Senior Reporter
shane.superville@guardian.co.tt
Getting struck by lightning or being knocked down poses more of a risk than being attacked by a shark. That’s the view of marine biologist Zaheer Hosein.
In an interview at the UWI, St Augustine, Zoological Museum, last Thursday, Hosein said there is no evidence to suggest that shark attacks are increasing in frequency. He said in T&T’s history there has been only one confirmed attack.
Referring to an incident where a fisherman was bitten by a blacktip reef shark in Trinidad in February, Hosein said this was the only reported incident of a shark attack in T&T’s waters before the incident at Turtle Beach in which British tourist Peter Smith, 64, was seriously injured.
“Sharks are by nature very curious animals, coupled with the fact that they are apex predators, they are not afraid of anything in the water. So what we may have seen in Tobago with this bull shark attack is the animal simply being curious. But we’ve never seen bull sharks coming this close to our shores,” he said
One unverified incident believed to involve a shark was the death of 24-year-old Shaka Galera whose body was found in the Plum Mitan River in 2012.
On June 21, 2012, Galera, went on a fishing trip with a friend from Radix Village when he jumped out of the boat to swim. Three days later, his headless body, which appeared to have bite marks, was found.
Sharks have been known to enter large freshwater streams and even spawn at the mouths of rivers due to their physiology.
Despite the seemingly random nature of the attack, a crusade against the animals was initiated, beginning with a $10,000 bounty from the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) for the shark’s capture, which was later retracted.
However, between Wednesday and Thursday, fishermen killed at least 12 sharks.
Hosein warned that such an excessive response against a vital part of T&T’s marine ecosystem can endanger this country’s fisheries.
He said bull sharks can grow up to 500 pounds and reach up to ten feet in length making them fearsome predators but their ecological contributions are too valuable to overlook.
As apex predators, sharks assist in regulating the populations of several species including commercial species of fish. A widespread elimination of sharks can allow fish populations to increase dramatically and while this might be seen as a benefit, it leads to older, sicker organisms being allowed to survive.
“They (sharks) help ensure not only the numbers of fish but also the genetic quality of the prey species,” he said.
“In terms of fisheries, you’re going to have an immediate boom of fish being caught because you no longer have top predators, however as time goes on you will see falls in prey populations. Those fishes our fishermen catch will be under threat if this culling continues.”
While leatherback turtles are one of the main prey items for sharks, Hosein says said are in no immediate threat.
He notes that sharks also regulate the genetic stock of the turtles, assisting in the overall population of the species.
“The only organisms that can take leatherback turtles are the large sharks like bull sharks and white sharks.
“An adult turtle should be able to escape from a bull shark, but the sharks tend to take the weak, sick, genetically poor, older individuals from the population.”
Sharks are also known to eat manatees.
Sharks at risk
A 2023 study conducted by the Environmental Research Institute in Charlotteville (ERIC), Tobago, reported that shark populations in the Caribbean are declining.
Sharks belong to a species of fish called elasmobranchs which also include stingrays and sawfish. The species typically has cartilaginous bones rather than the long, pointy bones of other species.
The researchers used Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS) and found that the rich diversity of shark species was high in northeast Tobago compared to other parts of the Caribbean.
The study found the diversity of sharks was “unexpectedly high” with several rare species like sharpnose, smoothhound, tiger, hammerhead and great hammerhead sharks recorded in their findings.
Hosein says male sharks usually reach sexual maturity at around 15 years, with female sharks maturing at an older age.
He says this further highlights the risk overfishing of sharks poses as reproductive rates may not be as high for other fish species.
Referring to a small Marine Protected Area (MPA) spanning about seven square kilometres in southwest Tobago, researchers in the 2023 study said this area might be too small for effective shark conservation.
