Interview with Luke Tipple of the Shark Free Marinas Organization
I conducted an interview with marine biologist, Luke Tipple on October 4, 2012. I spoke to Luke on air during the Today Show. I asked him about the importance of sharks, reasons why they’re killed, new laws and ways to prevent shark attacks.
Hello my name is Sydney Lynn from the third hour of the Today Show on NBC and I will be your interviewer today. Can you please tell everyone who you are?
My name is Luke Tipple. I am a marine biologist in Australia and I’m also the director
of the Shark Free Marinas Organization.
Could you please tell everyone why sharks are an important part of our ecosystem?
Even though you may not think about it, sharks are a crucial part of our marine ecosystem. They help to maintain the balance with other species because they are the predators to most marine life like seals and fish. It’s important to keep the balance in the ecosystem so one species does not dominant all the other species in the ocean 1 .
Sharks can take up to 15 years to reach sexual maturity to reproduce so having a
shortage of sharks is not good for the ocean.
What is the reason that sharks are being killed/hurt?
The most common reason that sharks have been hurt/ killed is because fisherman are using them for shark fin soup. Shark fin soup is a soup that has bits of a sharks fin in it to add flavor. To get the shark fins, fisherman cut the fin off of a shark and then throws
the shark back into the ocean to drown. It’s absolutely terrible!
Are there any new laws that are preventing shark hunting?
Actually yes! Just recently Congress passed the Shark Conservation Act, which will end shark finning in all U.S oceans 2 . The passing of this law makes me so happy because now we know that the sharks will be safe and sound in the ocean.
Everyone always says how they are afraid of going into the ocean because they are scared of sharks. Can you please help convince everyone that they should not be afraid of sharks!
Yes! I try to convince everyone that sharks will not hurt you unless you do something to provoke them. Most times sharks hurt humans because they mistake them for prey like seals. To really curb your fear you should always follow the rules the lifeguards
1
"Why Sharks are so Important to Our Ecosystem." Without Me There Is No You . Wordpress.
Web. 10 Nov 2012. <http://withoutmethereisnou.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/why-sharks-are-soimportant-to-our-ecosystem/>.
2
Eilperin, Juliet. "Shark Conservation bill headed to Obama." Washington Post . Washington
Post, 21 2012. Web. 10 Nov 2012. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/12/21/AR2010122104190.html>.

implement but also the common ones like don’t swim at night, swim within the boundaries the lifeguards set and swim with others around you.
Thank you for this interview! Any other last words for the audience?
I just want everyone to know that sharks are not something to fear! For example, reef sharks pose absolutely zero threat to humans so they are a species that you shouldn’t fear. We need to keep sharks not only for their ecosystem benefits but to help researchers with technological advances that could help sharks in the future.