Halloween is drawing close, in the spirit of things that scare us, we look at our globally declining shark populations. I can think of nothing scarier than an ocean without sharks. The project AWARE Shark Conservation Distinctive Speciality Course gives divers the opportunity to learn more about these incredible creatures. The theory section of the course includes looking at the epic diversity of sharks, their life history, their function within an ecosystem and the challenges that they face today.

Sharks are hugely diverse; there are around 500 species, they can be found in almost every marine habitat, are inexplicably important to their respective ecosystems, and are fundamentally misunderstood. The media presents sharks as cold killers, there are several negative words and phrases regularly associated with sharks, such as 'man-eater', 'shark-infested', and 'mindless killer'. Movies, including 'Jaws' did sharks a great dis-service in perpetuating the public's negative opinion of these incredible creatures. Today, sharks are killed in their millions annually through target fisheries, by-catch, habitat degradation, poisoning, and entanglement; to name a few. The general consensus is that sharks will rip you apart without a second thought, the reality is humans are slaughtering sharks in their thousands and more people are killed by falling drinks machines and 'selfies' than shark 'attacks'.

As scuba divers, we are ambassadors for the ocean realm; by becoming Shark Conservation Divers we further arm ourselves with knowledge that we can use to change people's perceptions of sharks.

Last weekend two candidates took to the ocean and entered the classroom to better understand these iconic animals. As humans, we empathise with creatures that share our mammalian characteristics, we are expanding this concern for fellow creatures to involve the less cuddly, but equally important animals that inch ever closer to extinction. After a very engaging classroom session we took to the water to try to see some shark species face to fin in our local waters. We are very blessed on the island of Koh tao, our local shark species include the iconic Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus), and the black-tip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus). In recent years divers have noticed a decline in the number and variety of shark species seen during dives. Many species that used to be regularly sighted on dive sites have disappeared altogether. On Sunday the 25th of October we attempted to find some black-tipped reef sharks, we completed two dives, the first at Shark Island and the second at Shark Bay. Despite the appropriately named dive sites we unfortunately didn't mange to see any sharks. The absence of sharks further draws attention to their plight, we instead used our dives as an opportunity to improve the marine environment and collected debris from both dive sites.

Changing people's perceptions of sharks, raising awareness of their ecological and economical importance is the first step towards saving sharks and something that everyone can contribute to. The idea of an ocean without sharks is a petrifying concept, let's make sure we put an end to extinction and work together to change peoples perceptions of these incredible iconic creatures.  

Photo credit: Dave Daegele