The holiest week on the American calendar is fast approaching. The time to reflect on, react to and respect one of our most notable underwater allies.

Shark Week.

Maybe it's the native Floridian in me, but something about this week of formidable fish footage prompts me to drop all of my responsibilities in order to catch every clip. Living right next to New Smyrna Beach, the shark bite capital of the world, has led me to think of sharks as a familiar friend. This is why, in light of Shark Week, I urge you to think (and probably drink) responsibly.

As much as I love a week full of the ferocity and intrigue of sharks, I cannot help but think about how this violent portrayal of them leads the public to gain a misunderstanding of their role and demeanor. A week full of footage featuring sharks attacking humans and intelligently hunting prey gives these creatures a negative representation. It is true that they are predators, but more importantly, they are apex predators. This means that they play a vital role in the ecosystem through population control and indication of the health of the ocean. Through their ingenious hunting practices they ensure ocean diversity. It is important to keep their pivotal occupation in mind amongst all of the clips of surfers barely escaping their forceful jaws.

Also, Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" is probably the most educational and factual representation of sharks you can find today. With movies as classic as Jaws and recent as The Shallows portraying sharks to be ruthless killers on the constant hunt for human blood, I cannot be surprised that the commonplace opinion of sharks is fearful. These unending negative depictions of sharks are harmful both on educational and ecological standpoints. To address the first, to think of sharks as aggressive towards humans is completely incorrect. In ours oceans, over 500 species of sharks exist and out of those less than five percent are potentially dangerous to humans. Even out of that five percent, humans are not their preferred prey and usually never an intentional target. To remark on the latter, this violent view of sharks removes any empathy they have for sharks' declining population. This is extremely harmful because over 100 million sharks die per year at the hands of humans, whether it be by attempts to make beaches "safer", trophy fishing or shark finning. Negative portrayals of sharks lead people not to care about their plummeting population. This is bad news for both them and us, who depend upon sharks to keep the largest ecosystem in the world up and running.

What I leave you with is a plea to watch responsibly this week, and to think of a friend to protect and not a threat to be eliminated. Remember that sharks are important and noble creatures, do not let negative media allow you to stop caring.