Is the increase in shark attacks due to a decline in sustainability? My immediate response is yes, yes, yes!The ocean is crucial to the wellbeing of our entire planet. People don't realise how essential it is to life on earth, and don't get me wrong I'm no expert, but I strongly believe that we need to change. To simplify the issue, overfishing is seriously affecting our environment. Go down to Dunsborough and you will struggle to hook any of the fish of the good old days...yes i'm an advocate, it's a little passion of mine and I do my very best to avoid eating fish that I believe will ultimately affect the well being of the ecosystem, not for me - god I love a good piece of fresh seafood - but for our children and theirs too, and the lack of delicious fish is obvious..they just aren't there! So to me it seems like a very obvious link that the sharks (who I might add are a crucial part of the food chain) are struggling too. In WA there have been two devastating shark attacks in the last couple of months. It's not fair, these men did not deserve it, but they were in the ocean, a place that they loved, and the bottom line is this, the ocean is the shark's home. We enter it at our own risk and for people to even suggest that killing them is the answer, well that is just not okay! I feel for these people, it is a real tragedy! My boyfriend is an avid surfer, and god forbid he be taken by a shark, but he knows, and I know that it is their habitat, and way too often we forget.
My heart goes out to the Burden and Martin families. Today is another very sad day. Nobody should have to live with this, but can we really blame the sharks for their natural instincts? It's time for change, and I strongly believe the start is with us. Protect our oceans and nurture them, forget technology and having the best of everything, the more we over-fish, the more inherent the problem will be.
Let's not create a divide, where sharks become the enemy, and swimming in the ocean with the amazing creatures that call it home, become an old wive's tale.
