In the popular media, sharks have traditionally been portrayed as vicious killers. Motion pictures, such as JAWS, news media coverage of shark attacks and many documentaries still perpetuate this image by sensationalizing attacks and disproportionately portraying sharks engaged in feeding or aggressive behaviors. According to a survey conducted in 2003 by the National Aquarium in Baltimore , Maryland , seventy percent of Americans surveyed recently believe that sharks are dangerous. 72 percent also believe that shark populations are just adequate or too high.

Shark attacks are disproportionately sensationalized and sharks are vilified feeding the public’s unrealistic image of sharks. According to the International Shark Attack Files (ISAF) it is 15 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to be bit by a shark, and 89 times more likely to die of being struck by lightning than dying from a shark bite. These figures demonstrate that the public perception of sharks is largely due to a lack of education and a distorted image fed to the public by mainstream media. The lack of knowledge about sharks perpetuates the continued over-exploitation and depletion of these species.

The Problem with Fishing Juveniles
By Dr. Peter Klimley

Many of us would like the population of hammerhead shark in the Gulf of California to be restored to it previous level. If this is not possible, it is important to return the population to a sustainable level - remaining constant from year to year.

The first symptom of a collapsing fishery is the rarity of older fish in the catches of fishermen - the fishing pressure has become so intense and effective that few fish escape early capture and survive to an old age.

Faced with the scarcity of adults, fishing camps along the shores of the Gulf of California have begun catching large numbers of juveniles in their gill nets. This practice will simply worsen the plight of the species, and soon there will be few juvenile hammerhead sharks as well in the gulf. As the fishing camps profit marginally from the capture of a few juvenile hammerheads, the recreational diving industry operating out of La Paz , the largest city in Southern Baja , has been impacted greatly by the rarity of adult hammerheads in the local waters.

Dr. Peter Klimley, Ph.D. (Pete) is an adjunct associate professor at the biometry lab in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology at UC DAVIS and a scientific advisor to IEMANYA OCEANICA.