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My final rare shark for Shark Week is also probably the most famous; the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). The largest predatory fish in the sea, the great white is a migratory species, constantly travelling across the ocean, and can live up to 70 years, one of the longest lived of all sharks. They tend to favour marine mammals as prey, particularly seals and sea lions.

Sadly, despite its’ fame, even the great white is in decline, with many man-made threats threatening it, particularly bycatch in fishing nets. But perhaps one of the greatest threats to the great white in particular is its’ reputation. The great white shark is indeed responsible for a high number of attacks on people compared with other sharks. However, it is still worth noting that these incidents are rare amongst animals; more people have been attacked and killed by their own dogs in a year than by sharks in the entirety of human history. But thanks to the media, this animal has been painted as a man-eating monster, and humans have been quick to exact their revenge. Organised ‘shark culls’ and anti-shark nets placed to protect swimmers are both major threats that have caused the great white to drop in numbers, and also affect other shark species, many of which pose no threat to humans.

The negative reputation of sharks has ultimately done great harm to them; as they continue to face extinction, humans’ self-made hostility towards them has created even more challenges for them to face, and large numbers of people grow indifferent to their cruel plight as the media continues to capitalise on the myth of the ‘monster shark’. And that is exactly what the modern Shark Week in Discovery has come to do. It’s up to the rest of us to take back Shark Week and remind everyone that these animals are exactly that, animals, and right now they need our help.

Description
My final rare shark for Shark Week is also probably the most famous; the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). The largest predatory fish in the sea, the great white is a migratory species, constantly travelling across the ocean, and can live up to 70 years, one of the longest lived of all sharks. They tend to favour marine mammals as prey, particularly seals and sea lions.

Sadly, despite its’ fame, even the great white is in decline, with many man-made threats threatening it, particularly bycatch in fishing nets. But perhaps one of the greatest threats to the great white in particular is its’ reputation. The great white shark is indeed responsible for a high number of attacks on people compared with other sharks. However, it is still worth noting that these incidents are rare amongst animals; more people have been attacked and killed by their own dogs in a year than by sharks in the entirety of human history. But thanks to the media, this animal has been painted as a man-eating monster, and humans have been quick to exact their revenge. Organised ‘shark culls’ and anti-shark nets placed to protect swimmers are both major threats that have caused the great white to drop in numbers, and also affect other shark species, many of which pose no threat to humans.

The negative reputation of sharks has ultimately done great harm to them; as they continue to face extinction, humans’ self-made hostility towards them has created even more challenges for them to face, and large numbers of people grow indifferent to their cruel plight as the media continues to capitalise on the myth of the ‘monster shark’. And that is exactly what the modern Shark Week in Discovery has come to do. It’s up to the rest of us to take back Shark Week and remind everyone that these animals are exactly that, animals, and right now they need our help.