Every Jaws fan knows the shark gets it in the end. What they do not know is that too many sharks have gotten it; and that has caused a rapid decline in the shark population over the past thirty years. Since the 1970's, sharks of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico shores have declined eighty-five percent. Sharks are vital animal to our world's ecosystem, and if the decline is not controlled; we could be facing devastating problems in years to come. Information has been obtained from two books: The Shark Almanac by Thomas B. Allen and Sharks, An Introduction for the Amateur Naturalist by Sanford A. Moss. Sources also include a number of online references, among them BBC News, ENS News, The New York Times, and two online scientific journals: Congruent Trends in Long-term Zooplankton Decline in the North-east Atlantic and Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus) Fishery Catches off West Ireland and Shitfting baselines and the decline of pelagic sharks in the Gulf of Mexico. Sources conclude with two brief articles: one written for USA Today by Traci Watson, and the second written for Newsweek by Lucy Howard and Paul O'Donnell. The informational taken from these sources include topics such as history of fishing for sharks and what their body parts are used for, the decline in the shark population, and why it is so harmful, and what measures need to be taken to control the shark population. Articles also illustrate how the decline in sharks has been portrayed to the general public and they are reacting. For centuries, humans have been hunting sharks for sport, food, medicine and leather with little regards for the health of the shark population (Allen, 1999). Sharks are considered one of the most challenging fish to catch, and their ... ... middle of paper ... ...ating to scientific reality, most of the articles you find on the topic speaks the writer's opinion on the matter and interrelated scientific facts, true facts and statistics that are mostly found in books scientific journals. Sharks have been around for over 400 million years. They out lived the dinosaurs and other terrestrial species. Today, they live much like they did then, with little evolutionary changes. There are 375 different species of sharks, but if the problem with managing the populations of sharks will continue if change is not made. If everyone cannot agree on a way to stop the rapid declines there will be serious consequences on our environment, especially our oceanic plankton. We have seen that because of our need to want luxurious objects and delicate meals has caused a problem so big in our oceans ecosystems we cannot tell what it has done.
The Great Shark debate – to cull or not to cull, has been at the forefront of the minds of conservationists, as well as the general population for many decades now. The opinions of everyone are divided, according to their personal experiences, and views on what is right and wrong for the environment.
So why do we need sharks? Well, Sharks help keep the ocean healthy and clean for over 450 million years. They also help remove half of the worlds green house gases and produces oxygen more than all of the rainforest's combined! Sharks are just as important as all the trees in the world because they have one thing in common, provide us with oxygen. Without the sharks help we wouldn't be able to get rid as much of the greenhouse gases as we want to, which means global warming would have a lower rate of happening faster. Most importantly they provide us with food. How? They would usually eat the old, sick or slower fish in the population of the ocean to the right size so the prey species don't cause harm to ecosystem by becoming to populated. They are also at the top of the food web. If all the sharks went extinct the entire food web would collapse causing many other species of fish to disappear. So instead of killing the sharks, we could lure them away to somewhere else. As they have a huge impact to the environment.
Nurse sharks were caught in the Florida Keys and transported to a facility in Sarasota, FL to carry out the experiment. The sharks were not given food 72 hours prior to the experiment and they were acclimated to the experimental temperatures (21-24C and 28-31C) for two weeks before. Individual sharks were moved to a closed respirometer 12 hours before the experiment so that they could recover from any handling stress before the trials. The trials were conducted in day and night conditions to account for the difference in behavior (more active at night). Throughout the trial, at regular intervals, dissolved oxygen and swimming speed were recorded.
Throughout the film there are many experts about the ocean and the animals that live in it. Researcher Ritter the misconception of the shark’s species is blown out of proportion by the media, which is why sharks have such an awful reputation. Experts touch up on this subject adding how even one of the biggest movies Jaws is a very large portion from where people get their fears from or it could be from all of the “shark attacks” on the news. Rob discusses how at the rate we are going we can destroy all of the food chains in the marine ecosystem, and this is where most of our oxygen comes from. Throughout the film experts Rob Stewart and Paul Watson are trying to get long lining banned in Costa Rica. Paul makes a really interesting point saying how the biggest problem is that we do not understand what we are and we are just a bunch of “conceited naked apes” that are out of
As they are at the top of the food chain, sharks play a very important role in the oceans in a way that an average fish does not. Sharks keep populations of other fish healthy and in proper proportion for their ecosystem. By preying on the old, sick or slower fish in a population, they prevent the spread of disease and prevent outbreaks that could be devastating. According to Ransom Myers from Shark savers, “sharks may be gone within the next decades if we continue to kill them, resulting in the loss of important foods that we depend on for survival, causing a marine ecosystem imbalance.” At the same time, I accept that shark nets could be useful, especially in shark infested areas that have been renowned as spots where many attacks have occurred, but I still believe, as you would, that scientists should spend more resources on working out why it is becoming more common for sharks to be entering shallower waters, looking for food – namely seals, who just happen to look like
One of the governments main reasons for culling the sharks is because they are coming in too close to the shores and becoming a potential threat to swimmers. But why is this happening? This is due to a change in shark feeding habits, but because they are eating more human of course not! Rather because us humans are over fishing and eliminating the fish/food sources of which sharks normally feed on. This is forcing sharks to come in closer to find food. Us as humans have forced sharks to come in closer and are now killing sharks because of our a...
The bull shark may be responsible for many shark attacks in the world but I believe that we have no right to kill them. Sharks are very important to animals food cycles and if the food cycles get messed up it can greatly effect the world. In fact, the bull shark is more vulnerable to human impact due to their ability to live in fresh and salt water but many sharks that are killed are for either shark fin soup or their liver oil. The sharks liver oil has many uses now but it started as a machine lubricant. Another way that sharks die is by recreational fishing. The sharks can get caught up in the fishermen's nets and eventually suffocate and die. As an environmental community, I feel like we need to inform people about shark habits and how to keep sharks safe. The water is their home and we are
Information (sub-point): Shark finning also has also drastically negatively affected the entire shark population. According to SharkSavers.org, “Shark populations face the threat of extinction in every part of the world primarily due to overfishing driven by the high demand for shark fins” (SharkSavers, 2013). It is also found that the global shark population has decreased by a drastic 90% over the last 50 years, and if change does not occur quickly, the entire shark population could potentially disappear
Great white sharks are the main predators in the ocean. The only things that are responsible for the deaths of sharks are Age, Health, Humans and other sharks. Humans are responsible for 70% of deaths for great white sharks. Today there are more than 440 known species of sharks. Great whites only have 2-12 babies at one time unlike others who have hundreds. Great whites can live up to 60 years old! Great white sharks are phenomenal animals and but still are vulnerable to extinction. Do your part to kill of the rest of them before they kill you!
Every year, there are about 100 million Sharks killed, ultimately for its commercial success. Their fins are used as the main ingredient for a dish so-called Shark soup. However, many are unaware of the actual importance of Sharks' existence on Earth. They do a number of things to control and balance aquatic life down below, which in return affects how we live on the surface. Sharks have existed in our world for over 400 million years, if they were to suddenly disappear for industrial purposes, much problems will be encountered throughout the world. We must preserve the lives of Sharks, for many reasons most importantly that shark hunting is morally wrong, it may provide economic failure in a given time, and it may serve a critical unbalance of a healthy environmental state.
Shark slaughter has led to shark populations being rapidly decimated all around the globe. Fishermen report that sharks are also getting smaller because they are not being given enough time to fully mature. Although there are other fish that are targeted more than sharks, they are not exactly affected by the kind of endangerment that sharks are currently experiencin...
In 2015 only 59 shark attacks have occurred around the world compared to the millions of sharks killed by humans every year. Due to these accidental shark attacks people tend to think that sharks, especially Great Whites are evil creatures with malice intentions when attacks do occur; but, on the contrary that is wrong. Sharks are not the only beautiful and unique creatures in the ocean, they also play a vital role in our ecosystem; however, due to human interference they might not be around much longer, through awareness sharks can be protected from endangerment.
Thesis: Sharks should be conserved because they are an important part of the ocean, attacks are often incidental, and human behavior influences the behavior of sharks.
Rowat, D., and K. S. Brooks. 2012. A review of the biology, fisheries and conservation of the whale shark Rhincodon typus. Jour. Of. Fish. Bio. 80:1019-1056. (DOI:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2012.03252.x).
Introduction One particularly interesting sea creature is the whale shark, formally known as Rhincondon typus; it was first discovered in 1828 by Andrew Smith (Rowat 2012). This large fish is found globally in warm tropical oceans and prefers to stay within 200 meters of the ocean’s surface in waters ranging from 4.2 to 28.7 degrees Celsius (Stevens 2006). This creature can be found all across the globe in warm tropical seas. Aggregations of whale sharks have been seen off the coast of Australia at times, although it is primarily a creature of solitude. Whale sharks are filter feeders that consume plankton as well as small fish and are harmless to humans.