Sharks have long been demonised in the media, particularly in movies. Horror movies, such as "Jaws", portray sharks as bloodthirsty, man-eating monsters and bring in big bucks.
However, this is not the truth about sharks; it is actually very rare for sharks to attack people. They don't generally like the taste of human, and humans are hard for sharks to digest. There are over 400 species of shark, and not all of them are the classic image of the big, sharp-toothed shark. You are also more likely to be struck by lightning than attacked by a shark. Also, more people are killed by falling vending machines each year than by sharks.
Most shark "attacks" are actually just mistakes - sharks have poor eyesight and, from their point of view, a surfer looks very much like the Great White's favourite prey; seals.
On the other hand, millions of sharks are killed by humans each year. Often, these sharks are caught and have their fins chopped off and are then cruelly thrown back into the sea alive and bleeding! Sharks are also killed as bycatch and for their meat.
Because of humans, 25% of the sharks that live in coastal continental shelves, including all reef sharks, are threatened with extinction. Around 30.3% of all shark species are at risk of becoming extinct.
One of the latest movies to demonise sharks was 2018's "The Meg", which depicts a megalodon (a huge species of shark, believed to be extinct) as a man-eating monster.
The plot for the upcoming sequel is "To be determined", meaning that there is still time to convince the makers to write the plot in a way that doesn't demonise all sharks! As this movie has not been released yet, there is also still time to convince them to also donate some of the proceeds to help shark conservation and rescue and help save the lives of sharks and also help save the species of sharks that are at risk of extinction!
Please, don't demonise sharks for a movie! Don't hurt shark conservation by portraying sharks as monsters! Instead, write the plot in a way that doesn't portray all sharks negatively and donate some of the proceeds from this movie to help sharks! Sharks are friends, not monsters!
