Shark Talk

[Pokémaniac13]

hammerheads are also my absolute favorite type of shark. they're neat-looking and surprisingly timid.

True. Sharks really aren’t all that aggressive towards humans.

 

[TheGreatCthulhu]

Yeah. Why should anyone be afraid of something with rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth? That’s part of the appeal.

Well, I understand if they respect it like say someone respects a lion or a tiger.

However, according to the International Shark Attack File (ISAF), between 1958 and 2016, there have been 2,785 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide.

On average in the United States, there's around 16 shark attacks every year, with one fatality once every two years.

Now, bear in mind the population of the United States, which is around 320 million.

According to most reports, your chances of being attacked by a shark is around 1 in 3,748,067.

In other words, you're statistically way more likely to die from the flu, which is around a 1 in 50 chance.

Fatal shark attacks are just a statistically rare event, hence why I said people are irrationally afraid of them. I'm more likely to die by a stroke of lightning than by a shark.

 

[Fraxinus]

Anything covered negatively in the media for clicks and views will be feared by the common public. News outlets don't care that it harms conservation efforts by fearmongering. In reality it's up to us to take the necessary precautions, because we are crossing into their territory when we swim on beaches; they're just trying to exist.

Sharks have fortunately healed from a negative public eye for the most part, thanks to widely successful public outreach like Shark Week, but this is a recurrent issue with media portrayals of animals in both fiction as well as poorly worded news headlines. Of course this is a frustrating topic for me, as most of my favorite animals are maligned like this. It's currently that time of year where people gotta spread a bunch of needless terror about wasps because it's the time of year where we're going to be interacting with them most. This statement right here I think about sums up why there is such a problem:

A national TV station asked me to appear on national TV this week to talk about horrific wasp stories. But after explaining to the broadcaster’s researcher that these articles have little scientific truth, they dropped me with the words:

“We might need someone who works in pest control instead.”

src: https://theconversation.com/plagues...ic-about-rumours-of-rising-populations-189333

Media outlets don't WANT to correct this problem, because they benefit from certain animals being covered in a negative light. They make money off this ill coverage, and therefore will selectively seek out the people who will provide the perspective they want, while turning away experts on these animals who actually have the power to set things straight.

 

[TheGreatCthulhu]

Anything covered negatively in the media for clicks and views will be feared by the common public. News outlets don't care that it harms conservation efforts by fearmongering. In reality it's up to us to take the necessary precautions, because we are crossing into their territory when we swim on beaches; they're just trying to exist.

Sharks have fortunately healed from a negative public eye for the most part, thanks to widely successful public outreach like Shark Week, but this is a recurrent issue with media portrayals of animals in both fiction as well as poorly worded news headlines. Of course this is a frustrating topic for me, as most of my favorite animals are maligned like this. It's currently that time of year where people gotta spread a bunch of needless terror about wasps because it's the time of year where we're going to be interacting with them most. This statement right here I think about sums up why there is such a problem:


src: https://theconversation.com/plagues...ic-about-rumours-of-rising-populations-189333

Media outlets don't WANT to correct this problem, because they benefit from certain animals being covered in a negative light. They make money off this ill coverage, and therefore will selectively seek out the people who will provide the perspective they want, while turning away experts on these animals who actually have the power to set things straight.

Exactly what I was trying to say. Me loving Discovery Channel's Shark Week is a double edged sword.

On the one hand, some of the programs actually contain interesting information about sharks, and I like learning, but some of the programs unfairly portray sharks in a negative light, as if they're evil, instead of a predator simply trying to survive in one of the most competitive ecosystems on the planet, the ocean.

When this view hits the public, people start getting the dangerous thought, "Maybe we don't need these animals around!"

And you never know what a keystone species is, unless their populations have dwindled enough. Keystone species, of course, being those that serve such a critical role in their ecosystems that getting rid of them causes widespread environmental problems.

 

[Fraxinus]

Shark Week got kind of burned quite some time ago, when some group made that Submarine story that they contributed to Shark Week's premieres. It's probably close to ten years ago now that it happened, but since the shows are from a bunch of different parties who more-or-less 'donate' them to Discovery Channel, what these groups put out are a direct reflection on Shark Week and the Discovery Channel. Submarine was one of those fictional documentary type of things that revived the now disproven 'rogue shark' theory, and when word got out this was a made up story, yeah, Shark Week got its reputation hurt a bit. Needless to say, that particular show is not in Shark Weeks rerun lineup because it's false.

I kind of miss seeing shark attack survival stories because they're big tear jerkers and the most important part of those honestly is the survivors sharing their story and at the end share how they are advocates for shark conservation. I think people are too quick to assume people sharing their story of surviving a shark attack is anti-shark propaganda, but it's honestly a really good message of how important it is we protect the sharks' environments and to be mindful that we're sharing the ocean with them. A handful of marine biologists who are active in shark research are shark attack survivors; there's this one guy I see on shark week every so often, he's literally in a wet suit with a prosthetic limb and stuff. Like this is seriously important to him.

I'm not as into Shark Week as I'm used to cuz half of the new shows are just "celebrity i dont care about plays with sharks." But the research episodes are as amazing as always.

 

[Pokémaniac13]

I didn’t realize that I started a thread that would draw marine biologists that would unintentionally make me sound dumb. Oh, well!

 

[TheGreatCthulhu]

I didn’t realize that I started a thread that would draw marine biologists that would unintentionally make me sound dumb. Oh, well!

Well, not a marine biologist. I'm just very enthusiastic about science.

I blame Bill Nye.

 

[Pokémaniac13]

Well, not a marine biologist. I'm just very enthusiastic about science.

me too. Doesn’t make me smart.

 

[Pokémaniac13]

Daily shark question! But first, the rules:
everyday I will try to ask a shark question. A question may be true/false, multiple choice, or standard, which just means type the answer. Hints may also be given. anyone who answers gets a Sharkie. Once you reach 5 Sharkies, you may expend them for the ability to ask the Daily Sharkie for 3 days. If someone else has already declared that they want to expend their points, then you may give me a heads up for the next 3 day cycle. You will be considered the first person to ask. That continues for weeks (hopefully I don’t loose count), as in the third person to ask will get the 3 days after the second person, and so on and so forth. You may continue to collect Sharkies, however, you can only expend five at a time, and you can’t have 2 or more cycles in a row.
Daily Sharkie:
How many rows of teeth do sharks have on average?

 

[Mikey the Gengar]

I hope there's a shark pokemon in scarlet

 

[Pokémaniac13]

I hope there's a shark pokemon in scarlet

Me too! At least let me have Sharpedo!