Absolutely EVERYTHING about their story is utter BS.
They made a claim that the right and honorable thing to do was complete the kill in a more "timely fashion" than simply allowing the shark to swim away and die peacefully. Every
responsible hunter on the planet knows that is exactly what you don't do! You take a kill shot, then you sit down for as long as it takes to allow the animal to die in peace, rather than forcing it to suffering from fright! The difference is if you accidentally take out a deer with your vehicle, then you need to dispatch it with either a bullet to the head or slit it's throat as quickly as possible, because it's already suffering from fright.
Animals do not understand pain or death. Granted they may know something is up, but they do not have the capacity to realize what is in store for them, so the "fight or flee" response kicks in and unless driven by a testosterone fueled hormonal rage during breeding season and fighting another male, or a female defending her young, they will flee. Fish do not defend their young, meaning that this female (
obvious lack of claspers) was nothing more than curious.
Growing up working on farms, as well as raising domesticated animals as well as keeping various exotics over the years, I can tell you that I have had to put down numerous animals for various reasons, and still am faced with it, and every time I find myself wiping away tears from having to do it, no matter how necessary it may be. I
always choose the swiftest and best method depending upon which type of animal I'm having to put down, and it varies widely from a bullet to the head to induced hypoxia or hypothermia.
I mentioned in another thread that I have a "pet" shark. Well, we had 2 of them (
a mated pair) but our female died suddenly last December and it broke our hearts... Our male's personality completely changed after that, and he has become much more skiddish and less prone to wanting to interact with us. The female was known to "porpoise walk" and show off during feedings so that I would hand feed her, and the male was beginning to get there until she died.
I own and operate a small aquaculture facility and and run our regional reef club. My whole thing about reefkeeping is to educate people about the senseless raping of the oceans with that ever present "
Oh well, if it dies I'll just replace it" Petco type mentality. We have a moral and ethical obligation to learn as much as possible about caring for the species that we choose to keep and interact with, and I refuse to tolerate anyone that isn't willing to make that commitment yet still wants to keep a reef tank.
The one land based animal that I would most closely compare to Sharks would be a Coyote... I make that comparison, because I've kept one of those too. They have a bizarre natural ability to sense things and quickly differentiate between threats and gentle interaction. They are incredibly inquisitive, yet remain guarded though typically will always resort to fleeing rather than fighting (
he who chooses to run away, lives to fight another day). They are both actually very playful animals, and you can see there wheels spinning as problem solvers. My Coyote wasn't into being petted and generally had a problem with someone putting their hands out to him, but if you got down on your hands and feet and roughhoused with him as a sibling would have done, then he was in 7th heaven and would play with you all day -- until you touched his paws!
Anyway, I guess this is all why I am so pissed off about this, because I have daily interaction with a "killer of the sea" and know them to be anything but!
-Tim