Helllooo SuperForest!
Before the headline scares you too much, know that this is AWE-SOME news! Great Whites have been a threatened species for sometime now, and good news about them is rare. Now thanks to better ocean regulation and a ban on near-shore gillnets in 1994, California is starting to see the sharks comeback. This first caught my attention via Surfrider Foundation, but then I did a little research myself. So besides the first reaction of, “I am so not getting in the water anytime soon,” this is huge! (Which, admittedly, was my first reaction as I’ll be surfing in California in a few days.) As an environmentalist the news that the restoration of a native species is beginning in an area is ALWAYS exciting. I am a full out naturalist environmentalist, aka I believe that nature’s way of balancing out the world is best. And we humans then have to figure out the best way to fit ourselves into that balancing natural mould, it is very permaculture-esqe. So, sharks come back because of our better awareness, and they eat the overpopulating seals and sea lions. WIN! The broken cycle is fixing itself, and this means a renewed heath in the Californian Pacific ecosystem. How rad is that? I found an article featuring Dr. Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at the California State University Long Beach, on this very news. He says:
I think there are more sharks. And that’s not a bad thing; it’s a good thing. So if you add [the high population of sea lions and seals, and the responsibility taken on by humans to protect the animals] together, you’ve got a restored forage base for the adults and you’ve got better survivorship of the pups. So what we think we’re seeing from the fishery catch data and some of the other anecdotal pieces, is the actual recovery of the white shark population.
He also expressed why he thought no one should be worried about this news in terms of human safety, and why we should take to the oceans as usual.
I think the white shark population is going to do what it’s supposed to do: help regulate marine mammal populations. The fact that we see so few adult white sharks around populated areas tends to suggest that they don’t want to be around places where people are. People aren’t being bumped. People aren’t being hit. My guess is that sharks are actually avoiding areas of high human population.
To top it all off, surfer Chuck Patterson ran into two sharks while out SUP surfing, and decided to go out the next day and try to catch the beauties on film. His results: a 9 ft Great White shark, and a 7 ft juvenile Great White. Check out his footage!
So, just as Surfrider advises, “We DO recommend keeping your surfboard and trying your best to feel happy for the sharks.”
Have a great day SuperForest,
Mathew
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