Most of the time, sharks don't get a lot of love. Bruce, the lead shark from Jaws*, has sort of given them a bad name. Dolphins and whales, with propaganda films like Flipper and Free Willy, tend to hog our affections instead.
In the last few days, however, sharks have had a huge surge of love, with people donating to shark conservation societies and adopting them in big numbers. Non-profit Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society told Market Watch that donations have been "pouring in" since Friday, January 19.
Hmmm, what could have happened over the last week that has prompted such an uptake in donations?
Yes, it appears people are jumping to sharks' defense after hearing reports that Trump is afraid of them and wants them all dead.
If you missed the story, porn star Stormy Daniels revealed in an interview with In Touch magazine that during her alleged affair with Trump, she discovered he has an odd obsession with sharks. She even ended up watching hours of Discovery's Shark Week with him.
“The strangest thing about that night — this was the best thing ever. You could see the television from the little dining room table and he was watching Shark Week and he was watching a special about the U.S.S. something and it sank and it was like the worst shark attack in history," she told the magazine.
"He is obsessed with sharks. Terrified of sharks. He was like, ‘I donate to all these charities and I would never donate to any charity that helps sharks. I hope all the sharks die.’ He was like riveted. He was like obsessed. It’s so strange, I know.”
Several old tweets from the President seem to confirm he is indeed not a fan.
That seems to be enough to convince people that sharks are great and worth saving.
“We have been receiving donations in Trump’s name since the story was published,” Cynthia Wilgren of Atlantic White Shark Conservancy told Market Watch.
“Anything that focuses attention on the plight of sharks worldwide is valuable, so I guess in that way the president did good service,” Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd, added.
One person has even adopted a great white in Donald's name that was last spotted off the coast of Mexico. With no sea border, the shark is free to travel between the two countries as it pleases.
Whether it's to spite Trump or not, let's hope the donations are still pouring in. As this infographic shows, there's a lot more that they should fear of us than Trump should fear of them.
As Paul Watson pointed out to Market Watch: “It’s actually more dangerous to play golf than it is to go swimming in the ocean with sharks.”
*Yes, we know his name is not Jaws. That was a joke.
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