Swiss shark expert defends reputation of Great Whites

Don't judge a shark by its bite Keystone Archive

The movie, Jaws, has done more than any other to give sharks a bad name. Swiss shark behaviourist, Erich Ritter, is determined to improve the image of these marine animals.

Ritter, who was born in Zurich and now lives in Miami, regularly swims with sharks to prove they are not the evil creatures portrayed by Hollywood.

“Sharks are completely misunderstood,” he said. “Humans are definitely not part of their diet. That’s just a myth.

“People are afraid of things they don’t know. Sharks don’t exactly look cuddly and once in a while, we have a shark accident so it’s hardly surprising that there is mass hysteria. Nevertheless sharks are pretty much harmless if you know how to deal with them and read their body language.”

Of the 460 shark species which exist, only about 30 reach a size that could harm humans. The best well known is probably the Great White. Ritter has swum with them to prove his theory that sharks are harmless.

“I was wearing a black suit to look like a seal, I was swimming in a blood trail, I didn’t have a weapon and I wasn’t in a cage.

“The point is Jaws doesn’t exist. It’s a creation of our mind – a creation of Hollywood – and once we get rid of this nonsense, it’s perfectly fine to swim with the Great White as long as you read the animal correctly.”

Ritter, 42, has had a lifelong fascination with sharks. He runs shark workshops in Miami and has helped set up a Shark Foundation in Zurich to educate people about these marine creatures.

As an internationally recognised investigator for shark attacks or what he prefers to call accidents, Ritter says we should get them in perspective.

“Nowadays, there are millions of people swimming in the sea each year,” said Ritter. “Once in a while a shark gets disturbed or cornered and it’s a defence mechanism. There’s no such thing as a shark which swims around, waiting for people to kill.”

On average, about 10 of the 50 shark incidents worldwide each year result in fatalities.

“If one person in a town commits a murder, you wouldn’t accuse the whole town of being murderers,” said Ritter. “It’s the same with sharks. You have to find out what this particular animal was up to and what went wrong.”

Sharks have an evolutionary history of more than 400 million years but the days of some species are numbered due to over-fishing.

Ritter reckons that of the 460 species, up to 100 are in trouble. As for the Great White, it probably has more reason to fear us than the other way round.

“I don’t believe the Great White will survive another 20 years,” said Ritter. “I already consider it biologically extinct.”

by Vincent Landon