How full is your luggage? Background knowledge of zoo visitors regarding sharks

Abstract

For the general population, sharks have a reputation that does not really fit with their biological and ecological nature. Informal surveys often classify sharks as dangerous, aggressive and/or man-eaters. This apparent common knowledge seems difficult to detach from the conscience of many worldwide zoo visitors, even with the help of shark-focused educational programmes. As so, how can zoos and aquariums contribute to a change in this paradigm? Are the education and conservation strategies effective to the average zoo visitor? In this study, young visitors' perceptions regarding sharks were assessed with the goal of identifying a valid Learning Progression, thus helping to update and develop different and more effective educational strategies and methodologies. The study took place at Zoomarine, an oceanographic park located in southern Portugal, with visitors aged between 8 and 16. A case study was conducted using a qualitative research approach (drawings and interviews) resulting in a Learning Progression Hypothesis. The proposed Learning Progression is composed of three knowledge levels for the participants' biological perceptions regarding sharks. The results of this study showed a clear predominance of anthropomorphic and anthropocentric visions, as well as a utilitarian view of sharks and ecosystem, thus conditioning the visitors' epistemological knowledge.

Animals “Я” Us: Egomorphism in/for Science and Environmental Education

“…In the mediated interspecies encounters that we analyzed here, all participants shared a continuous presence in the moment and were able to react in real time to one another's presence (Berger & Luckmann, 1966). The bodies of the animals-and their corresponding movements and behaviors-were displayed and offered for holding, touching, and comparing (Neves & Monteiro, 2014).…”

Trading card games and Environmental Education

“…Elasmobranchii species, especially sharks, are mostly represented by media as a threat to human life and its preservation is barely a topic of interest in the news. This situation creates misconceptions and a lack of knowledge about the issues involving the conservation of this group of animals (MUTER et al, 2013;NEVES;MONTEIRO, 2014). Previous studies have highlighted how media as the Universal Pictures blockbuster Jaws (FRANCIS, 2012;HUETER, 2013;CASTRO, 2013;CROSSLEY et al, 2014;NEFF, 2014NEFF, , 2015MCCAGH, 2015;LERBERG, 2016;MACDONALD et al, 2017), the Syfy Sharknado film series (ILOULIAN, 2017) and some recent Discovery Channel Shark Week documentaries (MYRICK; EVANS, 2014;EVANS, 2015;THALER;SHIFFMAN, 2015;NOSAL et al, 2016) can distort the image of sharks and incite fear to the general public.…”

Changing trends: Beliefs and attitudes toward sharks and implications for conservation

“…Overall, plenty of knowledge on the peoples' attitudes toward sharks has emerged over the last two decades. To date, various quantitative and qualitative methods have been used to study attitudes towards sharks or shark conservation including the general knowledge about sharks (Friedrich et al, 2014), attitudes toward sharks (Thompson & Mintzes, 2002;Acuña-Marrero et al, 2018), conceptual maps (Thompson & Mintzes, 2002), content analysis of websites (e.g., Discussion board, see Shiffman et al, 2017), newspapers (Boissonneault, 2011;Boissonneault et al, 2005) and movies (Rugen, 2013), people's fear of sharks (Le Busque et al, 2021b) and finally analysis of children's drawings and interviews (Neves & Monteiro, 2014).…”