A four-week annual Shark Festival has been launched by National Geographic Africa, with the goal of educating people about sharks, which are occasionally mistaken for dangerous predators but are actually crucial to the environment.
The shark festival was launched in Cape Town on Wednesday, at Cabo Beach Club, where a documentary was aired showing a group of shark-fanatic scientists who conducted research on the daily lives of Great White Sharks that are found along the coastlines of Mossel Bay.
The researchers in this thrilling film, which shows these genetic mammals cruising the waters of the Southern Cape, are trying to understand what else becomes part of these animals’ diets if they are not hunting and feeding on seals that are found on the coast.
By observing and using various methods of analysis, including high-tech technology, researchers Enrico Gennari and Lacey Williams, who led a team of experts, captured conclusive evidence of sharks eating other sharks, which is something found to be rare in ocean life.
Nature conservationist and shark researcher, Sophumelele Qoma, who was part of the team, said that in the last 10 years, white shark numbers in Mossel Bay have been dropping and that the documentary seeks to understand sharks a little better so that they can protect them.
She said there’s a need for people to come closer to the ocean to understand it, as its ecology is very important to the planet and to human existence as it provides oxygen.
“For us to understand that sharks eat sharks, specifically white sharks, helps us when we speak to the government in terms of the conversion to put a more stricter ban on fishing, to lessen the human impact on the shark population. These apex predators that are already decreasing are actually depending on another shark source that is also depleting, and it’s not because of nature but because of human interaction with fishing and all of that. Without sharks, everything collapses in the ocean, and that is why we need these apex to control the ecosystem as the ocean provides us with oxygen,” said Qoma.
Nkuthalo Tyutulo said he found the documentary to be an eye opener, as it taught him a lot about sharks.
“I really didn’t know that sharks play such a very important role in our environment and to learn about them through this documentary has given me something to think about and to respect the ocean and these precious predators,” said Tyutulo.
Shark Eat Shark premieres on Saturday 1 July at 18:45 on DSTV channel 182.