Shark Victims for Sharks

Could they be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome? At least nine survivors of shark attacks—many of whom lost limbs—have descended on Washington in one of the world's strangest lobbying jags, The Washington Post reports. The group, possibly the largest gathering of American shark-attack survivors to date, intends to press Congress to restrict fishing for sharks, including practices such as "finning" in which fisherman slice off a shark's fin and dump the carcass overboard. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature classified 32 percent of sharks and rays on the open ocean as "threatened" this year, and the loss of predators at the top of the pyramid could be devastating for ocean ecosystems. "We're seriously scarred... and some of us are missing limbs, and we have every right to hate sharks," one survivor said. "I think the message is: If we can see the value in saving sharks, everyone should."