The persistent worry of sharks, fueled by media portrayal and films like Jaws, has led to a ban on school sea activities in South Australia. Dr. Brianna Le Busque and Damien Marangon review this choice, highlighting the exaggerated worry and its influence on water safety education and ocean perceptions. Despite the decline in shark populations, sensationalized shark-human interactions continue to influence public opinion and policy.
The iconic tagline from Spielbergs Jaws series has actually etched sharks into popular culture as callous predators. But beyond the scary produced by the series, a persistent fear of sharks stays, with effects that extend into reality.
In South Australia, following encounters between human beings and sharks, this worry has actually led the Education Department to forbid sea-related activities in schools for the rest of the term. And while safety is at the core of such choices, we should be cautious of scaremongering, says UniSA shark professional Dr Brianna Le Busque.
Media Sensationalism and the Jaws Effect
” When we become aware of shark “attacks”, it absolutely puts people on edge, especially when interactions and sightings are sensationalized by the media,” Dr. Le Busque says.
” As the majority of people do not have individual interactions with sharks, the majority of what we understand about sharks originates from what we see on TV or in motion pictures. Films such as Jaws, The Meg, or The Shallows portray sharks as intentionally searching and attacking people, which not just creates extreme worry however enhances any negative views individuals might currently hold.
” This is called the The Jaws Effect — a recognized phenomenon where individuals are excessively and crazily scared of sharks– today, almost 50 years after the first Jaws motion picture, it still influences peoples understandings of sharks, impacts preservation efforts, and impacts policy choices.
” Thats what weve seen with the present bans on sea-based water activities. And the issue is that it could have negative effect on kidss concepts of water and beach safety.”
Sharks in Films: A Distorted Reality
In a new UniSA world-first research study, Dr Le Busque reveals how over-represented sharks are in the world of creature features– a subgenre of science scary, fiction, or action films where the creatures are the bad guys in the plot.
” Sharks are commonplace in animal function films– they overrepresented, being the most typical animal in this movie classification. Even more, of all movies that depict sharks (in different genres) 96% overtly depicted shark-human interactions as threatening.”
Decrease in Shark Populations and the Need for Balance
In the previous 50 years, oceanic sharks have decreased by more than 70%, with one in three species now threatened by extinction.
Dr Le Busque states while she believes the restrictions on school activities are currently unwarranted, she invites the early implementation of aerial shark patrols.
” Earlier shark monitoring is an excellent move to secure beachgoers, however we require a balance between individualss safety and access to the ocean,” Dr Le Busque says.
” No one wants a shark attack to happen, but these bans are simply creating the exact same worry as generated on the unfortunate Amity Island in Jaws. Its simply not the proper way to go.”
CEO Surf Life Saving SA, Damien Marangon, states the restriction on beach-based water programs, without consultation or understanding of realities and wider impact, was disappointing.
” Whilst the shark attack is extremely unfortunate, its also essential to remember that unfortunately, far more individuals sadly drown every year in South Australian waters, than there are shark attacks,” Marangon says.
” Over the past 20 years, weve averaged simply over one circumstances annually. In spite of the occurrences over the last month or so, our information reveals that we have actually not seen a boost in shark numbers.
” We were worried about the effect this would have on the 3,899 students, from 47 schools who were enrolled in that program for the remainder of this term, who would not have had the opportunity to discover vital water safety abilities, jeopardizing their future security in and around the water.
” Decisions like this, made in isolation, also, unfortunately, promote a fear of the ocean, which might have comprehensive and long-lasting influence on our communities, local traders, family companies, and the travel industry, by needlessly intensifying fear of our ocean, and will affect visitors to our beaches and our State.
” Were actively dealing with the Water Safety Unit within the Department for Education on strategies to continue to ensure that all individuals can finish these aquatic education programs at the beach safely, and continue to make educated choices based upon data, research, and stakeholder engagement.”
Recommendation: “Sharks, spiders, snakes, oh my: An evaluation of animal function movies” by Brianna Le Busque and Carla Litchfield, 31 August 2023, Journal of Environmental Media.DOI: 10.1386/ jem_00096_1.