I don’t have any fear of cows. Bulls are a very different thing indeed.

In 2010, Canada exported $1.42 billion of beef to over 70 countries.

http://www.cmc-cvc.com/english/industry_statistic_e.asp

It was ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING!!! All I can say is thank God it bumped my bony ribs instead of my chunky thigh–or I might not be here to type about it.

But the carnivorous variety feed on fish and marine mammals like seals. Attacks on humans are de facto mistakes and since sharks have keen sensing apparatus to discern their prey, are also rare.

You’re correct that it’s an incomplete statistic, but I believe that Dr Koerth-Baker is trying to make a point using irony: “Shark Week” seems to convince people that everytime I put on a wetsuit, I’m doomed.

And you’re also correct when you say “we should save the sharks”–the problem is the economic rise of China, with its attendant personal wealth making it possible for more people to purchase shark fin. This has a knock-on effect as those who fish our seas snare sharks solely for their fins, wreaking havoc on oceanic ecosystems.

I’m an omnivore myself and enjoy sustainable seafood, but if sharks are removed from the picture, fishing stocks will plummet. As much of the world relies on fish as a primary protein source, this will exacerbate world hunger. This situation is why the entire US West Coast has banned shark fins entirely.

If you’re scared of sharks, don’t enter bodies of salt-water. And if you’re scared of cows/bulls/steers, stay out of the pasture!

Which nation has become wealthier in the last 20 years and thus has a larger population able to purchase what they desire? Yes, it’s China (I live in Hong Kong so I’ve had a firsthand view of the changes).

The apex-predator in oceanic ecosystems for 400 million years is the shark (in its myriad species). It hasn’t had to evolve because…it’s already there. And when you remove the apex-predator from an ecosystem, what happens?

Disaster. Add in overfishing and hope everyone likes the taste of jellyfish because that’s all that will be left. Not to mention the barbaric practice of finning, where the shark is hauled aboard, has its fins sliced off and is then thrown back in the water to drown. Why? No one wants anything but the fins, and as more Chinese can afford them, fisherman across the globe see the value of this cash “crop.”

In July 2011, California governer Gov. Jerry Brown signed Bill AB376: banning the sale, trade and possession of shark fins to protect the world’s dwindling shark population. California, along with Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and Guam, now have similar legislation, making shark-fin trade across the US West Coast illegal. Shark sanctuaries have been established in countries including Israel, Egypt, the Bahamas, Honduras and the Maldives. People are realizing that live sharks are more valuable than dead ones, as scuba-divers enjoy shark-dives (yes I am and yes I have–it’s not some caged-up Discovery Channel experience, it’s simply observing another marine species in its natural habitat, which is what diving is about).

A website with a lot of shark-friendly info:
http://www.sharksavers.org/en/home/

Eat fish, eat beef, eat vegan…just leave the sharks in the sea.

PS: massive bovine creatures with horns in their natural environment, no thanks!

The sharks are in it with the cows… And then it tears off a chunk…

colloquially all bovine cattle can be (and are) called “cows”.

Not kine?

I’d like to see that letter be wrote.

Now, I can’t stop singing:
I bet this song never would have been wrote
If the pretty girl hadda been milking her goat
But the goat wasn’t feeling well anyhow
So the pretty girl was milking her cow.

On a side note, the next time I eat beef I’ll feel a little better knowing I made the world a safer place for farmers.  1 cow down, many more to go.

In Canada, 650 million [cows] are killed annually [wikipedia:slaughterhouses].  yes i just cited wikipedia, but they also have a source.  i’m sure it’s similar in the US

Yes, we should save the sharks, etc. etc., and not villainize any animal for their natural behavior. But come on, present the facts with some appropriate context.

Edit: To practice what I preach and give some context to my griping, there are 97.8 million cows in the U.S. as of July 2012, according the the USDA. That number is actually shrinking due to the drought. Anyway, that’s 97.8 million(!) cows that a whole profession of people is interacting with every single day. So no, I’m not surprised there are some deaths, statistically, and I don’t think that should lead people to re-evaluate their fear of large carnivorous fish. There have to be some ways to combat stigmas that don’t rely on this illogical comparison.

It’s like the shark is swimming along and thinks “Hey, weird splashy noises. I think I’ll investigate. Kinda smells funny, not prey at all, though those are some quite interesting electrical signals coming from it. I think I’ll have a little bite to see what’s up. Whoa, it’s a big weird alien thing. I better get out of here.”