By Michele Deluca Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Mon Aug 22, 2011, 11:40 AM EDT
NIAGARA FALLS — A pretty girl is swimming in the ocean, totally unaware of the creature approaching her. Then, the audience hears the unforgettable music that warns a killer shark is about to attack.
Because of that scene in the movie “Jaws” and so many others like it, a lot of people don’t feel safe in the ocean anymore.
Danielle Barbiero of Lewiston blames the “Jaws” trilogy for ruining the reputation of sharks.
The Aquarium of Niagara gift shop employee has just returned from a month in Fiji where she studied shark behavior. Since her return, she has been allowed to begin research on the sharks at the aquarium for her master’s thesis at the State University of New York at Brockport.
Barbiero loves sharks and hopes to do something about their decreasing numbers.
“The reason why shark conservation is so important is because every year, 100 million sharks are killed by humans, 70 million are killed from finning and 30 million are caught as bycatch,” she said.
If nobody cares about the decline of sharks, perhaps they need to understand the shark’s role in an intricately balanced ecosystem.
“They’re responsible for keeping the fish population in check,” she said, “and they keep the fish population healthy by eating the weak, sick and old fish.”
And still, people may shrug. Sharks may be just too darn scary.
Statistically, the chance of being attacked by a shark is one in 8 million, she said. “You’re more likely to get hit by lightning.”
As such, on her Fiji adventure, she was never afraid to go into the world-acclaimed soft coral reefs where sharks like to gather.
Though she had never scuba dived before, she credited Fijian of Beqa Adventure Divers for “the opportunity of a lifetime.”
The trip involved 18 dives under the guidance of a shark loving staff, led by a former Swiss banker who has given up his career to set up a shark conservation area in Fiji. Despite plentiful shark sightings, Barbiero said she felt safe in the water.
“Scuba divers get attacked much less than surfers and swimmers do,” she said.
If her life’s work goes as planned, Barbiero will do her part to learn why sharks attack. In the process she could uncover a way for people to be safer in the ocean.
Sharks don’t even like the taste of people, Barbiero noted. Usually, it’s their bad eyesight that makes them think a person is a fish or a seal. “A human who is attacked is usually in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said.
Barbiero said she believes learning why sharks attack may help prevent such attacks. She is undertaking research to show sharks can be taught in the same manner as sea lions and whales.
Her project involves teaching a shark to respond to colors, by putting in black or white tiles into the water and only feeding the shark when the black tile is submerged. Then, she plans to provide the sharks with play toys for a time and then try the experiment again. She hopes to learn whether stimulation from the toys makes sharks better at color discernment.
The aquarium, where she has worked for several years, is supporting her work as much as possible.
“Sharks are not mindless, eating, killing machines like people think,” said Dan Arcara, supervisor of exhibits, who is helping Barbiera with her research.
“With this type of research, you can show that sharks are capable of learning,” he said.
Ultimately, Barbiero is worried about the survival of the species.
“My goal is to convert people’s fear about sharks into fascination,” she said. “Someone has to dispel all the myths.”
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