Riley Elliott es un biólogo marino que vive en nueva Zelanda y pasa gran parte de su vida entre tiburones, al punto que llegó a construir una relación casi fraternal con muchos de ellos, a pesar de que son mortalmente peligrosos. Recientemente se encontró con uno de estos animales mordiendo el costado de su yate y rápidamente lo filmó.
El video, que se viralizó, muestra al animal mordisqueando el plástico. Cuando Riley le dice «qué hacés, amigo», se asusta y se va nadando.
Los preferidos del biólogo son los tiburones makos, que miden hasta cinco metros de largo y son bravos depredadores, pero él no parece temerles y a menudo se sumerge a nadar con ellos.
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Scary, intimidating, ferocious, jaws…… endless words to ‘justify’ the often commonplace emotion of sharks as monsters, as attackers of man, of something we should dread. I’ve always said to people that most things in nature, weird, scary, or surprising, often have a simple biological explanation, just like the boogeyman has,in order to rid the unknown for a sleeping child. Mako sharks always arrive super hot, super fast, super mouthy and bite almost anything around. Why? Well there’s no easy food in the big blue, there’s scent of food in the water from us (tuna scent to get the sharks to us), and the engines have sacrificial zinc blocks to stop it rusting. These blocks ‘dissolve’ releasing an electrical signal which seems to be attractive to many shark species. Mako especially. That’s why this shark looks like this. There is also an element of it showing it’s boss when it turns up. When you invest time, knowledge, understanding and respect, you can get to an educated situation where this intimidation is diffused enough so that man can enter the makos’ world. See third picture. Pretty unbelievable this is the same shark same day. Bonus info: the hooks that appear to be sad signs are actually good signs. They reflect that this sharks has been released not once, but twice from commercial tuna surface long lines. Why? Because demand for fins globally is reducing and countries have banned such practices. Images from @shawnheinrichs with @amberandfriendsphotography
Una publicación compartida por Riley Elliott (@thelifeofrileynz) el
En su cuenta de Instagram, donde miles de personas siguen sus aventuras con estas criaturas, escribió: “Este animal no es broma. Como es más grande que vos, espera que escapes, así que si no lo hacés tenés que tener la habilidad de comunicarle que no sos ni predador ni presa, sino un simple observador que no representa una amenaza”.
“Es difícil aprenderlo, y en el último caso está fuera de tu control, pero es increíble cuando un predador así, con esas habilidades letales, nos deja coexistir con él, aún cuando nunca nos han visto antes”, agregó.
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When you look for sharks, you realise where they are, where they aren’t, what species, what ages, and how many, are present. All of this information is incredibly important for furthering our understanding of them and what they do for the health of the marine ecosystem. The majority of data used to manage shark populations unfortunately comes from how many are caught and killed in commercial fisheries. You can help however, through the #sharkwatch citizen science campaign. If you see a shark, take a photo, load it to your social media and #sharkwatch and the team @parttimerangers will plot NZ sightings on their map at www.sharkwatch.co.nz How does this help? Firstly it pivots the historic negative perspective of sharks, and instead celebrates when we see them, being indicative of that area being a healthy marine ecosystem. Secondly, it provides hard to get insight for shark scientists, like myself, to further the data set on where, when and potentially why certain shark species are in different areas. I know the value of eyes on the water. This video of me with a new born blue shark, provided baseline evidence that birthing occurs in NZ waters, an essential piece of information to ensure better management of this highly exploited species. So when you are out on the water, in the water or just knee deep, and you see one, get a pic and #sharkwatch to help us all celebrate sharks this summer.
Una publicación compartida por Riley Elliott (@thelifeofrileynz) el
Lamentablemente, el tiburón mako está en peligro de extinción por la pesca indiscriminada.
Pilar Benegas es una reconocida periodista con amplia experiencia en importantes medios de USA, como LaOpinion, Miami News, The Washington Post, entre otros. Es editora en jefe de Es de Latino desde 2019.
