Shark !!!

Sharks have been around for 400 million years. This is about 200 million years before dinosaurs made the scene.

Long before Peter Benchley's "Jaws" book and Steven Spielbergs film adaptation, people have had a fear of sharks. I can see why the fear is there............stories have been cultivated for hundreds of years about "man-eating" sharks. Yes, sharks can be dangerous and yes, they do kill, but they are NOT the man-eating killing machines that they have been made out to be. The oceans are theirs and any killing they do is for their own survival. Any attacks that are on humans are merely by mistaken identity or that they were feeling threatened.

When I dive with sharks, I see nothing but a beautiful, graceful animal. I am working on a series of small paintings dedicated to the sharks I have dove with. I hope that through these paintings, you can overlook your fears and see the beauty that I see through my diving mask.

Gray Reef Shark, 12"x12" Oil painting, $140.00. To purchase, email me at dvrbon@wi.rr.com

http://www.bonnielynnsart.com

The Oceans Cry

Since so much of what I write about is the oceans, I wrote a poem about them and the way I feel about what we are doing to them.
It is a little lengthy, but worth the read, I think. I hope you will enjoy it.

The Oceans Cry

Don’t you hear the oceans cry?
Can’t you see them weep?
Their creatures are being infringed upon
In shallows and in deep.

Garbage and fuels are dumped in them
They’re clogging up the reefs
Ocean liners spill their oils
Into the abyss it seeps.

Hurricanes and tropical storms
Of these we cannot help,
But long lining and trawling
Are stirring up the kelp.

They drag along; these miles of line
The dolphins and the whales
Are trapped in them, they can’t get out
They try but only fail.

The sponges and the coral
Are bleached and almost dead,
The food supply is dwindling down
What will they eat instead?

The parrotfish are talking
They have so much to say,
Can’t someone save our oceans?
Can’t someone find a way?

The sharks are getting angry,
Their numbers are starting to droop,
They’re being caught and cut upon
Their fins are used for soup.

The turtles they are eating on
The plastic bags we throw,
They think they are munching jellyfish
But its actually a foe.



The octopus gets a somber look
And bows his head in sorrow.
“Please clean it up and make it right,
Don’t take away tomorrow.”

Our children and their children
They have to see the oceans.
The chemicals are ruining them
These ugly deadly potions.

We must not stop, we must not waste
A minute of our time.
The oceans cannot mend themselves
We have to stop this crime.

Don’t you hear the oceans cry?
Can’t you see them weep?
Their creatures are being infringed upon
In shallows and in deep.


Bonnielynn Brankey ©2007