Sharks: The apex predators that deserve fascination, not fear

Donald Trump loves to hate-watch TV. And allegedly, his habit extends [beyond CNN and Morning Joe]( to another more primal object of loathing: sharks. Details of this character quirk come to us courtesy of Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who claims that when she met Trump at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2007, [she found him]( deep in the sway of Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week.” “He is obsessed with sharks. Terrified of sharks,” Daniels told [In Touch Weekly]( in 2011. “He was like, ‘I donate to all these charities and I would never donate to any charity that helps sharks. I hope all the sharks die.’” Big sharks [terrify many people]( even though they kill a mere [six humans a year]( on average. (More people died last year [taking selfies.]( But it does raise some interesting questions: How did these creatures become so hated? [And what would happen if all sharks actually did die?]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Brought to you by [Quartz Obsession] Sharks April 02, 2018 A matter with teeth --------------------------------------------------------------- Donald Trump loves to hate-watch TV. And allegedly, his habit extends [beyond CNN and Morning Joe]( to another more primal object of loathing: sharks. Details of this character quirk come to us courtesy of Stormy Daniels, the adult film star who claims that when she met Trump at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2007, [she found him]( deep in the sway of Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week.” “He is obsessed with sharks. Terrified of sharks,” Daniels told [In Touch Weekly]( in 2011. “He was like, ‘I donate to all these charities and I would never donate to any charity that helps sharks. I hope all the sharks die.’” Big sharks [terrify many people]( even though they kill a mere [six humans a year]( on average. (More people died last year [taking selfies.]( But it does raise some interesting questions: How did these creatures become so hated? [And what would happen if all sharks actually did die?]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Reuters/Yuriko Nakao By the digits [1 in 3,748,067:]( The odds of dying as a result of a shark attack. Things that are more likely to kill you: horses, fireworks, and lightning. [11,000:]( Average number of sharks killed by humans every hour [500+:]( Number of known species of shark [12%:]( Proportion of sharks species that glow [35]( – [60 mph:]( Top speed of the shortfin mako, the fastest shark in the world [9/20/1977:]( Date when Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli literally “jumped the shark” on Happy Days 🐦 [Tweet this card]( Giphy Save the sharks The importance of apex predators --------------------------------------------------------------- In the marine food chain, most animals are both eater and eaten. Not so for large sharks. These powerful creatures are [apex predators]( shaping the structure and interactions of marine communities by both feasting on smaller animals and frightening them into behaving a certain way. Kill off apex predators, and their erstwhile prey explode in number—and, consequently, the smaller animals and plants that prey eats rapidly disappear. Scientists are only beginning to understand how these effects play out in the wild. Perhaps the most famous example involves the spectacular crash of North Carolina’s bay scallop fishery in the 1990s, believed to be an indirect consequence of a reduction in the shark population. Tiger sharks, hammerheads, and other big sharks roaming that patch of the Atlantic don’t trifle with scallops, but cownose rays enjoy eating them—and those rays, in turn, are potential dinner for big sharks. Thanks to the shark-fin trade and accidental catches, the shark population plummeted, allowing cownose ray numbers to surge, according to a [2007 study in academic journal Science]( and the bay-scallop population to plunge. When sharks are cruising a reef, their potential prey skulks around to avoid them, limiting the opportunities to feed. Take away the sharks, and their prey can feed more aggressively—or even start eating entirely different things. This all makes the effect of a hypothetical sudden extinction of apex-predator sharks impossible to predict with any precision. A scallop shortage would likely be among the least of the concerns. Brought to you by Accenture Stay home. Use XR. Find a home. --------------------------------------------------------------- Anyone who’s moved knows how draining the process is: Searching for homes, endlessly driving to and from listings only to be disappointed in how they differ from photos. With extended reality (XR) platforms, you can now tour homes and buildings in virtual space. XR is making distance a distant memory, and bringing people and businesses closer than ever before.[To learn more trends shaping the future of business, check out Accenture’s 2018 Tech Vision]( Watch this! We don’t know why sharks bite people --------------------------------------------------------------- Great white sharks are one of the most feared animals in the world, but we actually know very little about them. A California scientist is trying to change that. A moment of science All shapes and sizes --------------------------------------------------------------- Great whites and the [decidedly extinct]( megalodon grab all the glory, but sharks come in all shapes, sizes, and [lumens]( only just begun to understand their dizzying variety. “Even living sharks haven’t been fully catalogued,” [The Atlantic’s Ed Yong writes](. “Around a fifth of all known shark species were discovered within the last two decades, and more new species are being discovered all the time.” Here are some of the more interesting species we already know about: Bus-sized sharks [c 9 whale shark RTR2PTXV REUTERS David Loh](Reuters/David Loh) The largest confirmed whale shark specimen was nearly 42 feet long, though in theory they can grow up to 60 feet, making these sharks by far the largest fish in the sea. (Whales are mammals, not fish.) This behemoth is a filter feeder and eats plankton. Methuselah sharks Also known as the Greenland shark, this one is theoretically able to live more than 400 years. Yong [writes]( that it’s entirely possible there’s a Greenland shark alive today that was born when the Pilgrims first set sail in the Mayflower. (Just another fact brought to us by our [indiscriminate testing of nuclear weapons.]( Walking sharks [c 10 epaulette shark h_00820805 EPA Gerry Allen Handout](EPA/Gerry Allen/Handout) Cue your best [David Attenborough accent]( “The epaulette shark remains on the reef even when the tide goes out. And then it sets off to try and find food, and it does that by exploiting another talent it has. It can, in fact, walk.” Fencing sharks Thresher sharks are shaped much like we would imagine a shark to be shaped, except their enormous rear fins, which are used as a weapon. The thresher shark whips that fin over its head at speeds reaching over 80 mph to [beat prey into submission](. Giphy Quotable “The shark in an updated Jaws could not be the villain, it would have to be written as the victim, for, worldwide, sharks are much more the oppressed than the oppressors.” — [Peter Benchley, author of Jaws]( DIY! Do sharks make good pets? --------------------------------------------------------------- Obsession reader Jeanne (👋) brought our attention to something we hadn’t thought much about: People keep “mini-sharks” as pets in home aquariums. The most popular of these, according to [PetMD,]( is the epaulette (mentioned above), which feels safe in confined spaces. Shark ownership isn’t for the casual goldfish owner, obviously. These creatures have special habitat, feeding, and space requirements. Also, not all specimens called sharks are actual sharks: The so-called bala shark, red-tailed shark, rainbow shark, and the iridescent shark are actually not sharks. Reuters/Jorge Silva Pop quiz Which one of these shark facts is true? Sharks must continue swimming or they dieSharks have no bonesSharks do not get cancerSharks can detect a single drop of blood in the ocean Correct. Like their cousin rays, sharks have skeletons made of cartilage, not bone. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Fun fact! Sharks that develop teeth in utero will sometimes [eat their siblings in the womb.]( Reuters/Mick Tsikas Brief history Shark hysteria --------------------------------------------------------------- [1916:]( The myth of the man-eating shark is born when a shark kills four New Jersey beachgoers, an incident which inspired the novel Jaws. [1975:]( The movie Jaws is released. Its famous tagline: “Don’t go in the water.” [1988:]( The Discovery Channel launches “Shark Week,” and proceeds to [ruin shark science.]( [2014:]( A study finds that people who watch clips of shark attacks are more likely to overstate their own risk of being bitten. [2015:]( A study finds that about two-thirds of Shark Week “documentaries” portray sharks as violent and aggressive. take me down this 🐰 hole! That one movie --------------------------------------------------------------- It’s hard to imagine a work of art that has shaped our perception of a species more than Jaws—especially [the iconic scene]( in which Quint (Robert Shaw) tells the (mostly) true story of the USS Indianapolis, which was torpedoed after delivering the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. The survivors were subsequently attacked by sharks. Director Steven Spielberg talks at length about the contributors, including Shaw himself, [who helped craft that speech](. Meanwhile, [David Dowling examines for Narrative.ly]( how Jaws author Peter Benchley spent decades trying to undo the damage that his novel, and subsequent movie franchise, did to the public image of sharks. Reuters/Will Burgess How do you feel about sharks now? [Click here to vote]( New favorite apex predatorI'll stick to dry land, thanksMaintaining allegiance to Jets The fine print Today’s email was written by [Gwynn Guilford]( and [W. Harry Fortuna]( edited by [Jessanne Collins]( and produced by [Luiz Romero](. sound off ✏ [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20sharks.%20&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 📬 [Forward this email to a friend](mailto:replace_with_friends_email@qz.com?cc=obsession%2Bforward@qz.com&subject=How%20did%20sharks%20become%20so%20reviled%20(besides%2C%20you%20know%2C%20the%20big%20teeth)%3F%20What%20would%20happen%20if%20all%20sharks%20died%3F&body=Thought%20you%27d%20enjoy.%20%0A%0ARead%20it%20here%20http%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2Femail%2Fquartz-obsession%2F1242653%2F%0ASign%20up%20for%20the%20newsletter%20at%20http%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fquartz-obsession) The correct answer to the quiz is Sharks have no bones. Enjoying the Quartz Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! 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