What is the most dangerous animal in the World? Any guesses?
Perhaps unsurprisingly – at least to those of you who take the time to understand sharks and their behaviour – the most dangerous animal is not the Great White shark, tiger shark or bull shark. It isn’t even the widely feared hippopotamus. In fact, the most dangerous animal in the world is the Anopheles mosquito.
But what does the Anopheles mosquito have to do with bull sharks? Well, a few weeks back we gave a talk on the public perception of bull sharks as part of the Save Our Seas Shark Centre (SOSSC) “People and Sharks” lecture series. The talk was designed to illustrate how media and perception distort reality when it comes to all things shark-related.
Bull sharks are probably one of the most feared sharks on the planet and are often cited as being the most dangerous shark species in our oceans. Yet it is the mosquito that is responsible for millions of deaths every year – not bull sharks – due primarily to the transmission of Malaria in sub-Saharran Africa. However, mosquitos remain little more than a painfully irritating buzz in the ears of humanity – a highly underrated harbinger of death, if you will – while bull sharks continue to inspire fear and terror in millions of beach goers and landlubbers around the world.
To illustrate this – and see how bull sharks are generally viewed by society – I did a quick search on Google (type in “bull shark” and you will see what I mean). Although there was some good reading material found during the search – scientifically reliable, etc – there were also some really terrifying descriptions of bull sharks. These included the following:
…one of only 3 sharks known to attack humans. Hold your breath and get to know the pit bull of the seas (YouTube)
…the most common attacker of people (Enchanted Learning)
…one of the deadliest of sharks in existence (HowStuffWorks)
…known man-eaters (YouTube)
… a vicious bull shark tried to tear off his foot (MSNBC online)
A few other popular misconceptions I came across included:
– bull sharks are solitary & territorial
– bull sharks have the highest levels of testosterone of any animal known to science (a VERY popular statement even among scientists, but one based completely in fiction)
– bull sharks are the only freshwater occurring shark species
…and my personal favourite…
– bull sharks are calculating, cold-blooded killers (call me crazy but I personally find it hard to believe these animals would premeditate attacks on humans)
And this is where our bull shark (Zambezi shark) research project comes in. Through continued public outreach including talks, invitations to the public to join us on research expeditions and publications in popular media, we are trying to dispel the BULL SHARK MYTH. Using the science gained through three years of study on some of the biggest bull sharks in the world – in one of the most unique habitats (where there has never in collective memory been a negative human-bull shark interaction) – we are hoping to inspire stewardship of, and respect for this awesome coastal predator.
To learn more about this project, and find out how you can be involved, contact email@example.com.
Visit Clare’s blog to read more about the talk at the SOSSC.
Ni mnyama gani hatari zaidi ulimwenguni? Je, unajua nini? Labda haishangazi - angalau kwa wale kati yenu ambao huchukua muda kuelewa papa na tabia yao - mnyama hatari zaidi si papa mweupe mkubwa, papa tiger au papa ng'ombe. Si hata hipopotamu anayetishwa sana. Mnyama hatari zaidi duniani ni mbu anayeitwa Anopheles. Lakini mbu anayeitwa Anopheles ana uhusiano gani na papa-ng'ombe? "Mwaka jana, tulikuwa na mkutano wa ""Save Our Seas Shark Center"" kuhusu uharibifu wa samaki aina ya shark." Hotuba hiyo ilikusudiwa kuonyesha jinsi vyombo vya habari na maoni yanavyoipotosha hali halisi linapokuja mambo yote yanayohusiana na papa. Sharks Bull ni moja ya aina ya sharks ya kutisha zaidi duniani na mara nyingi huitwa kuwa hatari zaidi katika bahari zetu. Hata hivyo ni mbu ambaye ni wajibu kwa mamilioni ya vifo kila mwaka <unk> si shark ng'ombe <unk> kutokana hasa na maambukizi ya malaria katika Afrika kusini mwa Sahara. Hata hivyo, mbu bado ni kitu kidogo zaidi ya buzz uchungu irritating katika masikio ya ubinadamu - harbinger sana underrated ya kifo, kama wewe itakuwa - wakati shark ng'ombe kuendelea kuchochea hofu na hofu katika mamilioni ya beachgoers na landlubbers duniani kote. Ili kuonyesha hili <unk> na kuona jinsi papa ng'ombe kwa ujumla ni kutazamwa na jamii <unk> Mimi alifanya utafutaji wa haraka kwenye Google (type katika <unk> papa ng'ombe <unk> na utaona nini mimi maana). Ingawa kulikuwa na baadhi ya kusoma nzuri kupatikana wakati wa utafutaji <unk> kisayansi kuaminika, nk <unk> kulikuwa pia baadhi ya maelezo ya kweli ya kutisha ya shark ng'ombe. "Hii ni moja ya aina tatu tu za papa zinazojulikana kushambulia wanadamu.""" "Kama vile tunavyojua, ""sharks bull"" ni aina ya samaki aina ya shark, ambayo ni aina ya samaki aina ya shark, ambayo ni aina ya samaki aina ya shark, ambayo ni aina ya samaki aina ya shark, ambayo ni aina ya samaki aina ya shark, ambayo ni aina ya samaki aina ya shark, ambayo ni aina ya samaki aina ya shark." Kupitia ufikiaji wa umma unaoendelea, ikiwa ni pamoja na mazungumzo, mialiko kwa umma kujiunga nasi kwenye safari za utafiti na machapisho katika vyombo vya habari maarufu, tunajaribu kuondoa hadithi ya Bull Shark. Kutumia sayansi iliyopatikana kupitia miaka mitatu ya utafiti juu ya baadhi ya papa wakubwa zaidi duniani katika moja ya makazi ya kipekee zaidi (ambapo hakuna kumbukumbu ya pamoja imekuwa na mwingiliano hasi wa binadamu-shark bull) tunatumaini kuhamasisha usimamizi wa, na heshima kwa mnyama huyu wa pwani wa kushangaza. Ili kupata maelezo zaidi kuhusu mradi huu, na kujua jinsi unaweza kushiriki, wasiliana na email@example.com. Tembelea blogi ya Clare kusoma zaidi juu ya mazungumzo katika SOSSC.