大溪地海岸附近的乌翅真鲨，法属波利尼西亚 Blacktip reef sharks off the coast of Tahiti, French Polynesia (© Paul Mckenzie/Minden Pictures)

大溪地海岸附近的乌翅真鲨，法属波利尼西亚 Blacktip reef sharks off the coast of Tahiti, French Polynesia (© Paul Mckenzie/Minden Pictures)

A different view of sharks

They've long been treated as threats, portrayed as villains, and brutally hunted for their edible fins, so we think it's only fair that sharks get their own day. Shark Awareness Day is meant to highlight the importance of the most fearsome fish in nature, from little lanternsharks to great whites to these blacktip reef sharks cruising the Tahitian coast.

Why celebrate an apex predator that most humans associate with horror movies? Well, first: The blacktip reef shark is timid around people and has never fatally attacked a human. And second: Without sharks acting as population control on other marine life, the ocean would be a very different place. Sharks eat a lot of squid and smaller fish, and like land predators, help keep their prey from overpopulating. Shark populations have declined more than 70% since the 1970s, so they deserve our attention as a vital, disappearing part of the marine ecosystem—even if they seem a little scary.

对鲨鱼的不同看法

它们长期以来被视为威胁，被描绘成恶棍，被残忍地猎杀以获取可食用的鱼鳍，所以我们认为鲨鱼有自己的一天是公平的。鲨鱼意识日旨在强调自然界中最可怕的鱼类的重要性，从小灯笼鲨到大白鲨，再到这些在塔希提海岸游弋的黑尖礁鲨。

为什么要庆祝一个大多数人与恐怖电影联系在一起的顶级捕食者？首先，黑尖礁鲨对人很胆小，从来没有致命地攻击过人类。第二：没有鲨鱼作为其他海洋生物的种群控制，海洋将是一个完全不同的地方。大量的鱼类，像乌贼一样，帮助它们捕食陆地上的小鱼。自上世纪70年代以来，鲨鱼的数量已经减少了70%以上，因此，作为海洋生态系统中一个重要的、正在消失的部分，鲨鱼值得我们关注，即使它们看起来有点可怕。