Saturday, January 31, 2009

To be or Not to Be


Often doing the right thing can lead to a bad thing. An example is how shark nets prevent swimmers from having fatal attacks, however the nets also catch non harmful creatures such as dolphins, whales, and manta rays. The question now being brought up (from ABC Science) in Australia is whether or not the nets should be taken down. For some 70 years or so, the nets have kept Aussies as well as tourists safe and able to swim freely. Due to the fact the nets are catching friendly creatures, they are thinking about removing the nets. Also, a specific type of shark is being commonly caught, which could negatively effect the food chain: the great white shark. In my personal opinion, I would continue to keep shark nets up in public and common beaches. However, I would remove them where able to. This way some sharks would be eliminated, some would stay away from crowded waters, and the number of dolphins, whales, and manta rays being caught in the net would decrease. There is data given that there are 1.25 fatalities in Australia each year. This is upsetting of course, but there were 212 accidental death in 2006 because of drowning. Unfortunately, water cause a lot of deaths whether it is accidental or from a creature. Sharks are a marine animal important to the food chain and we cannot just kill them off. They are necessary for the food chain to remain stable and healthy. As I previously stated, the nets that can be, should be removed. This will compromise the situation until a less harmful solution is found. I am not sure the public would be happy with this descion, but you have to respect both sides of the situation.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This might sound selfish, but I actually disagree with you on the suggestion of the removal of the shark nets. What if a shark gets through and starts killing the "innocent" people that are swimming? I sure would not want to go in the water when I find out that there could be a shark below me waiting to attack.