Through The Lens: Planet Shark Exhibit

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - In the movie Finding Nemo the three sharks have a support group and their mantra is "fish are friends, not food."

Tuesday I went to check out the media preview of the new exhibit at the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas called Planet Shark. In talking to the two curators of the exhibit it became clear their mantra is "sharks are friends, not food."

Curators Mike Bhana and Craig Thorburn are documentary film makers from New Zealand who have been shooting video of sharks for the past 20 years and created the exhibit from their experiences.

Craig told me the whole reason he got into studying sharks was out of his fear of being eaten by one. He thought if he knew what the sharks eat and when and where they eat he could avoid being eaten. Sounds like a good idea! What he has learned is that sharks don't usually eat people. They may bite them thinking they are some other food source, like a seal or a turtle, but never eat them.

Both Craig and Mike feel like "shark attacks" are not really attacks and get over hyped in the media.

They say there has been a decline in the shark population over the past 50 years mainly due to humans over fishing. Shark fin soup is a big culprit because it is considered a delicacy in China. Those that fish for shark fins just cut off the fin and throw the sharkscarcass back in the water. Part of the exhibit deals with this problem and the conservation of sharks.

One thing I have always loved about my job is learning new things on a daily basis. One of the most interesting things I learned at the exhibit today was that a shark goes through about 26,000 teeth in it's lifetime. They have spare teeth waiting in line to replace any lost tooth. That could be pretty handy!

Planet Shark: Predator or Prey the Exhibition opens this week and will be there until next September go check it out and remember "sharks are friends, not food."

To watch more of Mike's Through The Lens stories, click here.