Henri du Plessis
Independent OnLine, South Africa
March 14 2008

It may seem a rather small victory, requiring huge effort, to return one captive shark to the ocean successfully while its kin are being hunted to extinction in that same ocean.

The feared and often hated creature, often the villain in film, does not easily generate warm and fuzzy feelings of sympathy and understanding among humans who are far more likely to embrace "cute", but equally dangerous, polar bears.

But, as powerful a hunter and killer as the shark may seem to be, it is extremely vulnerable to one other predator people.

And a great part of this vulnerability has to do with the lack of knowledge people have of the role the shark plays in the environment.

Now, the battle of the survival of the shark is being fought on two fronts through gaining greater knowledge of their ways and through communication.

Mike Meyer of the department of environmental affairs and tourism's marine and coastal management division and Dr Malcolm Smale of Bayworld in Port Elizabeth are heavily engaged in the former. Leslie Rochat, founder of the AfriOceans Conservation Alliance, is focused on the latter.

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