Sacred structures were built on the shores near these sites and Hawaiians of old would demonstrate their courage and divine favor by walking among the sharks. But today, only the legends of the shark walks are left.

The sharks have been fished out, said Phil Lobel, a marine biology professor from Boston University helping to launch the research-based Micronesian Shark Foundation in Palau in the Pacific Ocean.

The non-profit foundation has been set up by a local dive outfit to protect sharks throughout Micronesia from over-fishing and prevent what happened in places like Hawaii from happening in this region.

Sharks are in danger of extinction due to a growing trade in their fins, Lobel said.

In Asia, mainly China, shark fin soup has grown from a cultural dish served on rare occasions into a high-priced meal served commonly at restaurants. Fishermen catch sharks, cut off the high-yield fins and toss the carcass back in the water.

"Shark fins have become a high-priced commodity," Lobel said.

Laws vary from island to island on shark fishing, but all are dealing with the shark fin trade.

In Palau, where it is illegal to target sharks, a Taiwanese vessel was impounded this year because it had five tons of sharks in its hold.

In Guam, where it is illegal to fin sharks and throw away the body, a seafood company last month was fined 20,000 dollars for possessing more than 5,000 kilograms (11,000 pounds) of shark fins without the corresponding carcasses.

Better protection and funding for law enforcement has been hindered in part by a lack of research on sharks and a lack of awareness that the predator most people irrationally fear will eat them alive could be endangered.

The general public identifies sharks with the movie "Jaws", not as an important component of the marine ecosystem or as a compelling draw for scuba divers.

One of the goals of the foundation is to demonstrate how much sharks are worth to the economy, sais Novat Bornovski, co-owner of the Fish n Fins diving outfit that started the new organisation.

Most sharks are not a danger when respected and people will pay a lot of money to dive with them.

The foundation will examine shark migration, mating habits and declines and increases in population due to factors such as water temperature changes and over fishing, said Bornovski.

The much-needed research, he said, will be used to raise awareness on the need to better protect sharks and enforce laws.

"We want to make the research available to decision makers," Bornovski said, adding that while in Palau studies have been conducted on reef fish, corals, sea grass, mangroves, no one has ever studied sharks.

Divers throughout Micronesia will be enlisted by the foundation and participating dive shops will provide underwater slates so that divers can survey shark populations and behavior.

The data will be analyzed and entered into a research bank. Lobel said dive volunteers could exponentially increase the research horsepower of the foundation, a boost that is sorely needed as sharks are difficult to research.

"This is a big animal that is hard to study," Lobel said, adding that the baseline data could also help to secure funding to perform more expensive studies with satellite tagging and tracking equipment.

National Geographic underwater photographer David Doubilet, also behind the new foundation, talked about the wide range of sharks, from the Great White to pint-size things called cookie cutter sharks, in a week-long presentation of his photographs.

The images were like Renaissance paintings to the packed room of divers and environmentalists. The lighting, the composition, brought sigh after sigh. Then he showed a Great White barrelling towards the camera.

"It is the creature of our darkest nightmares. This is the last creature on the planet that can eat us alive," Doubilet said. "So elegant, so incredible to our planet, yet they are endangered."

The crowd nodded.

The foundation had its first batch of volunteers.

SPACE.WIRE