Shark Conservation

Mattel/Matchbox have just released a new toy to the market, the Mega Rig Shark Ship.The product in question comprises of a grossly oversized shark, a diver with diving cage, the parts to assemble a variety of ships and a large harpoon to kill the shark with. It promotes the idea that sharks are man eating menaces, that it is OK to hunt and kill sharks. It teaches children that destroying life is fun. But it's only a toy? Look at the juveniles across the whole of nature. Many play games, these games provide them with valuable lessons for use in their later life. This is what play time is for, exercising the mind and body, and preparing the child for the trials of survival in adulthood. It's therefore important to ensure that the lessons they learn are correct.

The Mega Rig Shark Ship teaches a child lessons that have no basis in fact. Sharks do not grow to 50 foot in size. They don't eat divers, they don't pose a threat to humans. They are not fearsome creatures and their numbers need to be protected, not subjected to needless hunting. I don't for a minute think that a child playing with this toy will rush out and buy a harpoon as soon as they can and go out in search of sharks to slay, however I do believe that they will grow up with the same misconceptions about sharks that the general public has today. It is these misconceptions that place shark conservation so far down our list of priorities, when it should really be up there with whales, tigers and pandas. However, there is another far more important reason that I would like this petition and Cause to get as much backing and publicity as possible. I believe it is a potential way of increasing the awareness of shark conservation issues world wide. It's hard to grab people’s attention when you talk about shark conservation. The general public doesn't really care that much, they hear the subject and immediately pop it into the pigeon hole marked "Sharks are menacing man eaters" and turn off the thought process. You may get a few new subscribers along the way, but generally we end up preaching to the converted. The main stream media doesn't give it any lip service because it won’t sell papers and won’t gain viewers. The Mega Rig Shark Ship is more likely to cause debate ("but it's only a toy!"), debates generate discussion and inevitably arguments, and the media loves a good fight. The more this toy is discussed the more people hear about the current misconception about sharks and the plight of sharks in general. Basically the overall cause of Shark Conservation gets advertised and marketed on the back of the furore around this toy. Whilst some people may not agree with how wrong the Mega Rig Shark Ship is, they may start to understand more about Shark Conservation in general, the issue may become more real and important to them.

They may also start to frown when they see shark fin soup on the menu, or see a dead shark displayed in a shop window. How much of a boost would shark conservation get if this argument got big enough to reach the national newspapers or the evening news? Perhaps that target is too high to achieve. But it's certainly worth trying, especially when all it takes from you is a signature on a petition.http://www.gopetition.com/online/15258Thank you for your listening, if you have any comments to make, or would like to get more involved with this drive, please let me know via the Facebook Cause.http://apps.facebook.com/causes/view_cause/36709Kind regards,
Stuart Keasley