"SHARKS ARE SNOBS"

A surfer was bitten on the upper leg by a shark on the East Coast of Australia.

He was pulled from the water but sadly, could not be resuscitated by paramedics.

?No doubt, we shall be inundated with ignorant drivel from vindictive, bloodthirsty municipal authorities, appeasing the loudest and stupidest ratepayers in their shires - seeking revenge on the species.

Intelligent people who watched “Seaspiracy” (directed by Ali Tabrizi and produced by Kip Anderson) would be horrified at the carnage inflicted by greedy humans on these majestic, sophisticated animals.

Their home has been in the oceans since a time which predates the extinction of the dinosaurs.

People die every year in a variety of unexpected events.

Coconuts falling on human heads - 150

Falling in bathtubs in the US alone – 300

Coke and Pepsi Vending machines falling on people - 12

Golfers (and not many people play golf!!!) - 300

Drowning - 230,000

Mountaineers on Mt Everest - 12.

Killed by hippos – 500

Elephants – 100

Crocodiles (excluding alligators) - 1,000

Bees (includes wasps) - 1,100.

On average, sharks are responsible for the deaths of around 15 humans each year. GLOBALLY!

I repeat - only 15.

Need I go on?

And we humans kill 100 million of these majestic animals who have survived millions of years of evolution?

?It is worth repeating.

100 million animals, senselessly slaughtered.

These magnificent animals are torn from the sea, their fins hacked off and their thrashing bodies tossed overboard to die horrifying, lingering deaths.

?For shark fin soup.

?What a bloody disgrace.

?Sharks are good citizens of the planet, a peak predator, and vital link in the food chain, behaving warily respectful towards humans (who don't deserve the courtesy).

Oddly enough, in a way, I think that sharks are snobs. Imperious, in fact.

As a teenager, I sat on my surfboard in Kingston, on the Limestone Coast in South Australia, waiting for a wave.

And a shark nonchalantly swam alongside my surfboard - and completely ignored me.

To him, I was an irrelevant Johnny-come-lately, a gormless scrap of flotsam with a pulse.

I also swam in the crystal-clear waters of the Galapagos Islands, in the presence of turtles, iguanas, birds, seals, a variety of fish species and of course, sharks.

All these animals watched me intently and with polite curiosity, except the sharks.

Like their antipodean cousins, they studiously ignored me.

Like I said.

Snobs.

?

People often ask me “How big were the sharks?”.

Well, my answer depends on who I am talking to!

I confess.

I do say a prayer before I venture out into the water.

“Allow me, dear God, a shark to spy.

So large, that even I.

When speaking of him afterwards.

Would have no cause to lie”.