Swimming With Sharks

Shark Tourism Is A Booming Industry, Bob Simon Reports.

(CBS)  Shark attacks used to be virtually unheard of here. But there have been eight in the past two years. Two people died on the same beach this year alone.

Shark spotters have been hired to maintain a constant vigil. And many have joined Bovim’s campaign for legislation to ban baiting and chumming, legislation which already exists in Florida and Hawaii. But tour operators claim that linking their practices to shark attacks is ridiculous.

"As you can see here, I’ve got two small tuna and a couple of sardines, any commercial fishing boat that is going out on any given day is putting fish into the water to attract other fish up to the boat to catch it. They’re doing nothing different to us," says Chris Fallows.

But some people say that this is sort of like putting meat in front of a lion in a game park.

"Its an inevitability of going into the ocean, and when you’ve got millions of people using the sea there are going to be instances where people are going to be attacked, it’s as simple as that," says Fallows.

Well, it wasn’t as simple as that to the people who burned Fallows’ boat in what was seen as a protest against shark tourism. Other people are directing their anger at the sharks themselves.

Vigilantes are vowing to take their boats out and shoot sharks, any sharks, whether or not they were the actual killers.

To dampen the hysteria, local conservationists put out a commercial which begins just like "Jaws." The commercial points out that the number of people killed by sharks worldwide is tiny. Last year, just nine people died. By comparison, the commercial says, 791 were killed by toasters.

But fear of sharks is so deep, psychologists will tell you, that statistics and commercials can't get below the surface.

"We're talking about something that humans don't experience every day. Being on the meal list of somebody else is a very, very unusual experience," says University of Cape Town psychologist and surfer Dr. Helgo Schomer.

Dr. Schomer treats people with shark-phobia, or tries to.

Why does the thought of getting bitten, eaten or killed by a shark evoke such terror and fear, compared to other ways of getting killed?

"Nothing comes close to it. You mentioned being eaten. You know, you can die in other ways, but dying is something we don’t want to touch, it’s a taboo issue. But now being eaten, that means I might be alive, I might actually feel what’s going to happen to me," says Dr. Schomer.

"I have, in fact, heard sharks compared to terrorists, that they are somehow more demonic than other beings," Simon remarks.

[samanthagreen09]

I would love to "swim" with sharks. The only problem I would have with it is the great white shark. I would never get in the water with those things even if I was in a shark cage. They are big and really powerful fish. I'm sure if they wanted to, they could break through those shark cages.

[sharkprotect]

The first line of this article: "There may be no single fear as intense....as the fear of meeting up with a shark", is pure nonsense. I have been in the water with tiger sharks, bull sharks, lemon sharks and all kinds of reef sharks. I have never been threatened by a single one of them. Another thing that does not make sense is the Chinese assertion that eating shark fin soup is part of their culture and tradition. That soup used to be served to emperors and high nobility in the old days. Why would the communists in China suddenly express a desire to maintain the traditions of the same people who they slaughtered by the thousands during their revolution? Is it because they are now also enjoying wealth and want to live like nobility? It does not make any sense to me.

[sharksmatter]

Killing sharks for shark fin soup is another example of man''s inhumanity to lifeforms other than their own. If people aren''t destroying the environment, they are destroying land and sea creatures. Sharks are vulnerable to overfishing and people should respect their lives.

[ckfire]

I was absolutely sick to my stomach watching a shark get his fins cut off and left to drown. It is barbaric! How can we help to end this horrible human practice?

[daisey22]

I totally agree with you. They are so elusive about mating, giving birth, yet they are slaughterd wholesale. Sooner or later they will run out. The natural order of things in the ocean will be changed irrrevocably. It is so sad to spectate what man's inhumanity really lies beneath

[sofladiver]

This was a wonderful story. Please provide more information about the film clip/public service announcement that was broadcast during the story (with the evil toaster floating menacingly in the ocean) -- where can we find the producer so that we can ask our local stations to carry it? Also, check out www.sharks.org for more information about shark conservation and the real story about white sharks.

[sharkpix]

The ads were a project of the Save our Seas Foundation called "Rethink the Shark." Lesley Rochat helped create the campaign.

[fayettenash]

Thank you, Our family love''s the ocean and are facinated by sharks. My oldest son Bodie who is only 3 1/2 has an obsession with sharks. Whale Sharks, Great White, Thresher Shark, and Mako Sharks. They are either killed for sport fishing or fin soup. You see horrific video''s on YouTube of these beautiful creature''s being slaughtered. Thank You again for raising the awarness and trying to help make a diffrence.
Adrienne, Dave,
Bodie, Luke and Quinn Nash

[laurab51]

Can anyone tell me where to find more information on Mr. Bovim''s organized group to deter shark feeding tourism?

thank you