August 12, 2013 — Although the great white is a necessary and vulnerable species, there are others that deserve the same attention.
In between documentaries, live footage, and suspicious research on sharks eating fishing boats, viewers of Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” may have seen a surprising PSA by Oceana featuring Mad Men’s January Jones. Amidst footage of great whites, she declares, “Healthy oceans need sharks. But great whites are in danger of extinction. Too many are being caught in fishing nets. There may be only a few hundred adult great whites left off the West Coast. We should be scared FOR great whites.”
She is right on many counts. Healthy oceans do need sharks — as an apex predator, whites are extremely vulnerable to extinction. The top of the food chain is a dangerous place to be, as the ocean can only support a small population at any given time. Little is known about mating, reproduction, or population numbers of great white sharks, due to their speed and evasiveness. They have been recorded at up to 4,000 feet below sea level, making it impossible to observe and study them in their natural habitat. However, enough is known about them to classify the species as a whole as vulnerable to extinction, due to fishing, pollution, and habitat destruction. On top of their already precarious position, great whites are often misunderstood as violent, ferocious creatures, making it difficult for conservation efforts to find funding and public support.
Read the full opinion piece at PolicyMic