iSea denies shark hoaxes in Pagasitikos

Environmental group iSea has called reports of sharks allegedly attracted to dead fish in Pagasitikos “fake”.

Such news is widely disseminated in various media. However, the organization's specialists explain in their statement that most sharks do not feed on carrion, but actively hunt.

There are very few species that eat dead marine animals, usually whales, and none have been found in the area. Dead fishwhich ended up in Pagasitikos, is a freshwater species and is in no way food for sharks, and predators are almost never attracted to decomposing corpses, says ecologist and iSea program manager Roxani Naasan Aga-Spiridopulou, quotes newsbeast.gr:

“We have records of sharks in Pagasitikos and in all the Greek seas, where 35 species have been confirmed. We are not in the same place where they live, because they prefer deep water and away from land, we are not part of their… menu and their food habits, and as strange as it is for us to see a shark in the sea, for them it is even more important.”

In Greece, the ecologist recalls, there have been 11 shark attacks registered since 1800, none of which were fatal, and the last one occurred in 1950. As for the appearance of sharks with sharp teeth and strong fins, common in cinema, Ms. Spiridopoulou says that such species are few, and mostly the rarest and most endangered, such as the galeo:

“Unfortunately, perpetuating stereotypes does not help the public understand that sharks are also part of the ecosystem and are at the top of the food chain as predators.”

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