Great white shark encounter sparks protection push
TWO shark researchers who came face to face with what could be one of the largest great whites ever recorded are using their encounter as an opportunity to push for legislation that would protect sharks in Hawaii.
Ocean Ramsey, a shark researcher and conservationist, said she encountered the sixmetre shark on Wednesday near a dead sperm whale off Oahu. The event was documented and shared on social media by her fiance and business partner Juan Oliphant.
Oliphant said it was unclear if the huge shark was the famed Deep Blue, believed to be the largest great white ever recorded.
‘‘She looks the part right now,’’ Oliphant said. ‘‘Maybe even more exciting that there is another massive, you know, super-size great white shark out there. Because their populations are so dwindling.’’
Ramsey said she had been pushing for several years for a bill that would ban the killing of sharks and rays in Hawaii. She now hopes the measure will become law this year.
She said the images of her swimming next to a huge great white proved that they should be protected, not feared.
Still, the veteran shark diver doesn’t think the general public should recklessly get into the water with the giant predators, especially around a food source like a rotting whale carcass.
Ramsey said extensive training and time spent studying shark behaviour kept her team and customers safe. She teaches people about how to act and, more importantly, not act when they encounter a shark in the water. Ramsey and her team observe behaviour, identify and tag sharks, and share that data with researchers as well as US state and federal officials.
Unlike many marine mammals, sharks are not a federally protected species in the US, though there are laws against the sale of their fins.
‘‘There’s not a lot of sympathy for sharks because of the way they’re portrayed in media and they don’t have the cute cuddly appearance,’’ Ramsey said.
‘‘You can’t hate them for being predators. We need them for healthy marine ecosystems.’’
Ramsey and Oliphant want to make sure that people realise that shark bites are uncommon.
‘‘The idea that they see people as a food source, that is rubbish, and that needs to go away because really, that’s ultimately leading to the demise of these animals,’’ Oliphant said.
Ramsey said it was impressive that the great white had survived a ‘‘gauntlet of human death traps’’.
‘‘I don’t know how old she is. But for her to survive through so many longline fisheries and, you know, gill nets and team nets and fishermen who might just kill her because they think that she is a monster . . . it’s very special.’’ –AP