A DIVER DISCOVERS A SHARK PASSION

By guest blogger: Jessica Rodgers

Yesterday I found myself in a familiar, yet precarious place again: perched atop my soapbox, denouncing the evil practice of shark finning.  My audience probably started out captivated, but I am guessing that after five minutes they probably were growing disinterested at best, but more accurately they likely wanted to run from the room, wondering why on earth they had asked a simple question.  The simple question was this: “Why, if sharks are so harmless, do you hear about people swimming and surfing and getting attacked by sharks and dying from them?”  My answer to this question began with biology, physics, logic and common sense explanations, sprinkled with fun facts and comparisons, but slowly evolved into a rant on shark finning and the collapse of the oceans as we know them, a dismal prediction of doom.

The problem is that the issue is so complex and comprehensive.  There are not just simple biological implications, but political, socioeconomic and even spiritual issues wrapped up in the practice of shark finning.  The other problem is that five minutes is not nearly enough to cover everything involved and I found myself spewing forth as much as I could in order to get the point across that this is an abhorrent practice that must stop.  And lastly, the problem is apathy, and the simple fact that my audience was really just challenging me on a long-held belief that sharks, like other vilified animals, are dangerous, menacing and useless to the greater society. My audience that day would go on about their daily business with no second thought to the plight of sharks and our oceans, and ultimately, human survival.  They probably still think of sharks as evil and will continue to stay out of the ocean and cling to their fear and disgust.

Is shark finning really that serious of a problem?  In simple terms, yes.  Everyone has heard of the circle of life and that everything on earth serves a purpose, or rather every natural thing serves a purpose.  This isn’t more apparent anywhere than in the ocean.  Nothing is wasted there, nothing goes to waste, except the man-made waste that settles and breaks down into biologically useless trash.  When fish spawn, the products of that spawning gets eaten by other fish.  When fish get dirty, other fish benefit by cleaning them.  While one organism stings other fish, it provides protection for others, who live to defend them for their entire existence.

Recently while diving in Palau, a small island nation in Micronesia, I was amazed to see an anemone rolled up feeding and its little protectors, the Pink Anemonefish, stood guard valiantly, even though the protection of the anemone’s tentacles were no longer available.  Airily bouncing on the outside of the anemone, the part that’s usually underneath, were cleaner shrimp, taking advantage of a free lunch.  But anemonefish, popularized by the animated movie featuring a scattered little Nemo, are cute! Of course we want to protect them and their colorful friends.  Sharks are ugly and dangerous man-eating killers who eat cute seals, penguins and dolphins. That is the common opinion about them, but  they are so much more than that and key to our clean beaches and sparkling clear waters. In fact sharks are the ultimate predator: a highly evolved, intelligent creature with keen, advanced senses.  They have been around longer than we have, longer than the dinosaurs, over 400 million years.  Yet, we are wiping them out at a record pace, at what cost?

I am honored to have been asked by PangeaSeed to write about my experiences in the marine world. I’ve been an avid diver for nearly eight years and as soon as I dropped into the Caribbean Sea off of Cozumel in Mexico on my first ocean dive, it was love at first breath.  The ocean has always drawn me, but never did I realize the scope of its beauty until becoming a diver. For years, all I knew was what most people knew: sunsets, surfing and swimming, the ocean’s fury during storms, and topside water pursuits.  Now, as a diver, I see it for everything it is and for the crucial role it plays in humankind’s existence.  Hopefully, my future blogs will provide some insight and some entertainment as well as some education, as I also learn about the complexities of the ocean and its inhabitants.  My great passion is sharks and has been since high school when we had to dissect one in Marine Biology class. My wish is that I can impact opinions and impressions and if I change at least one person’s mind about what sharks really are, what they represent and that they are worth protecting, then I have paid back a small part to the ocean that has given me so much.  It’s only a drop in the vast ocean, but a drop is where it starts.

All photos copyright Jessica Rogers 2012

For more information and photography please visit Jessica’s website HERE -