Tell Me Tuesday: do you love sharks?

Yesterday, the Marshall Islands, a group of tropical islands and islets in the North Pacific Ocean, announced the creation of the world’s largest shark sanctuary – nearly 2 million sq km!

Whale shark in the Indo-Pacific Ocean (C) Jurgen Freund/ WWF-Canon
This is exciting news for a number of reasons: first, because it will help protect important shark habitat; and second, because it shows a growing public appreciation and concern for the plight of sharks.
We’ve all seen the Hollywood movies where sharks are painted as vicious predators looking to eat people, which is woefully inaccurate.  In fact, sharks are the ones in danger now – many are on the IUCN’s Red list of Threatened Species.
Many conservationists feel that getting protection for sharks is particularly challenging because of their bad rep.  People generally find it easier to care about adorable, fluffy animals – they’re more relatable.  Fortunately, WWF sees past that and is doing some pretty amazing work with sharks in Canada (yes, we do have sharks!).  Check out this blog from our Shark Project intern Brendal Davis and this site to learn more.
Do you think sharks are getting the proverbial “short end of the stick”?  Do you think that other animals are struggling with the same reputation issues?
Last Tell Me Tuesday: our post about reducing waste got some great responses, including shared stories about reusable cutlery and dishes at a farmers market and working toward litterless lunches.  As always, thanks for sharing!