Saturday, July 17, 2021

That Wasn't a Mugging, It was an "Interaction"

NYPo, Shark advocates call for rebranding violent attacks as ‘interactions’

Marine experts and advocates in Australia are urging the public to refrain from using the word “attack” in reference to sharks, declaring that the majestic predatory fish has been unfairly stigmatized as a deliberate killer.

Instead, officials have suggested that violent run-ins with sharks be dubbed with more neutral words — such as “interactions.”

Others have suggested swapping the word with the terms “negative encounter,” “incident” or simply “bites,” the Sydney Morning Herald recently reported.

Oh, Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood.   

” ‘Shark attack’ is a lie,” said University of Sydney language researcher Christopher Pepin-Neff, who argued that a majority of what people call “attacks” are merely nips and minor injuries from smaller sharks.

He also told the Aussie outlet that such phenomena were once called “shark accidents,” prior to the 1930s when prominent Sydney surgeon Victor Coppleson began calling them “attacks.” 


The change marked a shift in mood as shark nets were also being implemented on Australian beaches at that time.

Government agencies have also begun to adopt new language, including the Department of Primary Industries in New South Wales (NSW DPI), which has worked with a shark-survivors support group, Bite Club, to identify more sensitive vocabulary to describe an audience with a shark.

Which reminds me of a song my Dad used to sing:


The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Bunny Girl Senpai ready for your digital delight.

2 comments:

  1. So now they're taking a page from early passenger airline travel and putting young women in the danger zone to encourage men to fly -- er swim with the sharks? If she isn't afraid to fly -- er swim with hungry primitive animals who don't acknowledge our prime place in the food chain, then I shouldn't either.

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    1. And let's talk about Timothy Treadwell, known forever as "Grizzly Man, and lastly, as Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner for the Alaskan Grizzlies. He used to sit with the Grizzlies as they basked in the sun in the warm meadows of Alaska, and would regularly say that Grizzlies are completely harmless unless provoked.
      His last realization regarding Bears was that provocation is determined solely by the animal, and there is rarely if ever, provision for an appeal of their decision.

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