What are the effects of this treatment?

This stigma that sharks are violent man-eating monsters makes them seem more terrifying to many people. I was interested to see how many people were actually scared of sharks. So I gathered ten volunteers from my social media page and asked them if they were afraid of sharks to see if this fearmongering has actually affected people. My hypothesis was that more people would be scared of sharks than those who are not scared of sharks.

70% found sharks or the idea of encountering a shark in the water scary therefore proving my hypothesis correct.

Shark netting 

Over the last five years, the population of sharks has decreased by 71% and over 30% of all shark and ray species (a close evolutionary relative) are considered threatened. This dramatization of has led to and increase in shark culling and other 'control measures' like shark netting. Shark nets have been present in Queensland since 1962 to prevent sharks from coming into inshore waters. Unfortunately due to overfishing, the sharks now have to travel further inshore to get their food. This is made even more difficult for them as the shark nets block them from getting too close to the shore. Great white sharks are amongst the most affected by this change as they are considered the most infamous and fearful of the shark species.

We as humans are responsible for over 100 million shark deaths every year.

The impact of this decrease in shark population is much more significant than you think. When sharks are removed from the coral reef system, the population of their prey rapidly increases, which then leads to their prey being overconsumed. This prey consumes algae found on the coral. As this algae overgrows, the coral dies due to disease. 

So, we need to advocate for increased shark conservation to help boost their population as well as help our coral reefs. But, this can only happen if the public support this movement.