"In the end we conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we have been taught." -Baba Dioum, environmentalist

photo: courtesy Lindsay Graff

Graff of Montpelier dives and teaches at Shark Reef Marine Reserve
in Fiji where numerous species of sharks live year round.

Vermont’s own shark biologist, Lindsay Graff, seems always to be surrounded by the color blue, whether it’s the snowy hillsides of Vermont winters or tropical waters. Graff has worked and studied all over the world, including the Bahamas and South Africa. Currently, she splits her time between Pacific Harbor, Fiji, where she conducts shark dives and teaches, and Montpelier, Vermont, where she skis and writes curriculum for her students.

Some may be surprised to learn that Vermont, with no ocean shoreline to speak of, has produced a shark biologist. But this inland state has produced a very interesting Graff, and she is educating the world one student at a time. She’s working to break down myths about sharks, and is educating young people about shark biology and the importance of shark conservation.

Sharks Matter

Sharks have an image problem, and a bad rap because of it. Movies like Jaws and Sharknado, television programming like Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week,” and sensationalized media headlines about shark attacks all have contributed to this common misunderstanding. “They’re not as dangerous as you think. And they’re in danger,” says Graff.

In fact, sharks are far more at risk from humans, than the other way around.

There are over 400 species of sharks worldwide. They range from the great white shark known for its impressive size, up to 20 feet in length, to the pygmy shark, small enough to hold in your hands. Some are keen predators, like the great white, while others eat plankton like the baleen shark, or are bottom feeders like the cookie cutter shark, named for the shape of the wounds it leaves on its larger prey.

Fewer than 30 of the 400 world-wide shark species have been implicated in attacks on humans. And on average 4 to 5 people are killed by sharks each year. In general, humans are more likely to die from a bee sting, or lightning strike than from a shark attack.

Sharks, on the other hand, die at the hands of humans at a rate of 100 million each year: that’s three sharks killed every second, or 20,000 sharks for every person killed by a shark each year. Humans kill sharks for their fins for shark fin soup, for their flesh as dinner, for their cartilaginous skeletons for use in nutritional supplements, and for their fat as an ingredient in fish oil. Additionally, sharks are frequently caught as by-catch on fishing vessels. They die as a result of becoming tangled in fishing lines and nets, or from being finned and tossed back into the ocean. Uncontrolled fishing in many parts of the world is contributing to great declines in numbers of sharks.

It’s hard to imagine that a decline in shark populations would impact our own inland lives, but says Graff: “There is a connection between marine and terrestrial environments. If you like eating seafood then protect the sharks.” And even if you don’t like eating seafood, she adds, declining shark populations lead to unbalanced ecosystems.

This is because sharks are apex predators, at the top of their food chain. They regulate the numbers and behavior of their prey, tending to eat the old, weak, and unhealthy, thereby keeping diseases in check, populations healthy, and ecosystems in balance. Their removal affects the entire food web, lowering marine health and productivity.

Key species like sharks control everything below them in what’s known among scientists as a trophic cascade, or the control of numbers or behaviors of prey within a food web. If the shark is removed, the whole community goes out of whack and the health of entire ecosystems like sea grass beds and coral reefs are compromised, which is bad for the health of our oceans. Since oceans cover 70 percent of the earth’s surface, and house 80 percent of earth’s life, sharks’ role matters.

Education is Key

Graff is an academic leader and shark biologist with Broad Reach, an international adventure-based summer study-abroad program for middle, high school, and college students. Broad Reach has locations in 40 countries and offers programs in marine science, animal science, language immersion, medicine, photography and journalism, scuba, sailing, and more. Graff’s program, Fiji Shark Studies, is one of the most popular programs and invites students to work alongside researchers like her to learn how sharks are vital to marine ecosystems.

Her excitement for sharks is apparent as she explains their history: Sharks have been around for 450 million years, making them one of the oldest families on the planet. They have survived three mass extinctions and have perfected every part of their body, including their senses and hunting technique. Because they’re such an old group, they have been able to exploit every corner of the ocean.

When it comes to conserving sharks, biologists have to make people care about the sharks, “because people don’t try to save things they don’t care about,” says Graff. This is done through education and outreach, and that’s why she likes working for the Broad Reach program. “I get to educate young people. They have the rest of their lives to care about sharks.”

A New Model for Conservation

All of the coastal villages in Fiji have access to one fishing reef. The Shark Reef Marine Preserve associated with the Village of Galoa is one of the few perfect examples in the world of ecotourism and conservation working together, and in a way that benefits local villagers rather than excluding them.

Beqa Adventure Divers, a private company, is the only dive company with access to the Shark Reef Marine Preserve. The company collects fees from any shark dive on the preserved reef, whether the dive is for tourists, or students and staff at Broad Reach. The fees collected by Beqa go to the village for schools, community centers, or other community benefits. This financial boost is in exchange for the village relinquishing their rights to fish on that reef, thereby conserving the sharks that live there.

It’s an exchange that pays out for the villagers: One blacktip reef shark, for example, might fetch $500 at a fish market. But that single shark instead conserved pays on average $12,000 per year to the village in fees collected from dives. In this model, ecotourism is paying for shark conservation in a way that benefits the villagers, rather than exploiting or displacing them.

Further, the Galoan villagers are licensed fish wardens with the authority to fine or arrest illegal fisherman. Due to its success,this model of cooperation in conservation among reef preserves, their associated villages, and tourism is taking off.

A Day in the Life

Graff’s days in Fiji start with an early-morning shark dive. She will see 30 to 60 sharks in a single dive with an array of species: bull sharks, white tip sharks, black tip sharks, reef sharks, tawny nurse sharks, and great white sharks.

While sharks exist in oceans all over the world, Fiji is an ideal place to see them because there are numerous species living on the reefs year-round. “The diversity and large number of sharks seen on dives is why this location is so special,” Graff says of Shark Reef Marine Preserve in Fiji. “You see all of these species in the same area, so it’s one of the premiere dive spots in the world for seeing sharks. And it’s one of the largest populations in the world of bull sharks; there are about 150 identified there.”

After lunch she lectures students on shark biology, behavior, research, and conservation, using a curriculum that she wrote for the Fiji Shark Studies program. Her students conduct their own research over a three-week course period, and they are expected to take mid-term and final exams and give presentations on their work. To round out the curriculum, students visit local villages for community service and to gain exposure to and understanding of the culture.

A Fish in the Water

Graff grew up with the North Branch of the Winooski River in her backyard, and she played in it all the time. She spent summers on the North Carolina coast, and her family couldn’t pull her away from the water.

Graff always knew she wanted to be a marine biologist, but it wasn’t until she studied abroad during her first year of college that she knew she wanted to be a shark biologist specifically. On this trip, she met a female shark biologist and that was the first time it occurred to her that a woman could do that job, and that she specifically could, too. Graff went on to earn her undergraduate degree in Zoology from Connecticut College and a Master’s degree in marine biology, specializing in shark biology at Northeastern University; she has plans to do her Ph.D. on great white shark biology.

“I’m in awe of sharks,” she says of her passion for shark biology and conservation. “When you’re in the water with them, they command respect. And their importance in the marine community is huge. When you’re on a boat and an animal surfaces that is the same size as the boat, it reminds you how small you are in the scheme of things, and in the food chain.”

Sarah Galbraith of Marshfield, Vermont, is a writer covering outdoor sports, nature and science, renewable energy, and local food.

Follow her on twitter @adventurevt.