When I was growing up in the 1980s, it was nearly impossible to think about sharks without thinking of the movie JAWS.  Although the original film was actually released in 1975 -the first 80s sequel wasn’t until JAWS 3D (1983)- it was such a groundbreaking cinematic accomplishment and it permeated our culture to such a degree that it was difficult to see imagery of a shark swimming without instantly hearing that infamous John Williams tune doom-thumping through your skull.  JAWS helped launch Spielberg‘s career and has even been credited as the father of the summer blockbuster.  The film transcended the horror movie genre in such a way that the idea of a killer monster shark not only felt like a plausible storyline, but it also felt as it was a real life inevitability.  Those of us who were not marine biologists -especially, those of us that were incredibly young- accepted the idea of JAWS as the quintessential interpretation for the cartilaginous fish and often internalized it as a reality.  What it taught us was that, completely unprovoked, a shark will eat your ass whole.  Even more, they just might jump up onto your boat or simply bite the goddamn thing in half.  In 1987, the Discovery Channel began airing their annual shark week series to help us regular folk gain a wider respect and understanding for these majestic animals of the deep, which had been striking unwarranted fear into the hearts of so many for so long.  It’s fair to say that, over these last 2.5 decades, leaps and bounds have been made in the way of remedying the PR disaster which began for shark kind in the mid-70s, but logic and fear can not always co-exist on the same plane and it can still be difficult to shake off the impact made with those original negative impressions (not unlike with the HYUNDAI EXCEL).  In reality, humans are a great deal more of a threat to sharks than they have ever been to us and many species of the animal have become increasingly endangered.  According  to NOAA Fisheries, “over 100 million sharks are killed each year” by humans, both accidentally, as well as intentionally.  Fortunately, organizations like PangeaSeed have been erected to help reverse this trend and, in association with San Francisco‘s SPOKE ART, they are presenting a new group art exhibit with the hopes of raising some money to help aid in that endeavor even further. Read the rest of this entry →