UAE and 6 other Arab countries to sign MoU

Public session for schools to educate people on what is happening to sharks Founders of the charity Shark Guardian holds public session for schools as part of their mission to educate people on what is happening to sharks. What can be more deadly than a shark? Well, a lot of things apparently, including toasters and falling coconuts.
More than 5,000 school students in Dubai have been learning these facts along with the importance of preserving shark populations in order to protect the environment, over the past few weeks.
The educational efforts come as the UAE and six other Arab countries gear up to sign the global Memorandum of Understanding on the Convention of Migratory Sharks in Dubai on Monday, which will create larger patches of ocean in which sharks are protected. Shark stocks are dwindling, primarily as a result of the lucrative shark fin trade, a Chinese delicacy used in soup.
Founders of the UK-registered charity Shark Guardian, husband-and-wife team Liz Ward-Sing and Brendon Sing, visited 13 schools and held a public session as part of their mission to educate people on what is happening to sharks in our oceans through inhumane practices like shark finning, and the "knock-on effect” this is having to our own survival.
"The ocean is the world's largest ecosystem ... without the oceans, everything on earth would cease to exist,” said Ward-Sing noting it produced more than half of the world's oxygen.
If sharks were to die out, there would be an explosion of seal populations which would damage coral forests, and of harmful jellyfish, while fish stocks would go through the roof, in turn increasing damaging algae.
"There's a link between the ecosystem and sharks, as the apex predator of the ocean. Sharks control species, and if you were to change the apex predator, what you'll find is a domino effect ... it's all about the balance,” Sing said.
He said the Australian government's plan to cull sharks three metres and above in Western Australia was a massive over-reaction, given there had only been seven deaths in three years in the country. Even surfers who had survived attacks had defended the "misunderstood” creatures, Sing said.
"They say ‘That's their home, we chose to go there.”
Rather than being scared by sharks, people should enjoy the encounter if they ever got the chance.
But if you do happen to find yourself feeling threatened, there is one sure fire way to ensure your safety: "Swim towards it,” is Sing's advice.
"Everything that swims away from a shark is prey ... sharks are 10 times easier to scare away. To get them close and interact is so hard.”
The cause of shark attacks on humans was generally a "mistake” by the shark, taking a human for a seal or turtle.
The Shark Guardian duo gave a presentation to a very attentive group of several hundred pupils at Jumeirah Primary School recently.
Teacher Matt Weir said the children were very engaged through the talk, having their interest piqued by a trip to the Dubai Aquarium several weeks ago.
"They have just seen their appearance in the aquarium looking quite menacing, I think they were just looking forward to finding out more information about them.”
Despite the common emotional reaction to the sharks, Weir said the kids were not nervous about the idea of them, and were eager to learn.
One of Weir's pupils, 11-year-old Ned Farrell, was as cool as a cucumber.
The Australian Year 6 student, who surfs and scuba dives, said he had a new-found respect for the kings of the ocean, including the 28 species found around the UAE coast.
"It was interesting, some of the facts I had mostly no clue about and it's interesting to know that sharks cover that much of the world and that they do so much for the eco system. It's sad people are killing them and destroying them.”
Growing up just outside of Melbourne, Farrell said he used to be scared at the thought of sharks, "but I figured out they weren't actually that bad.”
He said finding the statistics on shark deaths made him more confident they did not want to harm humans — and he would like to go scuba diving with sharks in the future.
"Everybody thinks they're horrible animals and they're going to kill people, but really they're beautiful animals and they're only doing good for the world. Sometimes they make mistakes, but everybody does.”
Source: Khaleej Times