very single kid has read fairy tales-- fantastical stories to stimulate the imagination. Every single person I kow has stayed up late as a child, thumbing through the thick pages of a storybook. We've all shared the adventures of princesses and knights, fairies and unicorns, and, my personal favorite, dragons.
Dragons were the villains. They were all sharp teeth, hard scales, and fire. They were usually the ones behind kidnapping the princess, and trying to kill the brave knight. But I, like many kids who grew up with the stories, love them. They were the action in the adventure. After all who wouldn't want to read a story about a little conflict? But as I grew up, I started to feel bad for the dragon of the story. Always losing, always admitting defeat, usually dying so that the spoiled princess could live. It just wasn't fair.
Now that I'm older and am fairly certain in the fact that dragons will never exist, I have a new favorite thriller.
Much like the dragon, this beast is feared far and wide. Tales of its killer mentality have circled the globe for ages. That's right kids I'm talking about sharks.
Sharks are smart, fast, and, simply put, one of
the best predators this world has ever known. But what many people don't know is that sharks are treated unfairly. In fact, there were less than 50 reported deaths caused by unprovoked sharks in the United States since 1780, according to Oceana.org. In comparison, humans kill over 100 million sharks every year. You are also more likely to die from heat stroke, or a volleyball to the head then by a shark. I'm not saying the real villains are volleyballs, but the statistics are keen in acknowledging the real threat.
Much unlike the dragons of our favorite stories, sharks are wrongfully killed more often than not. This kind of systematic killing is not only harming the sharks, but the ocean itself. Without this predator doing its job and gobbling up the princesses and knights of the sea, there's a huge imbalance of food supply in the ocean’s ecosystem. Maybe the real villains aren't the dragons are sharks- or even the volleyballs- may be the real villain of the story is us- the humans destroying our own planet for the sake of safety.
Before you slay the world's last dragons remember, if you're killing an innocent creature doesn't that make you the beast?
E