Business

Diver operators rely heavily on there job to provide for their families. No one likes their job getting taken away. Especially for no reason at all. The operators have proven that the sharks don't follow the boats back to shore. They feed the sharks little amounts of food that wouldn't even be enough for them to survive if they didn't hunt for food on their own. And the particular sharks they are feeding arn't even the ones that are attacking humans most often. So you can't technically accuse them until facts are proven. This business educates people about sharks and the pure power they posses. It makes them respect these animals and not want to kill them, which in the long run helps the environment. Who wouldn't want that? This business is more beneficial than harmful. People need to stop freaking out and pointing fingers.

It Doesn't Make Sense

If the baiting and feeding of sharks is so terribly bad, then how come all the local fisherman legally get to chum the shallow waters that bathers swim near every single day? Maybe that is why sharks are attacking us. It just doesn't add up. If you tried to tell people they couldn't fish on the piers, they would raise hell. Today it is one of the fastest growing types of fishing.I go surfing all the time and get to see first hand bait getting thrown out just fifty yards from where im surfing. If that is not the best way to attrack sharks and bring them close to swimmers, I dont know what is?

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Taking Sides

Environmentalists, fishermen, and some of the public believe that baiting is directly linked to shark attacks. They are putting there foot down and trying to make change. Bob Dimond, president of the Marine Safety Group (MSG), one of the first environmental organizations to label shark diving unsafe. Dimond says feeding sharks makes them associate humans with food, and therefore makes them more likely to attack. Bob Dimond has stating strictly his own opinion. He has no evidence to back up his theory, so how can we believe exactly what he says and ban the issue. It just doesn’t make sense. Individuals who take his side are strictly scared of being bitten by sharks and want to make sure all is done to avoid it.

However, many shark experts believe that the feeding dives aren’t bad for sharks, aren’t responsible for attacks, and educate the public about the animal’s importance to the environment. Clive James, of the British conservation group Shark Trust, says shark-feeding operations have hosted thousands of bite-free dives, and Sam Gruber, a lemon shark expert at the University of Miami, has been feeding sharks for research purposes for 20 years without incident. Gruber also says that after decades of feeding, his sharks still behave normally and mate every summer. If there was conclusive evidence that sharks behave differently when they are fed, I could see banning shark feeding being appropriate. It is obvious that the behavior of the sharks hasn’t changed since these operations have been going on for so long without harm. Until such research is proven, I am gonna have to take sides with the dive operators.

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Progress

I feel like im starting to get the hang of this whole blog thing. I have an outline that im kind of going by. There isn't a lot of proven information out there for me to use, but I can make points and counter points using the information provided. Look for progress in my blog from here on out.

Involvement

Dive operators rely on this occupation to provide for there families. Without this job, they would struggle to make ends meet. These dive operators take tourists, who pay lots of money to experience this, and let them dive with sharks. You also have environmentalists who believe it should be banned for disrupting the natural behavior of the sharks. Fisherman are also involved. They say that sharks are biting into there catch. Maybe that is because they are over fishing and have nothing else to eat. Someone should think about regulating them and not so much the dive companies. Maybe that's the proper solution.

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Feeding Sharks

The feeding of sharks has been going on for decades now. Dive companies feed sharks to make money. It's there job. Tourists come from all over the world come to dive with the sharks. The divers are out in the water while the company throws bait into the water to attract the sharks to come around them. The company itself is enjoying it because they are getting paid to teach people about sharks and the people are enjoying it because they are getting the thrill of a lifetime. The tourists then return home and explain how great of a time they had and sometimes recommend other people to experience what they did. But there is much controversy involved in this practice. People argue that the feeding of the sharks is disrupting the environment and want it to be banned. Shark attacks have increased over the last couple years, so researchers are looking to find an answer. The fingers are first pointed at the dive companies.

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The Problem

There are only about 16 shark attacks each year on humans in the United States, and slightly less than one death per every two years on average. Which isn’t that many compared to how many people are actually in the water every year. Most of the public is scared of sharks because of what they see on television. Lightning kills an average of 41 people each year, but you don’t see people scared to death of going outside during a thunderstorm. It is all about the public perception. When statistics increase on individuals getting attacked over a long period of time, you have to realize there are more people swimming in the ocean these days. It is all just a misunderstanding. Sharks are just curious animals. They do not have hands, so they cant just touch something when they want to find out what something is. They bite into it to see what that object is. The splashing and thrashing of humans out in the water looks similar to there food source especially in murky water. You cant blame them for being curious. Humans are just as bad if not worse. You know you have that one friend that is so nosey you just want to slap them in the face. Well some sharks have that same problem. Shark attacks occur, but they rarely result in them eating humans. People mainly die because of blood lose. They are not vicious animals that want to eat us, but humans see this as a problem and have to link some sort of reasoning on why they are doing this. This is when shark feeding comes into play.

Video

Here is a good link for useful facts most people do not know about sharks.

Introduction to the Problem

Many Americans these days are scared of Sharks. They hear about attacks that rarely occur and think that they will get bitten. The chances of getting bitten by a shark are slim to none, but there is that chance when you enter the water. You are entering their environment, so you are willing to take that risk. People then question, what are the reasons behind the attacks? Some say its this and some say its that, but really no one really knows. Some people blame it on the feeding of sharks that the dive companies do. But is this really the source of the problem?

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About Me

Hey, my name is Trent Glover. I am a Freshman at Georgia Southern University. I am majoring in logistics and plan to graduate in 4 years. I enjoy sports such as fishing, surfing, and wake boarding. I have traveled to a lot of places in my life considering my parents both work for Delta Airlines in Atlanta, Georgia. I am currently taking English 1102 and have to create a writing blog for my class. My topic is the controversy over shark feeding and should it be banned?

Picture: Provided by Trent Glover