“The Titanic of Shark Attacks”, “12 Days of Terror”, “Jaws attack Jersey” , there many headline names for this feeding frenzy. The 1916 shark attack in New Jersey created a terrifying impression that made people scare of the ocean’s top predator. During this time, scientists had no knowledge of sharks. Many people believed it wasn’t a shark. Scientists didn’t know what they were, what they eat, how they interacts with humans. One shark took the lives of 4 people and severely injuring one. The 8 foot shark was eventually pulled from the Jersey waters. America thought the terror was over, but soon realize the fear lives on.
During this time, shark or shark attacks was unknown to many people. Scientist’s knowledge of sharks were very poor. Reports of shark attacks were viewed as fisherman tales. Some scientists thought it was a killer whale, or a swarm of turtles but many believe sharks would not attack humans. Many of those people include millionaire and athlete Hermann Oelrichs. He was so sure it was a shark, it bet $500 for anybody to find evidence it was indeed a shark. Oelrichs as well as scientists believed that sharks were harmless. Due to the lack of knowledge of sharks, Charles Vansant and others find out what
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Jersey beaches was putting up fences. Many people was putting money & rewards to find the shark. On the day Stillwell body was found, President Wilson & his cabinet agreed to give federal aid to “driving away all the ferocious man-eating sharks”. Many fishermen used dynamite, pitchforks, spears, guns to hunt the man-eating shark. On July 14 1916, Michael Schleisser & John Murphy killed the great white shark after a long, intense, deadly fight. Schleisser pulled the shark back to shore and mount it in his shop. It stomach contains human flesh and bones. Many people was still wondering was it just one rogue shark or many sharks. After Schleisser killed the shark, the attack had
...s. According to studies and statistics done, you are more likely to be struck by lightning than killed by a shark. They are often misinterpreted as scary and violent creatures, however this is merely due to media. Shark based films such as Jaw show that these sharks are harmful when they really aren't. Tapes/recordings of sharks slaughtering humans are published so often because of its actual unusualness.
Mojetta and Discovery Channel had a lot of strong data on prehistoric sharks. The information that was presented in their text gives people knowledge of prehistoric sharks characteristics, time frame they lived in and the remains of these creatures. These bits of information might raise more questions for people about evolution. There have been many different species of prehistoric sharks discovered throughout the years.
Throughout the film there are many experts about the ocean and the animals that live in it. Researcher Ritter the misconception of the shark’s species is blown out of proportion by the media, which is why sharks have such an awful reputation. Experts touch up on this subject adding how even one of the biggest movies Jaws is a very large portion from where people get their fears from or it could be from all of the “shark attacks” on the news. Rob discusses how at the rate we are going we can destroy all of the food chains in the marine ecosystem, and this is where most of our oxygen comes from. Throughout the film experts Rob Stewart and Paul Watson are trying to get long lining banned in Costa Rica. Paul makes a really interesting point saying how the biggest problem is that we do not understand what we are and we are just a bunch of “conceited naked apes” that are out of
This image is what a majority of people believe to be the shark. They believe it to be the bloodthirsty sea monster that appears in countless works of literature and films, but science says otherwise. The classic picture painted by the minds of sailors returning from years at sea come from imagination and sharks’ violent methods of hunting and mating. Sharks fear humans as much as humans fear sharks, and most sharks, particularly the “man-eating” great whites, only bite humans because they mistake surfers for seals. In earlier times, the ocean was a source of mystery and adventur...
However, the fact is, and statistics prove that over 100 million sharks are killed every year (according to the Sea Shepherd website), all around the world and for what reason? Shark culling and the hunting of sharks as a solution to beach safety has not been well received by the Australian public. Whilst it is very clear that we need a solution to protect our bathers and surfers, the Herald Sun reported that 82 percent of all respondents to their
In the movie “Jaws”, which is a 20th century film, the preying shark terrorizes the beaches of New England. After he is finally trapped, he is killed- but not in the same fashion as Grendel was. The shark was shot in the mouth and then blew up to do a CO2 tank he had swallowed. The way in which each antagonist was killed was in two very different ways: with and without weaponry, respectively.
The movie, Jaws, was based around three characters, a police chief, sailor and a scientist seeking a great white shark. During the beginning of the movie, two innocent people get killed and the police chief, Brody, suspects it is a shark that has attacked them. The mayor of Amity Island hears about the suspicions of Brody’s imagination but does not want to lose holiday tourism and forces Brody to not make any further investigations of the incidents. Brody, however, calls for a scientist, Hooper, who identifies the occurrences as shark attacks. Hooper, Brody and a sailor drift into the massive, rippling ocean in search for the great white who has viciously attacked and may yet again. During their voyage among the ocean, the shark becomes infuriated while several attempts of death are being plunged towards him and he dies soon afterwards. While the boat is sinking because of all the destruction amidst it, the only survivors, Brody and Hooper, swim back thankful to be
1,196 men were thrown into the shark infested waters.Although this attack is the reason most of
In 2015 only 59 shark attacks have occurred around the world compared to the millions of sharks killed by humans every year. Due to these accidental shark attacks people tend to think that sharks, especially Great Whites are evil creatures with malice intentions when attacks do occur; but, on the contrary that is wrong. Sharks are not the only beautiful and unique creatures in the ocean, they also play a vital role in our ecosystem; however, due to human interference they might not be around much longer, through awareness sharks can be protected from endangerment.
Thesis: Sharks should be conserved because they are an important part of the ocean, attacks are often incidental, and human behavior influences the behavior of sharks.
Watching a movie where hundreds of swimmers on a beach are in a complete panic because of shark attacks makes a person scared to swim in an ocean, lake, or even a pond. Not only movies, but also documentaries of shark attacks stress how dangerous sharks are. In reality, are sharks really that dangerous or is it how they are portrayed? Stephen R. Palumbi who is a Professor of Biology at Stanford University and also the Director at the Hopkins Marine Station at Stanford wrote an article about other animals living in the ocean that are more dangerous to humans than sharks. In fact, he has written books about creatures in the water such as The Death and Life of Monterey Bay, and The Evolution Explosion. In addition, his son Anthony R. Palumbi is a novelist and a science writer that has written for Atlantic and other publications (Princeton University Press 1). Together they co- authored an article titled “Forget Shark Week: They aren’t the only fish in the sea” that was published the Los Angeles Times.
If 9/11 did not happen, the summer of the shark would have been the top story of the year. “In the year 2001, five people died in 76 shark attacks. However, just a year earlier, 12 people had died in 85 attacks. The data showed that 2001 actually was a down year for shark attacks.” (Meyer, 2012) Although the number of attacks was slightly down, but after the attack of a young boy off the Florida coast sparked interest from a journalist. “Jessie Arbogast, an eight-year-old boy who had his arm bitten off by a bull shark in July near Pensacola, Florida. He survived after his uncle wrestled the shark to shore and pulled Jessie's arm out of its gullet. The arm was surgically reattached, but Jessie sank into a coma, in which he remains, and it was the battle to save his life that first set off the interest of bored journalists looking for a summer theme.” (Cooke, 2001)
Hundreds of people, who get in the ocean every year, are almost none that encounter sharks. Even if you're lucky enough to see a shark big enough to bite you, you're much likely to die from a heart attack than getting bit by one. Shark attacks are mistakes and the idea of a shark off every beach waiting for people to come in the water is completely untrue. I will inform you on the background knowledge of sharks and the reasons why humans should not be afraid only aware.
The Land Shark Index Page. Anti-Vivisection Index. March 1995. The Land Shark.
One particularly interesting sea creature is the whale shark, formally known as Rhincondon typus it was first discovered in 1828 by Andrew Smith (Rowat 2012). This large fish is found globally in warm tropical oceans and prefers to stay within 200 meters of the ocean’s surface in waters ranging from 4.2 to 28.7 degrees Celsius (Stevens 2006). This creature can be found all across the globe in any warm tropical seas. Aggregations of whale sharks have been seen off the coast of Australia at times, although it is primarily a creature of solitude. Whale sharks are filter feeders that consume plankton as well as small fish and are harmless to humans. The whale shark is a species with a fascinating ecology, life history, behavior, anatomy