Great white shark
The great white shark , the largest predatory fish known in the world , weighting almost 2500 kilograms and reaching a length of about 6-7 metres when reaches the adult age, is found in almost all coastal warm waters as well as in offshore waters , beginning with southern coasts of Australia and continuing with South Africa, Mexico ,California till to Hawaii coasts .
They have a well-known and well-earned reputation of being the most ferocious of all shark species and of having cannibalistic habits , that’s why few people dare to get involved in a such dangerous activity like great white shark fishing .
The behavior of white sharks is still a mystery to the scientists ,to this date all they manage to decipher is their feeding and predatory strategies and that by studying the way they attack seals and sea lions , the most preferred food of these predators.
The great white shark begins its attack with a single strong bite from below which usually cut in half the victim ,releases the victim for few seconds ,then comes back and inflicts a second attack when the prey is already debilitated if not dead due to the massive bleeding .
Great white shark fishing has increased after the releasing in 1975 of the American movie directed by the famous Steven Speilberg, “Jaws” , which portrayed the great white shark as a vengeful predator who could remember a particular human face and chase a person .
First, the movie has produced a falling down of tourism businesses ,due to people awarnesses of shark attacks on the beach coasts and the general shark phobia in all movie viewers . Before seeing the movie , people didn’t think much about the possibility of being attacked by sharks while enjoying a bath in the ocean and although occasionally have been reported shark attacks on some beaches, it had never leaded to a worldwide anxiety and hysterical fear of their cruelty .
Then , great white shark fishing became one of the most popular and in the same time dangerous “sport “ for all adrenaline lovers machos who wanted to be taken photos stepping victoriously on a beheaded white shark . To this we must add the traditional shark hunting jobs done by professional fishermen working for large fishing consortiums and the vulnerability of sharks to overfishing ,since they are slow to reach maturity and have low fertility rates.
Consequently , not only the great white but many other shark species, too ,have dropped in number from 50 to even 90 % , according to some marine researchers ,which might lead in the years to come to an unhealthy balance in marine ecosystems .
Nowadays ,many foundations activate as veritable lobbyist for shark protection and the preservation of their lives and natural habitat .
Recently, more precisely a month ago , even the European Commission has drawn the conclusion that the management shark fisheries have never been done systematically and sharks were over-exploited , that’s why they enforced the implementation of a plan of action for conservation of sharks ,their declared aim being to rebuild shark stocks .
It is to be expected that in the near future the great white shark fishing to be banned or at least reduced considerably .
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