On Sharks

The wolf of the sea needs our help.

When we think of sharks, we immediately conjure up images of villainous, scary creatures that can tear us apart limb from limb. Every megalomaniac in the movies has kept a pool full of sharks to liquidate their enemies. But what if you realize that sharks are actually in danger of dying out, and need our help to conserve their species as well as their habitats?

I interviewed Melissa Marquez who studies sharks in their natural habitat, and she talks about how the public perspective about sharks needs to change, and what we need to conserve this beautifully terrifying wolf of the sea.

More about Melissa

Melissa Cristina Márquez is a Latina marine biologist and wildlife educator with a BA (Hons) in Marine Ecology and Conservation degree from New College of Florida, USA, and an MSc in Marine Biology from Victoria University of Wellington, NZ. Márquez is a freelance environmental writer for Forbes and founder of The Fins United Initiative (TFUI; www.finsunited.co.nz), a program that brings attention to the unusual and diverse sharks (and their relatives) of the world, the diverse scientists who study them, and the threats these animals face. She is a Scholastic author, a TEDx speaker, podcast host, and a TV presenter. Márquez is currently doing her PhD at Curtin University, studying human-wildlife conflict and shark habitat use. For more information on Melissa, please see here. 

References

1. Schiffman et. al. Inaccurate and Biased Global Media Coverage Underlies Public Misunderstanding of Shark Conservation Threats and Solutions. iScience Volume 23, Issue 6, June 2020 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2020.101205)
2. MacNeil et. al. Global status and conservation potential of reef sharks. Nature 583, 801-806 (2020) (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2519-y)

© ShebaAJ, Melissa Marquez

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