Some people write because they find it therapeutic. Some people write because they want to inspire others. And some people write because they never want anyone to enter an ocean again. This is the case with the article “Attack of the Shark Lobby” written by William Saletan. The article consists of scientists and marine biologists explaining shark attacks. Saletan’s goal is to aggressively prove every the experts wrong and to show the reader that sharks are mindless killing machines. His thesis states that people are out to lobby for sharks and that the public should not buy these lies. Saletan bashed shark attacks saying things like they’re not accidents, they’re not coincidental, and that the increased number of people in the water has nothing to do with the increase in attacks.


Saletan is laughable. Why? His pure ignorance. It is one thing to state an opinion, but it is another extremely stupid thing to try and falsify facts. Plus, he clearly is not informed; this is blatantly shown through his unreasonable counterpoints.


One point he attempts he disprove is that other animals and activities are more dangerous. Experts have said that people have a substantially greater chance of being hurt by lighting, sunburn, a dog, or getting hit in the head by a coconut than a shark. Stalen’s counterpoint: “But sunburn can't kill you in an instant. Jellyfish and toilets aren't mobile predators. Bees don't eat you and don't attack unless threatened. Everyday dogs are domesticated.” Obviously a coconut is not going to do as much damage as a shark! But if Saletan is trying to prove the experts wrong, he must actually address the point. The experts say that the CHANCES of getting hurt by a coconut are higher than getting hurt by a shark. It doesn’t say in a situation with damage from a shark and damage from a coconut that the coconut will do less harm.


For the readers of this article, all they can take from it is that in order to avoid a shark attack, the ocean must be avoided. Reasonable? I think not! If Saletan’s logic is applied to other worldly problems all people living on the coast must move inshore to avoid hurricanes, vehicles should be used under no circumstances because the driver could get into an accident, and people should not even eat food because of the danger of chocking. Which obviously are completely reasonable things to do, right? Well, maybe they are in Saletan’s world.


The moral of this article Saletan was trying to establish was that in order to stay safe any problem or situation that has a potential of being dangerous should be avoided at all cost. Or put in more common terms, everybody should live in a cardboard box and never leave it. Yet, maybe that even a little extreme for Saletan because you could still get a paper cut.