Sharks are in Danger
100 million sharks are killed each
year-by longlines, by "sport" fishermen, or by a barbaric practice known as
shark finning. Hooked sharks are hauled onto boats their fins are sliced off
while they are still alive. These helpless animals are then tossed back into the
ocean where, unable to swim without their fins, they sink towards the bottom and
die an agonizing death.
Half of the oxygen we need for survival is produced via phytoplankton
photosynthesis. Photoplankton is responsible for taking in carbon dioxide
molecules and turning them into oxygen. Millions of these tiny marine plants
drift near the ocean’s surface. Tiny animals called zooplankton eat the
photoplankton, as well as clams and other small fish. Jellyfish, some whales and
other fish in turn eat the zooplankton. Larger fish eat the animals that feed
off of the zooplankton and so forth and so on. Any link in this food chain that
is missing will create an imbalance.
Sharks control the population of
species that feed off photoplankton. With a decline in the shark population,
there is going to be a steady decline of photoplankton, therefore affecting the
oxygen levels of the oceans. Oxygen on Earth is very dependent on the oxygen of
the ocean. If we neglect this fact, we are bringing death to the Earth.
Sharks have been part of our ocean’s ecosystems for 420 million years. The practice of shark finning is depleting the
ocean’s shark population by over 70 million. Sharks are slaughtered to meet
consumer demand, most are killed just for their fins. As a result, Some species
of sharks have reduced over 90% in population for a bowl of soup that has no
scientifically proven nutritional value.
In short, the
world’s fishing fleets are killing sharks faster than they can reproduce and
nature can’t keep up. Unless this
situation is halted, shark populations face
certain extinction.
