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American Morning

Spate of Shark Attacks Bringing Sharks a Lot Attention

Aired August 24, 2001 - 10:54   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: Some people are calling this summer the summer of the shark. They have never been man's best friend, but this summer, sharks are seeing their reputation slip to new lows, after scenes likes this off the Gulf Coast of Florida and other attacks off the Atlantic coast. A lot of beachgoers are thinking twice now before taking a dip.

Are sharks, though, really that much of a threat, or are they just getting a bad rap this summer?

CNN's John Zarrella has some answers. He's getting up close and personal this morning with the sharks at the Miami seaquarium.

John, we saw you dangling the hors'devores earlier before we went to commercial, and now you are very close to them.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're, pretty close here, Stephen. You said, are they getting a bad wrap? Actually the international shark attack file, which keeps the monitor on the number of attacks says that the numbers are way down this year, actually 42 up to this point this year, as opposed to more than 70 at this point last year. But those attacks have of course caused a great deal of interest here in the seaquarium.

This is the seaquarium, and since this seaquarium opened up in 1955, this has been one of the premier exhibits here. Chris is getting a lot of attention from a giant sea turtle right now.

But, Chris, has there been more renewed interest in sharks in recent weeks?

CHRIS PLANTE, MIAMI AQUARIUM: It sure has. The sharks, the feedings always attracted a lot of interest here. And we do get a lot of questions about, are sharks dangerous? And within the past month, really seen a lot more questions about sharks in general. And you know what their role in nature is and...

ZARRELLA: And we've got some video that we shot when the feeding actually took place about an hour or so. And these are nurse sharks. There are about 21 of them in this tank. But you can see how powerful, and even though these are considered docile sharks, how aggressive they can be.

PLANTE: Yes, they can be aggressive during the feeding time, and also they can be aggressive when they are harassed, which is a lot of times the case out in the wild. A lot of people will try to see them, and a lot of times they'll pull their tail and sometimes you can ride them, and they'll end up getting injured, and that's a lot of the reasons that the sharks do become aggressive. It's not their fault; it's the fault of us.

ZARRELLA: In many cases, you'll see a diver out there their with the sharks, and in many cases, it's not the shark that is the one that's causing the problem.

PLANTE: No, no, a lot of times it's not. If you just leave the animal alone and respect what it is, they'll respect you as well.

ZARRELLA: Chris, thanks so much for taking time in the water here with the sharks.

Now, there is some public discussion in the state of Florida over a ban on feeding of sharks. A state representative have introduced that bill. It's being drafted right now. So there's lots of activities here in Florida, where there's been 24 bite or attacks since the 1st of the year, and it has not hurt tourism. Tourism officials are telling us, no impact right now on tourism now or expected in the fall.

So again, here at the Miami seaquarium, being here all day, we'll bring you lots of different views here in the reef and here at shark channel.

This is John Zarrella, reporting live from the Miami seaquarium.

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