By DAVID MCGUIRE
Surfers along the central coast of California call this time of year Sharktober. This is the season when the white sharks of the north east Pacific population return from an incredible migration of over 2000 miles to aggregate at a few locations along the west coast to feed on elephant seals and sea lions. Each fall white sharks, are observed in increasing numbers at large breeding colonies of seals at Ano Nuevo Island, the Farallon Islands, Guadalupe Island Baja, Mexico to the south, and occasionally along the coastline.
Surfers along the California coastline often observe white sharks patrolling outside the surf. But surfers in the Red Triangle, where the majority of white shark surfer interactions occur in California, experience an increase in observations during the months from late August to December. Yet most of these encounters with white sharks result in no attack at all.
Occasionally sharks make a mistake and bite a surfer. When there is an incident, like that experienced by local surfer Jonathan Kathrein at Stinson Beach, the papers and press go into a literal feeding frenzy. Reports are loaded with adjectives like “grisly death” and “white sharks swarming” and “blood thirsty man eaters”. Jonathan survived the ordeal and went on to write several books, including one I contributed to – Surviving the Shark, where Jon reports the media following the accident were more ferocious as the shark.
What is needed, Jonathan argues, is a shift in our perspective. Most shark bites are accidental and far more rare than we would believe given the media attention. Sharks are in fact more endangered than dangerous.
What the papers fail to report is the headline Man Bites Shark! For every shark bite on humans, there are hundreds of thousands of sharks killed every year. One study estimates one hundred million sharks are being killed for the fins to make shark fin soup, an Asian delicacy.We are overfishing sharks out of the ocean. Yet scientific studies have demonstrated that sharks play a vital role for healthy ocean ecosystems. Numerous studies have been published on the benefit of sharks to coral Caribbean reefs and fish populations, further reinforcing the ecological importance of sharks.
As the top- or apex predator, sharks are the regulators of fish and marine mammals. They cull the weak, the stupid and the sick, thereby strengthening the remaining population. The removal of apex predators can cause what is called a trophic cascade. Fish or marine mammals without predatory pressure reproduce and deplete the fish on the next level of the food chain. This in turn has impacts on the population beneath thereby disrupting the balance and health of the oceans.
The killing of sharks for fins is illegal in US waters but illegal and unregulated fishing and shark finning still occurs on these and other species of sharks. Here at home, young white sharks and thousands of blue sharks are still killed in the drift net gill fishery for swordfish and thresher shark, despite the continued objection of conservationists from the whale, sea turtle and fisheries organizations to switch out gear.
Shark Stewards borrowed the term Sharktober to celebrate the return of Great White Sharks to our Sanctuary and not fear or hate sharks. One of Shark Steward’s major efforts is to collaborate on education and outreach during sharktober, including the California Academy of Sciences “Sharklife” and Sharktoberfest at the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. Supporting our Sanctuaries, strengthening our existing regulations and stopping the consumption of shark products like shark fin soup can all help increase the protection of the pelagic sharks that visit our waters. But the fight continues to save sharks, and education and awareness on consumption and overfishing are critical both in China where most shark fin is consumed, but also in the West.
During Sharktober, Shark Stewards will be celebrating sharks with shark awareness events including Farallon Island wildlife excursions, emphasizing the importance of sharks to the Bay and Sanctuary, as well as looking at the entire ecosystem of the Gulf of the Farallones from plankton to sharks. Join us for an unforgettable experience and help Shark Stewards celebrate and fight for sharks!
Join us for our events or one of our Farallon Island expeditions.
Over one hundred species of sharks are threatened with extinction through overfishing and the shark fin trade. Sharks need our help.
Donate to help Support the Shark Sanctuary Program.
Follow #SharkStewards on 
Shark Stewards is a non-profit project of the Earth Island Institute. follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend
Copyright © 2015 SharkStewards, All rights reserved.