Tag Archives: Jaws

Earth

As Sharks Face Collapse, In Defense of Animals Fights Deadly Nets & The SHARKED Act

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Watch the shark advocacy documentary, Monsters. The director, Skyler Thomas, is a featured speaker in IDA’s Sharks & Aquatic Animal Activism Webinar

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (July, 2026) — Oceanic shark populations have collapsed by more than 70% over the past 50 years, driven largely by commercial and recreational fishing, according to research published in Nature. In Defense of Animals is urging supporters to help defeat the SHARKED Act, a bill that would weaken vital U.S. shark protections, and to demand an end to deadly shark nets.

The push comes as In Defense of Animals marks its annual Respect for Fish Day, observed August 1,  with a free public webinar on Thursday, July 30 at 2 p.m. PT. Featured speakers include shark experts such as Skyler Thomas, director of the shark documentary Monsters. 

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In Defense of Sharks — Sharks & Aquatic Animal Activism

“Sharks are feeling, highly intelligent animals who experience pleasure, pain, and suffering,” said Lia Wilbourn, Farmed Animals Campaign Specialist at In Defense of Animals. “They are often wrongly portrayed as monstrous man-eaters, largely the result of fear-driven media and industries that profit from killing them. In reality, most shark species pose little or no danger to humans and are far more at risk from human activity than humans are from them.”

The webinar will dispel harmful myths about sharks and explain why protecting them is essential to their survival and to the health of the oceans. It comes at a critical moment: In Defense of Animals is calling on the public to oppose the SHARKED Act and to speak out against shark nets planned or already in use at beaches in Australia and at a Club Med resort in South Africa, where the nets indiscriminately kill sharks and countless other marine animals alongside their intended targets.

Skyler Thomas, director of the feature film documentary, Monsters, said, “Sharks aren’t just cool, they are massively misunderstood and underestimated by humans — not just physically, but as sentient beings. Today I realize that sharks share this in common with all other species on the planet: humans don’t give them enough credit.”

Scientific research shows that fish and other aquatic animals are far more intelligent and emotionally complex than most people assume. They can recognize individual faces, remember previous experiences, form social connections, and maintain long-term relationships. Like all sentient beings, fish have nervous systems and feel pain, fear, stress, and suffering when they are hooked, netted, suffocated, or stabbed during fishing.

The fishing industry is one of the greatest threats to ocean life and biodiversity. Fishing pollutes the seas and disrupts fragile marine ecosystems. Millions of whales, dolphins, seals, sea turtles, octopuses, and other non-target animals are killed each year as “bycatch” in commercial fishing nets, and abandoned fishing gear is now the largest source of plastic pollution in the ocean.

Fish also accumulate harmful contaminants, including mercury and arsenic, yet for most of us, fishing isn’t necessary for survival; leading nutrition experts agree a balanced plant-based diet meets all essential nutritional needs.

Marine wildlife populations have fallen dramatically over the past few decades, and scientists warn that continuing current fishing practices could have devastating consequences for ocean ecosystems. 

Respect for Fish Day emphasizes the individuality, sentience, and complexity of aquatic animals, advocates for veganism, and builds a future where all animals are free from exploitation and unnecessary harm.

Find out more about Respect for Fish Day.  

Concerned citizens can take action to protect sharks and other aquatic animals by signing alerts:

For the Silo, Lia Wilbourn.

Reviews

Canuck Book Review: The Sister’s Brothers

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Patrick DeWitt’s The Sisters Brothers is everything a good western should be. Set during the Gold Rush of the 1850s and littered with gun fights, loose women, saloons and robbery, this novel would easily appeal to any western enthusiast or history buff. However, just buried beneath this classic western narrative, is a story about the power of relationships, family, redemption and self-awareness.
They story is narrated by one of the Sisters brothers, Eli Sister. From the very beginning the reader can tell Eli is more brains than brawn—the introverted, overweight polar opposite of his brother, the notorious and lethal hit man, Charlie. As a duo, they are given the job to kill a man named Hermann Kermit Warm. Their orders are given to them by a man who is only known as Commodore and who only meets with Charlie. Everything the reader knows about the job is second-hand information given by Eli. The lack of information engulfs their mission in a cloak of secrecy and mystery. The reader, along with Eli, is not quite sure why there is a hit on this man, only that there is and the brothers are the ones to execute it. From this point on the brothers travel from Oregon City to San Francisco meeting a variety of noteworthy characters from all backgrounds along the way.

Patrick Dewitt (L) and author Peter Benchley (R) more than a passing resemblance?

The most engaging aspect of this novel is DeWitt’s ability to engage the reader through fast dialogue and deep inner thoughts. Eli serves as a vehicle for the reader to see and understand what is going on in the novel. Although Eli lives a disgusting life full of violence, lust and indignity, his words and thoughts produce a character that is truly human and surprisingly relatable. Eli suffers with feelings of inadequacy when it comes to his relationship with his brother and the line of work they pursue. This inadequacy is subtly mirrored by his relationship with his horse, named Tub, who seems like more of a burden to Eli and the mission than anything else.
Perhaps the most striking theme in this novel is the theme of relationship and family. Eli forms and fosters many relationships throughout the novel—most notably his relationship with Charlie, his brother. Eli’s venerability is exposed through this relationship. At one point, when asked about his relationship with his brother, Eli states, “Our blood is the same, we just use it differently.” A very thought provoking statement gets to the very heart of human nature and relationships. Throughout the novel, Eli’s relationship with Charlie is tested through action and dialogue. As the novel comes to a close, relationships change due to circumstance and the roles they both play in each other’s lives will not be reversed, but destroyed in an unlikely way.
A book wholly deserving of its Scotia Bank Giller Prize Short List nod, Patrick DeWitt’s The Brothers Sisters is a surprising hard edged exploration of what makes us all human at our very core. Book review by Silo contributor Sarah Purdy. Read more from Sarah by searching her name from our homepage. Silo Direct Link to Patrick DeWitt Website  CP