The predator

I have afew personal encounters with shark from my tour to the underwater world.

A great movie fan myself, I watched the original Jaws from Steven Spielberg during childhood over and over again from the tv box (the following editions are just copycats). Same as most people, I thought that sharks are evil , ferocious , big bad fish that deserves nothing but to end into a bowl of soup…

My first encounter was during my open water dive, the water that day was clear and calm ,the bright  penetrating sunlight helps alot with the visibility. My second encounter was blogged here

I was busy checking out a group of fish until my divemaster diverted my attention to an object quite far away from my depth. It took me afew seconds to notice that it was a large mama leopard shark. I saw some baby sharks on previous dives , and luckily i didnt tease on pinch them. If not , mama shark would have kept grudges.

We descent to 30m to approach the sleepy leopard on a rock. Knowing us approaching, she just yawned and swam away to avoid annoying divers.

From then onwards, my whole perception to shark took a turn to the better, more conscious side. From some reading, I got to know that not all sharks has a taste for human flesh. Most attacks are accidents. I dont think we are as yummy as we thought we were.

That made me think, do we kill sharks for revenge, or we kill them for the taste – the precious shark fins. I think bee hoon has more taste than shark fin itself

Chinese weddings and shark fins are akin to Christmas and turkey in Western culture, the former showing a symbol of wealth rather than a preference of taste. Absence of it usually raise many eyebrows and doubts whether the host are financially fit to get married after all.

Food lovers on the other hand claims that shark fin’s soup are nutritious and has the ability to replenish one’s strength , supplement vital energy , nourish blood, invigorate kidney and lung and improve digestion .

I beg to differ , because as demand gets stronger by day with limited supply…..

What would fisherman and supplier do ?

Bomb fishing? Poisoning? Fakery?

Be afraid, because what goes around comes back around. I am not talking about karma, but about the  chemical used to catch ,kill sharks or to fake it out.

Mercury ring any bell?

For those who are living on Mars and have no idea what is going on planet Earth, read the following article

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Article taken from MUW

Auspicious.

Red is auspicious. Red signifies prosperity, affluence, fortune and good omen. Even on special occasions, red is worn. Red is a symbol of good luck.

Red is not only just that.

It is the colour of the blood that runs from the shark when it is mutilated for its fins just so that you can have your prosperity drive to impress your business clients or your in-laws. It is the colour of the blood, days after the body of the shark is thrown back into the sea to be left to die a slow and painful death. The luck of this shark is certainly not good considering how much red it has bled.

Affluence can buy sharks’ fins and fortune can dictate your how much longer you can be affluent but calling for the mass mutilation and cruel killing of these sharks may never bring you that good omen that you need to remain affluent and influential. The more you eat sharks’ fins, the more red people perceive of you.

Is red auspicious then?

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I have no idea about the statistics, but at this rate, soon all Chinese would face charges in International court for mass murdering 300 species of sharks, indirectly, directly, obliquely, transversely causing its Extinctionnnn…