Article September 5, 2005 Issue

SHARKS AND OUR SHARED HABITAT

BY ELAINE FOLLIS

ON THE 30TH anniversary of the release of Steven Spielberg's movie thriller Jaws, shark attacks on swimmers and fishermen are in the news. What a coincidence! Or is it?

A few nights ago, I watched a television interview with a marine biologist who had been asked to comment on a series of shark attacks off the coast of Florida. He declared that sharks don't want to eat people. While it is possible sharks might mistake a swimmer for a seal — which they certainly do want to eat — it's more likely sharks intend attacks on people as a warning. It's territorial, he said; sharks just want people to stay off their property!

How familiar a sentiment that is, and how understandable, in terms of human behavior. It seems the natural world reflects the mental climate of the people who inhabit it, because that's the lens through which they perceive their surroundings. Some have an anthropocentric (people-centered) perspective on life in general, and believe the world revolves around themselves. Not surprisingly, they see their own ideas and values echoed in the behavior of animals, in storms, in the overall way the elements of the world seem to work together. But there is another perspective, clearly expressed in Biblical tradition — the theocentric (God-centered) view of the entire universe. "The earth is the Lord's," the Psalmist declared, "and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein" (Ps. 24:1). That includes sharks.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

SPECTACULAR VIEWS AND HEALING