JOURNAL - EDITION SHARKPROJECT ENGLISH
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SHARK JOURNAL EDITION SHARKPROJECT ENGLISH
“Sharks attack people
due to shortage of food!”
Contents
Where do we get our ‘informa-
tion’ about sharks? “Sharks are
Fear of sharp teeth aggressive!” “Sharks are
the most
Where DOES our fear of sharks
come from?
dangerous
animals on
Sharks are slightly different fish! “Sharks are dumb!” the planet!”
It is one second to twelve
If sharks die, the oceans die ...
“One shark will
Finning. The most brutal form of This is what people be responsible “The world
shark fishing. ‘know’ about sharks: for a whole series would be far
Smoked shark & Co. of attacks!” better off
without sharks!”
What we do …
This is essentially
It is high time for us to take a what people said in a
stand! representative survey carried
out for SHARKPROJECT. “Human blood sends
Examples of our work sharks into a
How can you help to support frenzy!” “Sharks mistake
shark and ocean conservation
efforts? surfers for
seals”
2 3
KNOWLEDGE
Where do we get our ‘information’
about sharks?
Fear of
sharp teeth
What most people know about sharks does not come from their own experiences. If we look at the actual records of ‘shark The diagramme below is divided into
Bloodthirsty reports about ‘shark attacks’ in newspapers and television and, most attacks’ we realise that these fears are categories according to the GSAF
especially, movies like ‘Jaws’ that, unfortunately, form the basis of our ‘knowledge’ not based on fact or evidence. This is statistics covering ‘shark attacks’ from
or rather prejudice about sharks. not a logical fear, it is purely emotional. 2003 - 2012, so just over 10 years.
It clearly shows that most shark
According to the statistics of the accidents/incidents result in either light
We hope, with
the help of this GLOBAL SHARK ATTACK FILE from injuries or no injuries at all. Categories
journal, to correct Princeton, USA there are an average of 3 and 4 look different.
this skewed image 8 deaths annually out of 82,7 so called
of sharks. shark attacks (bearing in mind that
even inquisitive nudging or swimming Bear in mind that serious
It is our wish that,
closely past a person, counts as a ‘shark injuries or even death are SO
along with learning
attack’). rare that they can scarcely be
a great deal about
grasped statistically.
sharks, you also
have an exciting
time reading this
journal.
Category 0
16,32 %
Sighting
Category 1
44,50 %
Slight injuries, scratches,
grazes
Category 2
25,15 %
Slight bites, moderate
injuries, not life threatening
Category 3
4,11 %
Injuries, multiple bites,
high blood loss
Category 4
9,92 %
REPRESENTATION Fatal injuries
OF GERMAN
NEWSPAPERS
4 5
ORIGIN
Where DOES our fear
of sharks come from?
The reasons behind our fear lie far back MOVIE:
in time. From an age where our stone- OUR BRAIN
age ancestors hunted sabre-toothed (GERMAN)
tigers and were hunted by them. The
fault, it seems, lies with our genetic
memory.
Embedded in our genetics are i.e. the
fear of unknown depths, of sharp teeth
and of everything that could eat us.
When a well-known Hollywood director
manages to pack all of those fears into
a horror film involving a man-eater with STATISTICS OF THE MOST
sharp teeth swimming in dark depths DANGEROUS ANIMALS
then we not only have a perfect horror
film but also a new image of fear in our Average number of deaths per
heads. year/worldwide
8 ................ due to sharks
Fear of sharks doesn’t
50 .............. due to tigers
stem from real danger but
from the activation of our 100 ....... due to box jellyfish
base fears. 100 ........... due to hippos
Horror films and sensation- 500 ......... due to elephants
alist newspaper reports form 1000 ........ due to crocodiles
the foundation. 2000 ....... due to tape worms
25.000 ............ due to dogs
75.000 ...... due to snakebites
1.000.000 ...... due to insects
Conclusion:
There are no statistics
anywhere that validate our
fear of sharks.
6 7
THERE IS NO
‘STEREOTYPICAL’
SHARK ...
WHALE SHARK LEMON SHARK
BLUE SHARK HAMMERHEAD SHARK
GREAT WHITE SHARK WOBBEGONG
8 9
FISHES?
Sharks are slightly
different fish!
Sharks, together with rays and chimeras,
fall into the family of cartilaginous
Both are designed by nature as a sort
of ‘biological brake’ to ensure that
CARTILAGE SKIN
fish. There is a considerable difference these apex predators do not reproduce
between them and the bony fish. In so rapidly that they devour the entire
fact, a human is more closely related to ocean.
a salamander than a shark is to a bony
fish.
Cartilaginous fish have cartilage instead
of bones, have no swim bladder, gill slits After having helped
instead of a gill cover, denticles instead to keep sharks around for
of scales and, most importantly, a millions of years it is exactly
different means of reproduction. this slow maturation that will
be their downfall. They cannot
keep up with the pressure of
All have internal fertilisation in com- overfishing.
mon, but the similarities end there. If we do not act now it is only
About 30% of sharks lay eggs, the a matter of time before sharks
other 70% bear live young – but even are extinct.
here there are differences: some have a
placenta-like structure inside which the
young develop, while in others the eggs
develop inside the womb, hatch and are
then born live.
Depending on the species, sharks can
have between 2 and 100 young in a
litter. No comparison to the millions of
eggs laid by bony fish.
Sharks also take a long time to mature
and have long gestations.
‘ E GG CASES‘ FROM
EGG-LAYING SHARKS
10 11
Sensory organs
Seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling and up the slightest electrical impulses from The physical conditions are completely differently, feel differently and see
tasting – these are the 5 senses that heartbeats, or organs that use water different to ours, as are the sensory differently.
are known to us. pressure to scan for objects! Sharks impressions.
It is not easy for us to imagine that have both of these abilities. Remember They also have additional senses,
there are animals who have far more that sharks live in water, a medium 800 It is logical that we cannot compare like electroreceptors or lateral-line
senses. Take, for example, the fantastic times denser than air. smelling or seeing underwater with organs, with which to scan objects –
ampullae of Lorenzini which can pick the way that we experience it. Sharks all extremely important senses for life
hear differently, smell differently, taste under water.
HEARING SIGHT
TOUCH
SMELL
LATERAL
AMPULLAE
LINE ORGAN TASTE
OF LORENZINI
12 13
TICK,TICK,TICK
It is one second
to twelve
Regardless from where our fear originates, it prevents us from protecting the sharks.
No one is interested in protecting something that they fear.
Without a lobby, without people who fight for their protection, sharks face their
hunters alone, and defenceless.
We humans slaughter between 100 and 150 MILLION sharks a
year. They die as victims of targeted hunting or as bycatch
on longlines or in nets.
SHARKS DON’T
STAND A CHANCE!
100 of the 500 known shark species are already on the Red
List (IUCN) of threatened species, and that is probably just the
tip of the iceberg.
There are no actual numbers, but a North Atlantic study
carried out in 2010 by the Dalhousie University of Halifax,
Canada showed, even then, alarming developments.
90% decline in hammerheads
70% decline in the other shark species
These numbers are more than frightening,
especially when one takes into account that
the study only covered a period of six years!
14 15
“If sharks die, ... and when the oceans die,
the oceans die ... so does humanity”*
Scientific studies show that when sharks disappear *) This warning, issued publicly by Approximately half of Earth’s oxygen
from a coral reef, that reef will be ecologically dead the famous South African nature supply is produced by the oceans.
within a year. conservationist Andrew F. Cobb many Not taking into account the countless
(Bascompte/Melian/Sala 2005) years ago, is unfortunately more than influences that the sea has on the
justified. ecosystem of our planet.
An apocalyptic notion, but one
which has already become a reality.
Numerous parts of the sea already
contain ecological dead zones because With their ruthless exploitation of the ocean resources humanity
the sharks there have been wiped out. is well on their way to destroying their own livelihood.
16 17
PROFIT?
Finning.
The most brutal form of shark fishing.
Today’s shark is marketable in it’s
entirety: from the meat and the cartilage,
male potency, the truth, however, is
that it is nothing more than a symbol
used to manufacture questionable of prestige and power.
cancer medication, through to the liver
oil, used in the pharmaceutical and Since the Chinese Qing-dynasty (1644-
cosmetic industry. 1911) the soup has been seen as one
of the ‘Eight Treasures of the Sea’.
AN ATROCIOUS BUSINESS: Today the soup still forms the highlight
of every Chinese celebration.
The most economically viable shark
product, however, is the fins. Worth … and not just in China: everywhere
their weight in gold, a single bowl around the globe where status is
of shark fin soup, containing a mere important, shark fin soup counts as
100g of fin cartilage, can sell for 150 a symbol of success, that one can
dollars. All around the world thousands afford to treat their guests to such an
of specialised fishing vessels are expensive delicacy.
dispatched to fill the demands for shark
fins. All that they want are the fins, the
rest is completely unimportant.
So unimportant that the shark is caught
and, while alive, has its fins sliced off.
Even though the animal is still alive it The gruesome death and
extermination of a complete
is simply thrown overboard. Unable species is accepted with a
to swim without fins it is either eaten mere shrug of the shoulders.
by other animals, or slowly sinks and
drowns.
… AND WHY?
The widespread rumour has it
that shark fin soup is consumed
because it supposedly increases
18 19“Methylmercury is one of the
most biologically active and
dangerous poisons for humans.”
Dr. Hermann Kruse
Toxicology
University of Kiel
Smoked shark
& Co.
Those who think that only the getting porbeagle shark, grey shark or The demand for shark has decreased Supermarkets and restaurants, there-
Asian countries are to blame for the dogfish. with the knowledge that the highly fore, offer increasing numbers of shark
consumption of shark, are wrong. Shark It is not surprising that the dogfish has effective biological toxin Methylmercury steaks from blue sharks or mako sharks.
has also always been eaten in Germany, almost been completely eradicated from accumulates in high levels in shark Both are pelagic sharks and highly
Austria and Switzerland. the northeast Atlantic, as ‘Schillerlocke’, meat. endangered.
a popular German specialty, is actually
Because shark meat has a light made from smoked dogfish strips. There are, however, still attempts to Those responsible couldn’t
ammonia smell, it is usually sold using introduce shark meat as new varieties care a less if the consumer is
fantasy names contrived to hide the As of 2010 there is a fishing ban of fish. The reasoning behind this lie slowly poisoning themselves or
if entire species are exter-
true origin of the meat. When we buy throughout the EU on the endangered in the dramatically declining numbers
minated.
or consume ‘rock salmon’, ‘huss’, ‘rigg’, shark species, dogfish and porbeagle. of regular fish. The market needs
‘wolfish’, ‘dogfish’, ‘flake’, ‘veal of Despite this, however, these species are substitutes …. This is where we step in.
the sea’ or ‘whitefish’ we are actually still imported for trade purposes.
20 21It is high time for us
to take a stand!
Our generation has access to plenty
of information on sharks. There are
WE ACT
SHARKPROJECT –
globally active
This is where SHARKPROJECT comes
in. First established in 2002, SHARK-
What we do ….
SHARKPROJECT is looking for ways to
reach out to the public. Widespread
enough facts and figures showing us PROJECT now counts as one of the press work throughout all sectors of
that sharks do not pose any real threat largest and most effective organisations the media enable us to reach millions of
to humans. in the world. people with our message. Added to this
Our staff all work on a voluntary basis, is an extensive internet site dedicated to
We have learnt a lot about the causes rents and other overheads are covered sharks, as well as participation in trade
for the infrequent shark accidents. by our members, the result of which fairs, and considerable programs aimed
We have data backing up the rapid is that all donations flow directly into at schools which incorporate lecturers,
extermination of shark species. the projects without incurring any learning materials and speakers.
bureaucratic costs. Alongside our focus on teaching and
communication, our top priority is
Why is it then that we shark and marine conservation. The
cannot seem to get together SHARKPROJECT Active Team works
to take action, to stop the
internationally from Costa Rica to Spain
extermination of the sharks
and the destruction of our and there are also national campaigns
marine ecosystem? run by the three inland organisations in
Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
You can find out more
about what we do, and how you
can help to prevent the exter-
mination of sharks on the fol-
lowing pages.
22 23SHARK SCHOOL
AWARDS PROGRAMME
Examples of our
Every year we hold the Shark The generations that follow us
work at SHARKPROJECT Awards, the only one of their kind should not repeat our mistakes.
International e.V. worldwide. With this in mind we have made
At the ceremony we present a our school project one of the
negative award for the ‘Shark most important parts of our shark
Enemy of the Year’ and a positive education. We educate and certify
award for the ‘Shark Guardian of all of our school speakers and they
the Year’. are active nationwide, teaching
In 2016, for example, the ‘Shark children from kindergarten up to
Enemy of the Year’ award went to high school all about sharks and
the president of Costa Rica. This the maritime ecosystem.
award was backed by 31 inter- Alternatively, our extensive teach-
national environmental protection ing materials are available online
organisations and unleashed a for downloading by teachers
political storm. and schools. They are currently
available in german and english.
school@sharkproject.org
24 25THE SHARKSAFE THE GREAT WHITE WHITE SHARK
BARRIER MYSTERY NURSERY
SHARKPROJECT Austria is sup- Researching great white sharks As of September 2017 SHARK-
porting Dr. Craig O’Connell is difficult and time consuming. It PROJECT Switzerland has been
(O’Seas Conservation Foundation, takes a lot of patience, financial supporting the work of Dr. Craig
Inc.) and his international team support, sufficient knowledge of O’Connell in the USA. His current
with the development of visual the predatory fish and an area project focuses on the question
and magnetic barriers aimed at suitable for observation. of whether the waters off the
deterring sharks which are active The Mexican scientists Mauricio east coast of Long Island are the
along coastal waters. Hoyos has this knowledge. birthing grounds for white sharks,
Project Aim: and also a habitat for juvenile
The development of an alter- SHARKPROJECT is going to sharks. If this proves to be true,
native to shark nets in order to sponsor him with the latest then the research can be used
promote the peaceful coexistence generation of satellite TAGs in to initiate protective measures
of humans and sharks along the order to obtain information needed and fishing quotas for the local
coasts (Animals caught in nets will for the creation of protected zones fishing communities. The project
die a slow and agonising death.) (as in Guadalupe Island), and for will foreseeably run until October
To ensure the survival of the setting up seasonal fishing bans 2019.
endangered species. on sharks.
To increase our knowledge
and understanding of coastal
regions so as to improve shark
management.
Tests in South Africa have already
yielded the first extremely positive
results.
We will keep you informed as the
project progresses.
26 27CAMPAIGN FOCAL POINT – ON-SITE EDUCATING
STOP-FINNING THE MSC! RESEARCH THE AZORES
An international campaign against Does the seal of the Marine It is happening right on our door- The Azores, situated in the middle
finning. Concentrating on Central Stewardship Council (MSC) really step! of the Atlantic, are the main fishing
America, Asia and the European stand for sustainability? Vigo (Spain) is the biggest shark area for the Spanish fishing fleets.
Union. SHARKPROJECT knows: NO! trading port in Europe. It is the nursery for blue sharks
We campaign using petitions, Together with 55 of the world’s top We are active in Vigo and the and, at the same time, the main
direct action in the respective nature conservation organisations Azores documenting the landing trading area for sharks.
countries, TV adverts and political we strongly question the validity of sharks. SHARKPROJECT is on site, fighting
activities. of their seal. Europe is, with 30%, the market against the off-loading of blue
SHARKPROJECT is the lead organi- When one takes into account the leader in shark fin trading. shark in Forta/Faial and educating
sation in the international STOP- extremely high bycatch quotas of the local population. We are
FINNING-ALLIANCE. up to 90%, missing logbook entries We should not always point at already starting to see results: the
regarding protected species, lack Asia .... Spanish fleet unloaded far fewer
MOVIE:
TV SPOT of monitoring of fishing methods, shark in Horta, but there is still
nothing more than superficial much to be done.
examination of fish stocks, and 05/17
the fact that possible health risks
to the consumer are ignored, one
has no option but to doubt the
credibility of their Seal.
01/18
28 29How can you help to support
shark and ocean conservation efforts
1. If you would like to support our
work FINANCIALLY you can find
all of the details on sharkproject.org.
4. SHARKS IN SCHOOLS &
PROGRAMMES FOR TEACHERS
You have the opportunity to make a do- SHARKPROJECT offers a unique, free
nation, become a sponsor or a patron. school programme for teachers, which
is available through our internet site.
In addition, we have educated and
2. INFORM
YOURSELF!
certified school speakers who will gladly
visit your school for projects or project
weeks. Write to us at:
We offer a variety of possibilities school@sharkproject.org
beginning with our regular presenta-
tions, through to our books and publi-
cations and on to our news updates in
the social media.
www.facebook.com/sharkproject
5. YOU WOULD LIKE TO ACTIVELY
JOIN OUR TEAM?
If you are prepared to invest a lot of
time, passion and money then send us
3. PASS THIS
JOURNAL ON!
a short mail and request our application
forms. We would love to hear from you!
team@sharkproject.org
Tell your friends, acquaintances and
family why shark conservation is so
important and affects all of us.
The most important thing that you
can do is to talk to as many people as
6. SPECIFIC SKILLS, EXPERIENCES
OR IDEAS …
possible. Without a big enough lobby … that you know will support our
sharks will soon disappear forever from work? Write to us at:
our oceans. info@sharkproject.org
Would you like more journals?
info@sharkproject.org
30 31CREDITS:
Titel C. Gstöttner S.2 G. Wegner Ch. Staacks S.20 H. Wipplinger, Ch.
S.4-5 C. Gstöttner, Ch. Staacks Staacks S.21 F. Kremer-Obrock,
S.6 G. Wegner S.7 Y&R Frankfurt, all- H. Wipplinger, M. Staacks, 2x F. Kremer-
silhouettes.com S.8 H. Futterknecht Obrock, M. Staacks S.22 A. Serec
S.9 C. Gstöttner, K. P.Harter, S.23 G. Wegner, C. Gstöttner,
F. Kremer-Obrock, K.-P. Harter, G. Wegner, C. Gstöttner, C. Gstöttner, C. Gstöttner,
P. Munzinger S.10 G. Wegner S.11 R. Johnson, C. Gstöttner S.24
C. Gstöttner, C. Gstöttner, C. Gstöttner, C. Gstöttner, C. Gstöttner S.25
H. Futterknecht, C. Gstöttner, F. Hajek S. Grimm, S. Grimm S.26 D. Botelho,
S.12 C. Gstöttner, C. Gstöttner C. O’Connel, C. O’Connel, C. O’Connel
S.14 W. Koch S.16 C. Gstöttner, S.27 H. Futterknecht, C. O’Connel
C. Gstöttner S.17 C. Gstöttner S.28 Y&R Frankfurt, F. Kremer-Obrock,
S.18 P. Munzinger, F. Kremer-Obrock, F. Kremer-Obrock S.29 W. Koch,
P. Munzinger, G. Wegner, Pretoma, W. Koch, F. Kremer-Obrock 2x
P. Munzinger S.19 P. Munzinger, C. Gstöttner Rücktitel C. Gstöttner
All of this and much more can SHARKPROJECT International e.V.
be found on our website: Ottostrasse 13
www.sharkproject.org 63150 Heusenstamm
Take your time and browse… Germany
Our website is one of the most ex-
tensive shark sites that you will find Phone: +49 6104 67 09 84
online. info@sharkproject.org
We would also be delighted if you
would like us on Facebook. Layout & type: Christine Staacks
www.facebook.com/Sharkproject Translation: Tana v. PraschmaYou can also read
