Sharkwater

I saw an amazing documentary called Sharkwater. There is an online pledge campaign to get people to make it known that they are opposed to shark finning and the astronomical numbers of sharks being killed each year for only their fins.

This film was very moving. I recoiled at the sight of fishermen cutting off the fins of sharks and throwing the rest of the bodies back into the water where the sharks can't swim so they sink to the bottom and suffocate while being eaten alive by other fish. The waste of not eating/using the entire shark is a pretty big issue, but the inhumanity of doing such a thing to a creature is nearly unimaginable to me.

It is difficult to get people to want to protect sharks. We're scared of them. In the movie, they show how gentle sharks can be. My favorite scene shows Rob Stewart hugging a shark. They are on the sandy sea floor and a shark is motionless, embraced by Rob. They stay this way for about 20 or 30 seconds before the shark calmly swims off. Rob shows us that sharks are not vicious creatures. In fact, soda vending machines kill more people each year than sharks do.

If you don't already love sharks, you should watch this film. If you have Netflix, you can get it on DVD. Otherwise bootleg it if you have to.