Personal Assumptions & Views

Personally, I definitely think chumming is the cause of more sharks arriving at our bay. There is enough observations and evidence by knowledgeable people saying that it is the reason for this. As said earlier in my essay, a dog would react in the same way as a shark if you teased it with a piece of meat – giving it to them and then tearing it out of their mouths. Any animal would get aggravated by this action it is understandable and cruel.  Surely with their great power and mysterious nature, people would not want to aggravate such an animal? And then be so unsure about what it might do next.

We know so little about these creatures that studying and documenting them is crucial in order for us to not be so afraid. But chumming doesn’t seem to be the answer to doing so. It just causes the sharks reputation of being a human eater to become bigger and therefore we are not diminishing the stereotype by finding out more, but increasing it in uneducated peoples minds. Once people see an animal as a threat they will not treat it kindly or with respect and this is when it becomes aggressive. It is just a vicious circle amongst humans and the shark species.

So initially, studying the animal should be done in a different way. Not one to endanger peoples lives. Referring to a statement earlier, people aren’t allowed to feed baboons specifically because it messes with their eating schedules. It causes them to approach people for food, not find their own and when not receiving food from the humans they will become aggressive and attack. This is clearly a similarity with the sharks. So why are we permitted to feed the sharks and not the baboons? It is because sharks can’t approach on land, but we aren’t constantly on land, we are often in their territory so it should be expected that we should be attacked once aggravating them.

Maybe if chumming was modified and the regulations were stricter it would be acceptable but at this current time it only has negative impacts for everyone and should not be a technique used to attract sea life for any reason. You are asking for trouble, messing with a powerful predators lifestyle and habitat.

National Ocean Service, 2011, [image online] Available at: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sharkseat.html [accessed 21 April 2012]