There have been incidences throughout the years going back as 1900's of shark sightings on inland rivers. It seems that the rate of sharks moving farther away from the ocean is increasing. In the introduction of the documentary (doc.), a fisherman shows a picture of how many sharks he had captured in the river inland of Louisiana. There are environmental changes happening around the world from droughts to super typhoons. But I wonder what complications arise with the increase of sharks present on in-land rivers.
* The Dangers Of Their Presence
Like I mentioned earlier, a fisherman presented a photo of a pack of sharks he had captured with his fishing net. Like other fishermen, he makes a living in rivers doing what they do: catch fish. If sharks are present, they carry out the potential to disrupt fishing practices like destroying fish baits or getting captured in fishnets instead of targeted fish. This disruption can ruin a fisherman's daily income and thus one's livelihood.
**Sharks also have the potential to kill fish and humans. A high consumption of fish due to a high increase of sharks present can cut of a fisherman's daily income and a community's source of food. Those that enjoy being on inland rivers have an actual risk of being killed by a shark. I say "actual risk" because in-land rivers are fresh waters. The doc. states that sharks normally live in salty-water oceans. Sharks found in fresh waters was something that wasn't a possibility until sightings were reported. In fact, the doc. mentions that there have been incidences of people killed by sharks in the lake of Nicaragua.
Changes In Safety Precaution
By now, I'm sure that there are shark warning signs on rivers that previously had shark sightings. I feel that we should have shark warning signs on all rivers and lakes that are connected to the oceans. The Louisiana river where the doc. was held is about 160 miles away from the ocean. Since there were many sharks spotted 160 miles away from the ocean, society shouldn't be surprised if they make their way even further inland waters away from the ocean.
***
Hopefully someone will create some sort of technology for people to identify if there are sharks within the area to prevent an attack. There are already shark trackers that are being placed by biologists for scientific research. Then again, sharks are fast creatures. So even with a warning, who knows if the timing at the moment would be too late. Still, it's better to try to innovate something that can potentially save a person's life.
Climate Change?
I'm not an expert on the subject but I do feel that there is a potential link as to why more sharks are moving inland and away from the ocean. In the recent years, the world experienced more natural disasters with an increase of their strength.
I remember my statistics professor telling us that correlation does not equal to causation. Let's say that there was a high incidence of rain while there was a low incidence of people eating ice cream. The increase of rain doesn't cause people to not eat ice cream as much and vice versa. The incidences only tell us that these occurrences happen at the same time. (The following picture obviously makes a better example for the topic of sharks than my "rain versus ice cream" example but you get the idea.)
****
I will say that the one factor that makes me suggest that sharks and climate change might be linked together is this: the environment is changing. Climate change can alter an environment and sharks may be moving to inland waters due to a change in the ocean.
Man Made Beaches And Fish Farms
As stated in the "Changes In Safety Precaution" section, sharks are a danger to fishermen, those that enjoy the water, and a community that rely's on a shark-infested river. It would be a great idea to create fish farms of fishes that are in demand for income. This would secure the income of fishing and the safety of fishermen.
*****
Creating man made beaches/rivers/lakes is also a possibility to secure the safety of people who enjoy playing in the water. But the situation is like reading a comic book through a computer instead of a hard copy; it's not the same. People who generally play in rivers, lakes, and oceans want to connect to nature. It may not feel like one is connecting with nature when there is a pump that will artificially create an ocean wave.
Link
The environment is changing. Who knows if we can stop it or not. But like all things in life, society can adjust and adapt. That's the main idea I got from watching this doc. It was very thought provoking. I highly recommend that you check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-AArJvLKRk&list=WL&index=6
(I couldn't provide the link in a movie format.)
******
Picture References:
* http://michaeldnelson.com/images/stills/18_SharkRiver.jpg
** http://dominicanewsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/fisherman.jpg
*** http://tweakyourbiz.com/marketing/files/Shark-Warning-300x300.jpg
**** http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/8e/1a/82/8e1a82578a4533e82e36f61a0dec6893.jpg
***** http://www.earthtimes.org/newsimage/hope-aquaculture-eco-clean-fish-farms_277.jpg
****** http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02025/shark_2025841b.jpg
By now, I'm sure that there are shark warning signs on rivers that previously had shark sightings. I feel that we should have shark warning signs on all rivers and lakes that are connected to the oceans. The Louisiana river where the doc. was held is about 160 miles away from the ocean. Since there were many sharks spotted 160 miles away from the ocean, society shouldn't be surprised if they make their way even further inland waters away from the ocean.
***Hopefully someone will create some sort of technology for people to identify if there are sharks within the area to prevent an attack. There are already shark trackers that are being placed by biologists for scientific research. Then again, sharks are fast creatures. So even with a warning, who knows if the timing at the moment would be too late. Still, it's better to try to innovate something that can potentially save a person's life.
Climate Change?
I'm not an expert on the subject but I do feel that there is a potential link as to why more sharks are moving inland and away from the ocean. In the recent years, the world experienced more natural disasters with an increase of their strength.
I remember my statistics professor telling us that correlation does not equal to causation. Let's say that there was a high incidence of rain while there was a low incidence of people eating ice cream. The increase of rain doesn't cause people to not eat ice cream as much and vice versa. The incidences only tell us that these occurrences happen at the same time. (The following picture obviously makes a better example for the topic of sharks than my "rain versus ice cream" example but you get the idea.)
**** I will say that the one factor that makes me suggest that sharks and climate change might be linked together is this: the environment is changing. Climate change can alter an environment and sharks may be moving to inland waters due to a change in the ocean.
Man Made Beaches And Fish Farms
As stated in the "Changes In Safety Precaution" section, sharks are a danger to fishermen, those that enjoy the water, and a community that rely's on a shark-infested river. It would be a great idea to create fish farms of fishes that are in demand for income. This would secure the income of fishing and the safety of fishermen.
*****Creating man made beaches/rivers/lakes is also a possibility to secure the safety of people who enjoy playing in the water. But the situation is like reading a comic book through a computer instead of a hard copy; it's not the same. People who generally play in rivers, lakes, and oceans want to connect to nature. It may not feel like one is connecting with nature when there is a pump that will artificially create an ocean wave.
Link
The environment is changing. Who knows if we can stop it or not. But like all things in life, society can adjust and adapt. That's the main idea I got from watching this doc. It was very thought provoking. I highly recommend that you check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-AArJvLKRk&list=WL&index=6
(I couldn't provide the link in a movie format.)
******
Enjoy
* http://michaeldnelson.com/images/stills/18_SharkRiver.jpg
** http://dominicanewsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/fisherman.jpg
*** http://tweakyourbiz.com/marketing/files/Shark-Warning-300x300.jpg
**** http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/8e/1a/82/8e1a82578a4533e82e36f61a0dec6893.jpg
***** http://www.earthtimes.org/newsimage/hope-aquaculture-eco-clean-fish-farms_277.jpg
****** http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02025/shark_2025841b.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment