Doreen Collyer

The Australian Grey Nurse Shark is also known as the Spotted Ragged-Tooth Shark and as the Sand Tiger Shark ("Australian Threatened Species”). The species is identified by its gray to gray-brown coloration, the possible presence of reddish/brownish spots on the caudal fin and posterior half, their countershading, and by its two almost equally sized dorsal fins. They are known to grow over 3.6 meters in length with the males and females maturing at different lengths, 2.21 meters and 2.2 meters, respectively (McGrouther, 2015). Females also mature significantly later at 9-10 years than their male counterparts, who mature at 6-7 years. Their diet consists of fish,

Shark culling is a practice that is used in some Australian beaches, mainly off the Western coast of Australia and also other Australian beaches across all states. The term 'Shark Culling' describes the capturing and killing of large sharks in the vicinity of swimming beaches, by the use of baited drum lines and shark nets across the coastlines of Australia. Shark culling is a human action, and is threatening the marine ecosystem and having a huge impact on resources and marine life. Marine ecosystems are among the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems. Examples include lagoons, salt marshes, coral reefs, intertidal zones, the deep sea, mangroves, estuaries, and the sea floor.

Picture the beach, the golden sand and aqua water, the warm bright sun in the background, Imagine what is under the water, the aqua clear waters and the little fishes, but instead the ocean is full of nets capturing these harmless sharks. This is redicious to capture and kill these native Australian sharks. Shark culling has become the new issue for Australian media. Shark culling is not the answer for safer oceans.

A 67-year-old Massachusetts man was the victim of a shark attack in North Carolina on Wednesday. According to witnesses, the man was swimming in the water on Ocracoke Island. He was just outside the first breaker when he encountered a gray shark approximately seven feet long. Hyde County spokeswoman, Sarah Johnson, said that it pulled the man under water. As the man attempted to fight the shark off, he suffered bites to his rib cage, both hands, lower leg and hip. He was conscious and speaking when he was flown to the hospital.

Is shark culling okay given the number of shark attacks that have occurred? Recently it seems that the number of shark attacks has increased with seven fatal attacks in the past 3 years in Western Australia (WA). These recent attacks have led the WA Government being granted an exemption to start culling sharks with a catch-and-kill shark program. A lot of people including scientists and surfers are against this controversial decision. For people to make an informed decision they need to have an understanding of where the shark fits into the marine ecosystem, as well as the reasons presented for the use of shark culling and the arguments given that oppose such extreme measures.

"You know the thing about a shark, he's got... lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eye. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'. Until he bites ya and those black eyes roll over white. And then, ah then you hear that terrible high pitch screamin' and the ocean turns red and spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin' they all come in and rip you to pieces. Y'know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men! I don't know how many sharks, maybe a thousand! I don't know how many men, they averaged six an hour."

The issue of shark culling has recently surfaced in the media. The article ‘Proof still required that shark culling works’, written by Glenn Hyndes and published on abc.com, addresses the fact that there is no evidence that shark culling is beneficial for the public, yet the law has been used by the Western Australian Government. This article was written on December 12th 2013, when shark culling was discussed in the media, has a very passionate, logical and concerned tone towards the topic. Hyndes has written this article for an audience of people who think sharks are a danger, people who want to protect sharks and the Western Australian Government.

WA Labor opposes to the cull and catching of sharks after an attack as the evidence does not suggest it will actually prevent shark attacks. The strategy is likely to result, in yet again, the death of other marine species including dolphins, turtles, and non-threatening shark species and may in fact increase the risk to swimmers by attracting sharks

Whenever you go to the Fish and Chips shop, have you heard about “Flake”? Flakes are a type of shark. They have been killed just for us to eat. The price of them are also increasing. At least 100 million sharks are killed every year. In Eastern parts of Asia, Sharks were being culled for shark fin soup. Dragging out the sharks out of the ocean and cutting off their fins and throwing their dead body back into the ocean is unacceptable. How would you feel if we were dragged out of our home by a random person, got our arm cut off and got put back into our home again? I’m sure that we would all be horrified and terrified by this. It is said that Shark Fin Soup costs around $100 per bowl of soup. There are also some countries that have completely banned shark culling. They are Israel, Ecuador, Mexico, Egypt, Indonesia, Fiji and so on. It is very unfortunate that Australia isn’t a part of this. Sharks also help with ecosystems.

Marine Biology funding increased and studies lead to the improvement of many oceanic devices, such as cages, shark repellant research, and unmanned camera platforms. The International Shark Attack File in Florida now records all "unprovoked" and "provoked" incidents. A chain of laws with the intention to protect sharks also emerged. Some laws include the banning of Great White hunting and the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000.

Summarize: As you can see, shark finning is not a simple act of fishing that should continue to go unregulated.

What can be done then? The answer is simple in print but difficult in practice: let ourselves be afraid. Sharks are scary, but they are also important to the health of the entire ocean ecosystem. Just because they’re

Sharks are vicious creatures and eat humans. Don’t go into the water if you see a shark nearby or they will come after you. These are a few of the many things you will hear from the television or even people you may know. Humans are not a part of the shark diet so it is highly unlikely that a shark would randomly go after a human. The media likes to make their shark stories more exciting by adding words like “aggressive” or “threatened.” There was a total of 4 deaths caused by sharks in 2014 which is a large contrast to the 11,417 sharks that are killed per hour by humans. sharks) need to be preserved and protected in order to preserve our oceans. Laws that are more strict should be implemented in order to achieve this goal.

Stories about sharks have left us a amplified fear of them. But these extraordinary animals need to be understood. If you have ever seen the "70's blockbuster, Jaws," you're probably comfortable in saying that sharks are the greatest danger in the ocean. Their fighting a unfair assessment, that mainly comes down to a shortage of information.

Recently Australia has been under the national and international spotlight regarding methods implemented to reduce tiger, great white and bull sharks numbers in an attempt to minimise human fatalities. Although relatively infrequent, shark attacks attract a high level of public and media interest, as they invoke a dramatic emotional response. Australia is well known for its beach culture, due mostly to its approximate 11, 800 beaches and estimated 35, 000km of coastline.35 000 km of coast. Given that Australia has a mostly favourable climate, and a range of popular beach and water-related activities, it is not surprising that it has a relatively high rate of shark attack. Data from the Australian Shark Attack File were examined