are, by taking them to Guadalupe Island, Bahamas or Bequa lagoon in Fij to dive with and experience sharks first hand. We also started shark free marinas to raise awareness of the declining shark populations. It is frustrating to see, that there are individual "journalists" out there who either don't take the time to research the subject of their article, or worse, purposely spread misinformation, simply to be able to create a sensational headline.
Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO
About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at sharkoperations@gmail.com.