• Sharks should be respected, not slaughtered Sharks should be respected, not slaughtered I was angered, dismayed, and saddened by the moronic mentality of the two fishermen hunting the tiger shark. As a member of the marine science community, we
• Sharks should be respected, not slaughtered
Sharks should be respected, not slaughtered
I was angered, dismayed, and saddened by the moronic mentality of the two fishermen hunting the tiger shark. As a member of the marine science community, we are clearly aware the the tiger shark population has been dwindling. To take such a graceful and beautiful animal with malice and forethought is an outrage! Don’t these two men know tiger sharks do not stay in one area? They have been tagged and proven to travel from island to island, possibly even away from the Hawaiian chain and southward?
On Maui, a local snorkel and diving company was hired by a well known filming agency in search of the amazing tiger shark. They chummed several miles offshore for just under a week. Not one tiger shark was found and so the Hawaiian portion of the film had to be scrapped.
So someone is bitten. Bitten is the key word. She wasn’t devoured. The animal did not come back to finish the job. It is a tragedy, but also should be kept in perspective. We are in their habitat. Their home. We are visitors. Really, with a yearly average of 3 bites and with all the thousands of people in the water daily, this is not something that merits gung ho fishermen to search out and slaughter any tiger shark that comes near the possible size. These animals grow slowly, become sexually mature later in life, and possibly live a very long time. They are a very necessary part of the ecosystem and need to be respected, not slaughtered.
Katherine Dell
Maui, Hawai‘i
