I OFTEN end up chatting about sharks with other water lovers. Top of the list are the recent encounters had by each other, friends and even friends of friends, and somehow we seem to think that there are more sharks now than 30 years ago. Now, this is a view that goes against most, if not all, current scientific analysis.
For example, the renowned scientific journal, Nature, published a research paper (Jan, 2021), that said shark (and ray) numbers have decreased by approx. 70 per cent over the last 50 years, with overfishing being the main driver behind the decline, and that some species were in critical danger of
