Hello readers,
So today is one of the first non-book related posts I
hope you enjoy
If you have come over from my twitter or Instagram you
know that I am a little bit excited for Shark Week, this year I have the added
bonus of NatGeoWild having SharkFest the week before. You can think I’m crazy
but I love sharks and would love the opportunity to go in a cage dive (I’m
saving). Shout out to my wonderfully wild friend Amy for the photos.
I love great whites I may even go as far to say they are
beautiful and majestic, I could honestly watch them swim for ages. Given the Great Whites reputation as the
“killer” and most “violent” shark, I am more concerned about the Bull shark or
Cookie Cutter shark. The bull shark is commonly found worldwide in coastal
areas of warm oceans and can be found in freshwater rivers and lakes.
I get that Sharks can be seen as kind of scary because in
the water they're faster than us, can appear from nowhere in an instant. If you
find yourself swimming in the ocean or even some rivers you’re probably nearer
to sharks than you realize don’t forget it’s their home. With millions upon
millions of beach-goers and surfers taking to the water every day, only a small
handful are ever bitten or killed by sharks.
It honestly breaks my heart a little that such a
beautiful and misunderstood creature is stigmatised I think the shark overall
imaged needs a little positive PR. Even Peter Benchley the writer of Jaws in
the last decade of his career wrote non-fiction works about the sea and about
sharks advocating their conservation to help a post-Jaws public to more fully
understand the sea in all its beauty, mystery and power. Benchley’s book Shark
Trouble demonstrates how hype and news scandals can help destabilise the
public's need to understand marine ecosystems and the potential negative
consequences as humans interact with it. In his later books, humans seem to
have become the aggressor in our relationship with sharks, acting out of
ignorance and greed as several of the species become increasingly threatened by
overfishing. In light of Peter Benchley's lifelong record of shark conservation
and educating the public about sharks, the Peter Benchley Ocean Awards have
been established as his legacy.
Sharks may look scary and occasionally an encounter with
them can be fatal but on average, only five out of 70 to 100 attacks result in
death while coconuts kill 150 people each year worldwide ad hippos kill 2,900.
Why are sharks becoming endangered?
Demand for Shark fin
The growing demand and trade in shark fins which are
often used to make an expensive Asian soup has become a serious threat to many
shark species. This practice is non-discriminatory again sharks and affects
many different shark species, including whale sharks.
Overfishing
The overfishing of sharks happens because of the huge
demand mainly for shark fins and a lack of management to ensure shark fisheries
are sustainable. Some species, such as the spiny dogfish is targeted primarily
for its meat.
Bycatch
Sharks are often caught incidentally by fishing gear set
for other types of fish such as tuna longlines, trawls and seine nets and many
will simply be discarded.
Statistics
Critically Endangered: 11
species (includes Ganges shark, angel shark)
Endangered: 15 species (includes great
hammerhead, broadfin shark)
Vulnerable: 48 species (includes
whale shark, great white, basking shark)
Near Threatened: 67 species (includes bull
shark, tiger shark)
Least Concern: 115 species (includes megamouth
shark, tasselled wobbegong)
Sources
World Wildlife Fund. (2018). Shark | Species | WWF.
[online] Available at: https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/shark [Accessed 13
Jul. 2018].
Shark Conservation | Sharkopedia Sharkopedia.
(2018). Shark Conservation: How You Can Help. [online] Available at:
https://sharkopedia.discovery.com/shark-topics/shark-conservation/#how-many-shark-species-are-endangered
[Accessed 13 Jul. 2018].
Comments
Post a Comment