SHARK!!! . . . What is the first thing that comes to mind when people hear that word. They probably think of a huge, man-eating, great white shark chomping on some unsuspecting swimmer. Why do people react to the word shark that way. Perhaps it is because people have unintentionally been taught to fear sharks. Because of all the movies, television shows, newspapers, and tabloids, people believe sharks are attacking other people all the time and for no reason. It is no wonder that some people are scared to go in the water. There are, however, hundreds of people who purposefully enter the water every day around the world to feed and swim with sharks.
Technically, the practice is called “shark feeding.” People who are trained as scuba divers go to destinations in Florida, and around the world, and try to get sharks to swim close to them by feeding the sharks. These divers are apparently convinced that swimming with sharks is not dangerous, and that sharks are not the scary monsters the media would like for people to believe. While these shark feeding dives are becoming increasingly popular all over the world, there are some people who believe these dives are dangerous, both for

Although opponents argue that people who dive and swim after a feeding dive are in danger, experts argue that the people who dive on the same reefs when sharks aren’t being fed are not in danger. (Taylor 2). There are so many other facts that show that shark feeding can be a safe and enjoyable activity. Shark feeding can be more natural than watching orcas swim circles in metal enclosures, dolphins jump through hoops, monkeys climb on rusty bars and snakes curl in glass aquariums. Both Epcot and Disney World are allowed to feed fish, for entertainment and profit, and divers should be allowed to feed fish in open waters. Epcot has its Living Seas, which allows divers to feed, and Disney has its Discovery Cove, which allows divers and snorklers to feed fish and swim with sharks. At Texas’s Sea World Adventure Park, kids are allowed to join “adventure camps” and feed fish in “hands-on animal encounters” (Taylor 2). People never complain about this as much as they do about s!

sharks territory, or was carrying a speared fish” (Viders 33). A sharks territory is not where most shark attacks occur. Most shark territories are in deeper waters. When someone is in a shark’s territory, usually the sharks are not known to back down from the intruder.

These people also argue that sharks are much more intelligent than people think. Sharks are said to be opportunistic predators, and that requires them to be intelligent. For example, Mr. John Hewitt says,

A lot of people are worried that the shark fining, that is slowly but surely wiping out the shark population, has more of an effect on the behavior of sharks, than feeding the sharks. John Hewitt, director of Husbandry Aquarium of the Americas, says,

By changing feeding habits and the types of foods taken and time and place of feeding in a variety of fish species, sustained fish feeding at a particular site alters natural food pathways and energy flow within the community-fundamental ecosystem process- with unpredictable long-term consequences for the local marine ecosystem as a whole. (Alevizon 53)

ned a great deal about the habits of sharks and why sharks are able to survive the way they do. Their survival depends a great deal on their senses.

Many believe that society has been unintentionally taught to fear sharks. Each summer there are media and tabloid articles about sharks and shark attacks. Paul Tzmoulis, Editor and Publisher for Skin Diver magazine states, “It all goes back to the point of that sharks attacking people sells” (31). Tzmoulis also says that lions, bears and wolves have attacked people but are not considered man-eaters (31).

The feeding of a shark under controlled, repetitive conditions by a limited number of trained dive operators cannot be equated with the uncontrolled random feeding of bears and alligators by the general public. Bears and alligators will adapt to the feedings and come looking for human to feed them. If food is not present they may attack because of there nature. Sharks are smarter and will go away and look for food somewhere else if it isn’t present (Hueter).