Sharks. Exhibition

The last 50 years of sharks are actively pursued by mankind - so active that dozens of species are already under threat of extinction. Who is more dangerous - a shark to a person or a person to a shark - this question is put before every visitor of the exhibition "The World of sharks. Deep dive ", which opened in November at the Museum of Artillery. This is the first exhibition in Russia, which has already "visited" the US, Singapore, Turkey, Canada, Australia and Montreal.

Sharks - one of the most ancient species of animals on the planet, which appeared more than 450 million years ago. No period of extinction affected sharks, while approximately 96% of living organisms died out at different stages of the Earth's existence. And only now, after so many years, they can easily be exterminated by the hands of man.

The exhibition shows the evolution of sharks as a graphic. For example, at one stage of evolution (which coincided with global warming) there were the most huge sharks - megalodons, which reached ten and more meters in length.

Nowadays, several species of sharks live on the Earth , and it would be wrong to think that each of them is equally dangerous. On the table with a description of each species given the likelihood that the shark will attack you. Of course, quite abstract ("The probability that the deer will kill you in the US is 200 times higher than the likelihood of a deadly attack by a shark"), but quite soothing.

The most amazing type is the fox shark, whose tail takes almost a third of the body length. The tail is needed to stun squids and fish. Models of this and many other sharks in their present size hang on the wall, helping visitors to roughly imagine what a particular species is.

An unusual exhibit is the huge jaws of the ancient 32-foot shark Otodus obliqua. By the way, from the fossils at the exhibition there are only jaws and teeth: the bones of sharks consist of cartilages that decompose after death.

In the last twenty years, attacks of sharks on people have become frequent (however there were many "ordinary" cases). This is due to the depletion of shark food reserves and habitat changes. For sharks-bulls, those who commit the most frequent attacks on humans, it is very important that there are coastal marshes where they feed. The construction of these swamps and leads to the migration of sharks to undesirable zones. At the exhibition you can follow the migratory way of sharks on the map.

Very many are afraid of sharks sharks. And this is not an accident: the reasons for selaphophobia sometimes lie in the information coming from the media. Newspapers with terrible headlines about sharks-killers and articles created just for raising ratings, books, films - all this serves as a powerful weapon for the development of fear in people. After the release of the movie "Jaws", which infused the people with horror in front of sharks, even organized killings tournaments and activities for catching sharks for entertainment.

The destruction of sharks is necessary for people not only as a way to protect themselves from their attacks, but also as an element of food. It's no joke, 100 million sharks are killed every year for selling shark fins! Shark fin soup is gaining popularity, and there are fins in the US from $ 200 to $ 550 per kilogram, and in Asia to $ 4,400. It is clear that they can earn good money, which means that sales will not decrease.

Shark fin soup is considered a tonic in Chinese medicine. However, fins, as well as meat, can contain mercury and arsenic, so this fin soup is not only not necessary, but sometimes harmful. A shockingly sad fact: sometimes fins are cut from live sharks, which are then thrown back (still alive!) Into the water. As fins look, soup packages, squalene, butter, used for the production of cosmetics and having no special advantages over other oils, say, from olives - all this can be seen at the exhibition.

Sometimes sharks are used as a trophy. Fishermen caught sharks, while some species were not taken under protection. Now you can catch only 6 species of sharks, which need to be marked and released back. The exhibition explains in detail and shows (video films and photographs) the operation of special sensors that attach to the shark and allow monitoring its movement, which, incidentally, is not always possible.

There are other interesting exhibits at the exhibition: cages for diving with sharks, "anti-acoustic" suits, aquariums and cages used for shooting films about sharks, and other exhibits.