Show me any animal, and I’ll show you someone who’s found a way to systematically torture and abuse them. For sharks, it’s the finning industry, which kills an estimated 100 million sharks a year, usually by simply hacking off the fins and tossing the animals back into the water to die. And sharks have an additional strike against them in the form of a widespread myth that they’re evil, man-eating monsters, which makes it exceptionally difficult to get anyone to pay attention to their plight. Which is why Sharkwater—a new documentary opening this Friday which debunks the negative myths about these amazing animals and exposes the cruel industry that’s threatening their existence—is such an important film.
Of course, that’s not the only reason I’m psyched about this movie. Anyone who’s watched as many shark-themed TV shows on the Discovery Channel as I have will know that these animals are, to use a technical term, totally effing rad. Here’s a little teaser for the film, and you can check Sharkwater’s site for showtimes.
