OPINION: Sharks the ones in need of protection

IT SEEMS I’ve only got a few days left to go see Vic Hislop’s Shark Show, something I’ve been intending to do for a long time now.

Picture: ScreenWest

IT SEEMS I've only got a few days left to go see Vic Hislop's Shark Show, something I've been intending to do for a long time now.

It's a shame to hear the iconic museum is closing, even though to many it is merely a relic of more unenlightened days when people possessed little information about sharks and feared them, often unnecessarily.

Great white sharks especially have a bad reputation as monsters of the deep, but it is because of humans that this magnificent creature has become a protected specie in recent years.

A huge great white was available for viewing at the shark show - it is now for sale for $30,000 - and although I'll admit it saddens me to think of the animal being caught and killed for public show, a morbid sense of fascination also made me want to see it up close.

An avid watcher of Shark Week, I'm fascinated by everything to do with sharks.

I understand completely that every time I dip my toes into the ocean, I'm entering their domain.

If by some misfortune I ended up meeting my end by way of a shark - although it's important to remember that a health condition or a car crash is much, much more likely - I would never want any shark to be harmed.

I hope there are many others who share this view.