Good afternoon, fellow GCC-ers, Emily here!

Today as I was getting my daily “news fix,” I stumbled across a story that really piqued my interest. The story was about a mother who is fighting new regional campaign that PETA is putting together in Florida, after a recent shark attack near Anne Marie Island. Her twenty-one year old son survived being  bitten on the leg by a bull shark while he was spear fishing.

PETA is capitalizing on this incident by using it as a platform for their latest “go vegan” campaign. They are looking for an area in Florida to post this billboard:Now, let me tell you something.

I think that this is attrocious.

I will admit, right from the get-go, that I am slightly biased on this subject. I have been in love with sharks since the age of 3. I could not get enough of shark books, shark documentaries, shark cartoons, shark pictures….you name the shark product, I loved it. I remember walking through the old video store in Attica (back when I lived there) and seeing the cover of JAWS for the first time. I was 4 years old and I begged my mother to watch it. Of course she didn’t let me…snif, I am still a little bitter about being forced to wait 6 years until I was 10, snif, snif (insert pretend tears pooling in eyes).  Because of my love of sharks, I dreamed of being a marine biologist and studying my favorite of all sharks, the Great White, from the ages of 5-14. I still, secretly, would love to be a marine biologist….

But, seriously, I get very defensive when sharks are painted in a bad light (despite my favorite movie still being JAWS). I read alot of shark conservation blogs and support orginizations like the Shark Free Marina project. So when I see a billboard like the one above, I feel sad. Not only is PETA capitalizing on a tragic accident it is perpetuating the myth that sharks are “man-eaters” and they only have a taste for human blood.

The ocean is a sharks habitat. Think about it. A poses very little danger to us on land; our territory, where we are most comfortable. In the same way, we humans pose very little danger to sharks in the water; their territory, where they are comfortable. Every swimmer, fisherman, spear-fisherman, snorkelor, diver, etc. knows that there is a great risk in swimming in the ocean because the fact is that humans resemble a sharks main source of food when they are in the water, seals. Its not their fault. They are programmed to eat their prey, they are not out to get humans.

For PETA to try and say, that sharks are taking revenge on humans who eat fish by attacking them is ridiculous and sick. There are better ways to get their message to the masses then by perpetuating a myth, and exploiting a man at the same time. I don’t know where they get their nerve.

I will post the link to the article below so that you may read it and form your own opinions. Remember, our generation is next in line. We are the decision makers, we are going to suffer the consequences of the choices that our leaders are making now. Know what is going on in your world.

Until next time,

Emily

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/29/mother-shark-attack-victim-says-peta-campaign-is-over-top/