What is it about sharks that inspire such controversy? Sharks make good press. The very words, "shark attack" sends a chill up the spine and puts a gleam in the editor’s eye. Sharks are all over the news when there is a shark attack or when the Discovery Channel is re-enacting shark attacks on "Shark Week". But this spring, sharks are in the news for another reason.
Sharks swim in our psyche. There is something mysterious, enigmatic and even deeply atavistic about sharks. The unmistakable shape of a shark, the open jaws lined with serrated teeth, and the shark fin is imprinted throughout human history up to modern times.
From petroglyphs in European caves, carvings in Pacific Island volcanic rocks to shark masks in a West African dance, the image of the ocean's apex predator inspires power, fear and even virility. Cultures the world over have created myths and cults around sharks, deifying them and demonizing them. The Greek goddess Lamia was a daughter of the god Poseidon, a devourer of children and the mother of the sea-monsters Skylla and Akheilos. The Australian Aborigines have an oral history of Bangudja, the tiger-shark, which attacked the dolphin man in the Gulf of Carpenteria, leaving behind a large red spot on the rocks of Chasm Island. The Pacific Island peoples who live in close connection to sharks have elevated sharks to a God-like status. The Hawaiian amuakua symbolizes an ancestor in the form of a shark. Countless Hawaiian myths refer to the shark god Kamohoali’i serving as protector of fishermen and guider of lost canoes. The indigenous people of Solomon believe that the bodies of sharks are inhabited by the souls of the dead people.