I am in the unenviable position of debating a fool.(People might not be able to tell the difference.)
This person actually advocates destroying all sharks to prevent shark attacks.
I think this is foolish and impossible,and I countered with the role of sharks as preditors.(ie.eating the slower fish and seals etc.,thereby assuring the survival of the fittest)
I do however expect to see more of this debate soon,and would be glad if the doper community,in particular anybody knowlegeable in marine biology,would help me to understand the folly of said destruction and the manifold virtues of sharks.
Why are you bothering to debate a fool? If evidence, logic, and proof mean nothing to him/her, you might as well say that sharks prevent the beaches of Earth from being overrun by vacationers from the planet Nebulon-12.
food chain stability: sharks maintain the health of fish populations by weeding out the sick or injured
tourism
medical research
they have impressive immune systems
their high resistance to cancer makes them interesting test subjects
shark corneas can be used in human transplants
their livers are rich in Vitamin A
food source: fins, steaks, liver oil when harvested responsibly
Discovery Channel: Shark Week keeps that channel afloat, don’t ya know
Tell your friend to start worrying about something more important - like the dire consequences of vapor lock.
I have a very simple solution to “the shark problem”. See, I have this deal with Sharks. I don’t eat them, they don’t eat me. And just in case there is a shark or two who missed the memo, I also will never swim in the ocean ever again.
Bump.
I really am interested to know more.Anybody have any links to good shark sites?
A google search provided me with some,but I am interested in knowing more about medicinal benefits.
Bump.
I really am interested to know more.Anybody have any links to good shark sites?
A google search provided me with some,but I am interested in knowing more about medicinal benefits.
they eat fish then fish numbers die down , then they die then fish come back because lack of shark predators and then sharks come back due to increased fish numbers
#3 to add nominees to the darwin awards , on TV and radio there are warnings , there are signs warning people , hell there are wise people at the beach who tell you not to go into the water you read things on the WWW , and hell people still go and swim in the water , then they come out all mangled and look to the sky and think WHY ME WHY! etc when really it was their fault for going into the damned water in the first place
#4 to clean the ocean of its dead stuff as sharks will eat stuff that dies and sinks to the bottom or on beaches
Tell your friend that more people will drown or die in accidents while eradicating sharks than currently die from shark attacks.
This web page says that ten people died from shark attacks in 2000. There seems to be a consensus that 4000 people die each year from drowning. How many more people does your friend want to drown in order to wipe out an insignificant risk to the world’s population?
This apparently biased source claims that 100-200 million sharks die “in the fishing/finning process” each year. Accepting this number, it seems that we avenge the deaths of those who are killed by sharks 100,000 fold. What more does your friend want?
Well, I’d rather eliminate idiots than sharks, but you probably don’t want to get carried away by any of the “alternative medicine” hype, either: FAQ - Shark Cartilage is pretty disdainful of the book Should There Be a Shark in Your Medicine Cabinet?. Even the notorious Dr. Weil has expressed caution regarding the more egregious cases of shark medicine fraud: Cancer-Killing Sharks?
Well, I suppose you might try to introduce the concept of “ecology” into your debatee’s noggin. Sharks have been here for hundreds of millions of years, so I expect they’re pretty well-fitted to their role in the scheme of things. After that much of a lengthy bit of business on the planet, we need a lot more time spent in research to try to understand the shark’s true role in marine ecology.
My Stepdad is a marine biologist who’s done research on sharks. I was raised in an atmosphere pretty shark-heavy. We hauled 'em up on nets, followed them on boats, and had ‘em layin’ dead in the back of the family wagon for awhile. I know full well the damage they can do on a body, but I still swim in the ocean. You stand a far greater risk of an automobile accident than a shark attack. C’est la Vie.
Another factor to consider is that we have an influence on shark’s normal feeding patterns by our, and other nations, fisheries. If we overfish and disrupt the normal schools, they’ll have to find other means.
It’s a complex problem, but sharks don’t deserve a Bomb-'em-they’re-Terrorists approach.
