Humane Strategy Reduces Shark Attacks

Image Credit: Greg Grimes

Did you know researchers have found a more effective and humane strategy for reducing the number of human/shark encounters?

It’s true.

In a simple but tried fashion, researchers caught the sharks and placed them into new areas that prevented them from attacking swimmers. Smart, right?

They chose this option in favor of an older strategy, which was to use under-tested repulsion technology. There was not much supporting evidence for this method nor the non-discriminatory nets, most likely due to the danger and threat of catching and killing other marine life.

This new strategy helped ensure that survival for the protected shark species is documented at up to 100%! Super effective.

As if a potential 100% survival rate wasn’t enough, the catch-and-release strategy yielded a decrease of 97% for shark attacks over a span of 8 years. We can thank the shark monitoring program over in Recife, Brazil for that!

Dr. David Shiffman, published in the journal American Conservation, said that scientists and researchers all over the world in life science and environmentalism are concerned about shark control measures, especially lethal methods. His research showed that “non-lethal techniques can help make swimmers safe.”

And let’s be honest, we all want that.

Lethal methods such as the Western Australian shark cull, which kills large sharks through the use of baited drum lines, is relatively ineffective in reducing the number shark attacks. This method is also environmentally irresponsible and often results in killing threatened sharks along with the targeted ones.

Using more humane techniques is effective and protects our oceans by ensuring shark survival, which plays a major role in maintaining the population balance in the ocean ecosystem.

Source: http://www.sciencecodex.com/humane_strategy_reduces_shark_attacks-138882