Due to media and movies, sharks have the reputation of being a human super killer. As a result, people continue to believe this and fear the unloved animal. The worst problem is that 100.000.000 of sharks are killed every year for chinese shark fin soup, which is a disaster for the whole planet. In 2005, Christian, Matairii and I created the Tore Tore foundation to protect sharks in French polynesia, and we worked with the government to write the first shark regulation of French polynesia that has become the largest shark sanctuary in the world later in 2012. Shark diving is a way to change the negative perception that people have on sharks. approaching a shark means we have to understand him. On the other hand, because the shark is a totem animal in the Ma’ohi culture, we believe that protecting sharks is protecting our culture, which is rich in mythology and legends, where our ancestors always protected the sharks.
In the Ma’ohi mythology and ancient religion, the place of the shark was very present. They were the messengers of god, lords and have always had a very important role to help all of the population. Taaroa, the supreme God, creator of all things, had a shark called “Ire”. This blue shark liked to swim along the beach and played with the children who were bathing there. Taaroa always protected his shark. until today, the shark is a “TAURA” in the ma’ohi families, after reincarnated into sharks, they protect and guide family in the ocean and help them if there is a problem. The sharks, possessed by the spirits of dead people, never did any harm to their family members when they met them at sea, but went to rescue them and carried them on their backs or in their jaws back to land, sometimes the sharks emitted sounds similar to the human voice. There was a god, named “Viviteruaehu”, who was a shark and protected all the members of his family exposed to the dangers of the ocean. The place of the shark in the mythology made him a “TAPU” animal, meaning that people can not eat him.
E ma’o tō mātou tāura
“our protected animal is a shark”
We see sharks in legends, tattoos, paintings. with our Tore Tore foundation we are working on publishing every aspect of the place of sharks in the Ma’ohi culture. We believe this is very important to preserve our Ma’ohi culture
