Sharks

Today was a day when the interaction between sharks and humans was highlighted in different ways. At Fish Hoek, the first shark net to be experimented with has been laid and we will soon know whether it is going to be effective in preventing further shark attacks and to what extent the sharks themselves will be endangered, not to mention the large schools of dolphins that frequent the area, or the shoals of yellowtail that used to be plentiful, but now probably are not really at risk in that corner of the beach. Will there be enough space in the netted area for the number of people who wish to swim, and will overcrowding inevitably ruin it for all?

In Gansbaai, a shark decided to put its head into the shark cage to get a closer look at the tourist who was taking a video of him. The tourist had to duck to avoid the teeth. The impression I got from the footage on board the boat was that the tourist had a blast and was super-excited at his almost brush with death. These are not domesticated fish we are dealing with - they are maneaters who should be respected as such and given their space. Presumably everyone who goes down in a cage has to sign a disclaimer that no one may be sued if they die, and presumably everyone thinks this is never going to happen. There is always a first time for everything.

We have seen what happens when we try to manipulate the natural behaviour of wild animals. The chacma baboon has long been a victim of the irrational notion that you are doing a wild animal a favour by feeding it. It only teaches the animal that there are easier ways of finding food than by foraging for hours on a mountainside, and eventually they learn how to find the food in our kitchens, where confrontations occur because they are then encroaching on our space. Our response to a wild animal who bites the hand that feeds it, so to speak, is usually to kill it, as it has then become a pest and even a danger.

We may be walking a fine line with sharks. We enter their environment when we swim and we lure them by being the bait in a cage so we can take photographs of them. And when they do what comes naturally, should they also die, like those troublesome baboons who know they will find food in our homes? They have acted on instinct for millions of years. Why should it change now?