David Shiffman (author of Why Sharks Matter) on how Jaws changed the world for sharks, humans and movies… how the fear of sharks led to so many species being threatened and endangered and why you should be suspicious of “shark experts.” “More people in a typical year are bitten by other people in the New York City subway system than are bitten by sharks in the whole world… More people die falling off cliffs trying to take a scenery selfie than are killed by sharks in a typical year.”
Made in Canada, eh 🍁
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From David Shiffman's online posts:
Yesterday I was interviewed for Mark Leiren-Young‘s podcast- I'll share the whole episode when it's out- and he asked me an interesting question. If there's so much nonsense out there about sharks, how do I choose when to engage in mythbusting vs. when to let it go?
My answer:
1) Is the misunderstanding extremely common?
If one rando online is the first person I've ever heard say something wrong, it's not common and maybe worth just letting go. If it's widespread misunderstanding, it's probably worth trying to address.
2) Is the misunderstanding harmful?
Lots of people believe incorrect things about sharks that don't make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, and those are probably not worth the effort to engage.
But some misunderstandings are harmful to conservation.
3) Is the person who is sharing the incorrect information persuadable?
Some people are well-intentioned but uninformed, they really want to help but don't know how. Some of those people can be reached and taught to share accurate helpful information. That's worth trying.
4) Is the person who is sharing the incorrect information influential?
If so, it's worth trying to stop it from getting shared before it becomes a widespread piece of misunderstanding.
And 5) (Which I forgot to say to Mark): Sometimes the world is on fire and I just feel like picking a small fight where I know I'm right and I know I can win.
I do not love this about myself.
Shownotes:
2:56 On the 50th anniversary of Jaws. “This summer is making a lot of people feel really old.”
4:25 “Part of the reason Jaws still holds up the way that it does is some mistakes they made during the filming…” The importance of showing the world from the shark's point of view.
5:40 Sharknado and other shark movies that are unlikely to win Oscars.
6:04 Shark myths created by Jaws. “The way that the shark behaves in the movie is not the way sharks behave.”
7:05 The terrible and inaccurate “rogue shark” theory.
9:00 “It is astronomically unlikely that an individual person will be hurt by a shark… we are better off with healthy shark populations than we are without them.”
9:46 “More people in a typical year are bitten by other people in the New York City subway system than are bitten by sharks in the whole world… More people die falling off cliffs trying to take a scenery selfie than are killed by sharks in a typical year.”
11:05 Sharks vs. “influencers” and “influencers” vs. sharks.
12:48 “Shark expert” is the title Shark Week gives to somebody without any actual credentials.
15:13 Taking on the trolls and why it matters.
17:17 Bull%$@! about bull sharks.
18:07 How Shark Week launched Megalodon-mania and convinced conspiracy theories about an exintinct species. Also… getting naked with sharks… and Jackasses vs. sharks.
22:45 There are no Sharknadoes but a shark did fall from the sky.
23:28 Jaws author Peter Benchley tried to save the sharks. It's only a friggin' movie!
24:32 The generation of scientists inspired by Richard Dreyfuss in Jaws.
26:05 “If you have been in the water, in the ocean, there has been a shark not that far from you and it knew you were there. And you probably didn't see it.”
28:05 “In more than a third of reported “shark attacks” in Australia the shark didn't physically touch the human at all. It swam near them in a way the person thought was threatening.”
29:14 “We have lost half of all sharks – individual sharks – since the 1970s. These are animals that have survived five mass extinction events. These are animals that were swimming in the ocean before we had trees on land, before Saturn had rings. And we've lost half of them since my parents graduated from college. It's really staggering. And Jaws did not cause it, but Jaws made it harder to stop.”
30:30 The Jaws Effect and how fiction influences fact.
37:40 “It's not very many species of sharks that have ever killed a person.”
40:45 “So the most important thing you need to know about sharks is that they're awesome and we're learning new stuff about them all the time.”
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