gem-under-the-mountain:

aviewfrommercury:

bene-geserit:

galesofnovember:

wild-guy:

“In a performance protest against the Australian shark cull and the global slaughter of sharks, a woman risks it all to dance on the sea floor with swarms of tiger sharks up to 17 feet long without any dive or protective gear.” (x)

The woman in the video is Hannah Fraser, and yes, it’s real.  Hannah Fraser is a professional mermaid/free-diver who does shit like this all the time

YOOOOOOO.

I’m not saying I have a mad-crush on this amazing shark-mermaid-lady, but I have a mad-crush on this amazing shark-mermaid-lady.

This is great but she’s not “risking it all”. The entire fucking point is that she’s not risking it all. Those sharks are HARMLESS and dont care about humans at all. As you can see, they’re totally chill with her being there. And as a pro-diver/mermaid she’s fully trained to free dive without equipment.

The reason this is such an effective protest is because it proves that tiger sharks aren’t interested in harming humans. And that they’re actually quite gentle even. So please, for Hannah Fraser, stop putting this shark-scare bullshit on images of her when that’s literally what she’s fighting with this performance.

They’re not harmless. They can cause serious damage. They aren’t aggressive, but that doesn’t make them harmless. That isn’t a 100% safe thing to do, partly because of the lack of equipment other than a weight, partly because of the sharks. 

Do NOT touch wild sharks. If you startle one and it whips around and bites you, you will be badly injured, potentially permanently maimed or killed. 

Large sharks are not harmless. They are also not vicious. They are large, predatory wild animals who test things they’re curious about by biting them. Tiger sharks in particular will eat almost anything. If one of those sharks decided to bite her, she would be in serious trouble before anyone could get to her, even if it was just a curious nip. 

Yes, the chance of being bitten by a shark is extremely low, but the potential harm is great enough that you should avoid doing things that increase your risk of a bite. Don’t swim at night, don’t swim while bleeding, etc. Also, don’t do this.

I admire what she’s doing, and she’s right, sharks aren’t violent monsters, but this is not something that the average person should go out and do. You wouldn’t go up to a wild panther, I hope, so don’t do the same with a shark. Heck, you shouldn’t go up to any large wild animal, or most wild animals, period. You especially shouldn’t surround yourself with them and touch them.