Endangered Sharks!
by: Savannah Brown
Why Are Sharks Endangered?
A helpless great white shark was killed for the money their fins bring the hunters. Finning is where a hunter captures a helpless shark and cuts off its fins for the money it will bring them. These are apex predators (at the top of the food chain) and play an important role in the health of the oceans. Without them, the entire food chain can be affected, negatively impacting the entire ecosystem. Sharks are long-lived, mature late, and produce few young making them especially vulnerable to exploitation. Sharks have inhabited earths oceans for 400 million years, but today they are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Of the 465 assessed species of sharks living in our oceans, 74 are currently listed as threatened. Although people are attacked by sharks, it's mostly common that sharks mistake humans as their natural prey.
whale sharks
Dwarf lantern shark
The great white
The Sharks Appetite
why do sharks attack humans? Sharks primarily feed on smaller fish , but some species prey upon seals, sea lions, an other marine animals. If a sharks sees a human splashing
in the water, it may try to investigate leading to an accidental attack. That is
why sharks usually don't come back for a second bite.
Finning should be illegal
The biggest threat to sharks, skates, and rays is the overfishing and over-consumption of their meat, fins, and cartilage. Shark fins are particularly sought after for traditional Chinese medicine and shark fin soup which is considered a delicacy in Asia.
Commercial shark-finning is a practice where sharks are caught and their fins are cut off, then the body of the shark is discarded. Shark finning kills an estimated 100 million or more sharks globally per year.