Michael Kabzenell
PH195W - Practicum
Op-Ed
04/13/2016
Word count: 740
1
Bite Me
Fishermen and tourists who feed wild sharks near coastlines are similar to the
James Bond villains who toss their adversaries into tanks filled with sharks. The term
“shark attack” puts fear into the minds of many beachgoers who consider sharks to be
monsters set out to consume humans. The issue, however, is people’s forgetfulness and
understanding that the ocean is not our territory. Rates of shark attacks on humans
globally increase every year because overfishing, global warming, and tourism of ocean
waters, such as cage diving, are forcing sharks to drift closer to human contact on
coastlines. It is due to our actions every day that consequently lead to the dangers of
visiting beaches and putting those at risk of being mauled by the predators lurking in the
ocean.
Sharks are known to hunt fish, squid, other sharks, and various marine mammals,
such as sea lions. However, there is a competing predator known for its selfishness and
over consumption of meat, which drastically reduces the food sources of many other
animals with similar diets. These un-symbiotic predators are humans. The average Great
White shark devours about sixty-six pounds of mammal blubber to last approximately 15
days. The average human consumes up to eighty-three pounds of food in the same period
of time. This statistic does not account for the amount of food people consume just for self-
satisfaction and coping with life’s struggles. Food is ultimately a system of social gathering
and culture to human populations. A shark consumes what it needs to survive and thrive as
an alpha oceanic predator. As a result, overfishing leads to major food source depletion for
predatory marine life, including the marine predators that fall prey to sharks. Research

Michael Kabzenell
PH195W - Practicum
Op-Ed
04/13/2016
Word count: 740
2
shows that there is a 90% decline in total shark population around the world and a 99%
decline in population along the United States eastern coastlines. Overfishing must stop to
prevent the further domino effect of decreasing marine life, which ultimately forces sharks
to swim closer to beaches to hunt shallow ocean-dwelling prey.
Many people view global warming as the increase in hot weather, droughts, and
melting ice caps. It is likely that many people do not consider the effect on shark migration
to warmer waters across the world where many tourists enjoy traveling as well. Due to
global warming, increasing water temperature has a direct correlation to increasing rates
of CO2 and acidification. This new observation makes sense for sharks swimming closer to
shore to find food in new locations. Additionally, the more acidic and CO2 oceanic water is
hindering sharks’ keen sense of smell. This resolves the controversy as to why rates of
shark attacks around the world increase each year. Since some sharks may no longer be
able to tell the difference between prey and human through olfaction, they now resort to
biting their target to make a decision.
Cage diving is like visiting a bar with belligerent friends. In extreme circumstances,
one drink can lead to a bar fight with you or others being seriously injured. For cage diving,
every ticket admission fuels a shark’s dependence on humans feeding them bait, which can
ultimately lead to shark attacks. In Oahu, a ticket for cage diving tours cost $50-$100 for
children and adults. Because of the growing popularity of cage diving to witness sharks up
close, tourism companies do not care to consider the negative outcomes of changing
sharks’ predatory habits. Sharks no longer need to search and capture their prey when
tourists are willing to feed them like children. This encourages sharks to swim closer to

Michael Kabzenell
PH195W - Practicum
Op-Ed
04/13/2016
Word count: 740
3
humans in areas around Hawaii, Australia, South Africa, and other coastal areas where cage
diving is popular because they are conditioned to believe swimming closer to humans
results in available food. Cage diving is not worth paying for two hours when considering
putting other peoples’ lives at stake.
Sharks are not at fault for attacks on humans. Those who feed fish, and cage dive,
must take responsibility for the threats they pose to shark and human ecosystems. Sharks’
loss of smell, lowering populations of marine food sources, and easy access to food due to
research and tourism, are all reasons why innocent beachgoers are attacked by hungry
sharks. Humans are trespassing territories where sharks can no longer live the
independent lifestyle they knew of before human involvement. Sharks are the victims of
attack, not humans.
Michael Kabzenell
4th Year, Public Health Science Major
University of California, Irvine