Not Too Close

I have told my mother about wanting to dive with sharks, and it worries her. I understand that it will worry her, but I don't want her to get so worried that she won't let me dive. I have explained to her that I will not get too close or be stupid like a man on an Animal Planet show who nearly got his lips bit off by a nurse shark after kissing it. I am not planning on getting up in sharks' faces and hugging them or anything like that. I may stroke them gently if they swim by me, but I will not get too close for comfort. I don't think they are dangerous, but I do know that they are very capable of hurting you if you harass or frighten them. I will not treat them like puppies or dogs but respect them as creatures whom environment I am invading and as creatures who could rip my leg off if they wanted to. They are not monsters but they can turn into them very quickly, and for that reason I will not be stupid and not get too close.

Recent Shark Attacks

Every time a new shark show premieres, I just have to watch it. So of course, when Nat Geo Wild made "Shark Attack Experiment Live", I watched it. A team of scientists are doing tests in the water with sharks to separate fact from myth, to see if sharks are out to get us. The reason is because they stated that in 2011, there have been more shark attacks and fatalities than any year in decades. Does this surprise me? A little. But does it scare me? No. I think that the reason for these attacks may be because of the growing human population. The global population recently hit 7 billion, and the more people there are on the globe, the more often beaches are visited. WE are invading their territory, they are not maliciously killing more people on purpose. Therefore, the fact of more shark attacks doesn't frighten me one bit.

Cultures

I have noticed that on both of my animal cruelty awareness blogs I have had some page views from from citizens in Europe, and on They Need A Voice I have even had a page view from somebody in China. MESSAGE TO EUROPEANS: I would very much like it if you could post a comment explaining what role dolphins and sharks play in your culture. I would love to learn from Europeans themselves (not from internet research) how these creatures are viewed in their country and their country's culture.

This post can also be seen on my blog, They Need A Voice

Petitions

Last month, I signed a petition to ban shark products on the U.S. Today, I signed 10 petitions for sharks all over the world including Europe, India, Australia, Singapore, and New Zealand. Some were to ban finning and other were to ban shark products, but it is all the same concept really. I put personal comments on all of them. On one for Australia, I put "Shark finning must stop everywhere, one country at a time". Sadly, most of the petitions I went to were nowhere near the goal (most had a goal anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 but only had a few hundred signatures), but they were closed. One had a goal of 10,000 but only had like 100 signatures, and it was closed. That upset me. There was one to ban shark finning worldwide with a goal of 20,000 and I was the first person to sign it. I couldn't believe that it had zero signatures! But I was proud to be the first to sign it. I signed one with a goal of 50,000 to ban finning in European waters, but I'm sure it will never reach it's goal sadly. But I am very happy and proud to have signed 11 petitions to ban the fin trade cycle as well as 1 to end the Japanese dolphin hunt in Taiji. I know that this has nothing to do with my blog, but I as a huge dog lover, also signed a petition to end the mistreatment of dogs in Bali whether it's being beaten, neglected, starved, stolen, or poisoned for meat.

Shark Finning Awareness in School

In 7th grade, we have seven periods. I have English first, and for some reason our teacher always makes us watch CNN Student News. Usually, we pick a topic from it and write about it but today, we just watched it for fun. Surprisingly, it talked about shark finning near the end of the video. It talked about how so many species were endangered and how important they are to us. It showed somebody handling dried shark fins and people in my class were like "Eww!" and one person even said "Poor sharks". The video showed some people getting the water with reef sharks and somebody in my class yelled out "Stupid!". One of my friends beside me said "What if it thought you were fish and tried to eat you?". "They usually won't bite anything bigger than themselves" I said nicely. After the video the same person who yelled 'stupid' said "We eat sharks, sharks eat us. So what?". I didn't say anything but I wanted to say "Look, sharks kill only like 5 people a year and we kill 100 million of them a year. That is so not cool." but I thought it was better to keep my mouth shut because she was kind of a rude person anyway and I didn't want to make her mad. I thought that it was very good that we saw that today in school though. I was just thinking a few weeks ago, "Wouldn't it be neat if the student news talked about threats to the ocean?". I was really excited to see it on there, not for me but so other people could see it. But of course, it didn't go into a lot of detail so most people probably won't think anything about it. But at least it's a start.

Video Post for both of my Animal Cruelety Awareness Blogs

I know that I give links to videos both my blogs, 'They Need A Voice' and 'Sharks Need Help!!!'. I understand that some people would prefer to avoid them, but you it is hard to make a difference when you don't know what's happening. Videos make me terribly sad, but the footage from The Cove was the first thing that I'd ever seen relating to my blogs, and it changed my life. Now, I'm an activist for my ocean friends that I've always loved. If you don't want to watch a video that I put a link to, please really try to gain the courage to do so. I didn't want to watch The Cove because I was worried about it depressing me, but my parents thought is would be inspirational for me. I never thought that it would change me, but it truly did. It made me cry, but sadness it sometimes what it takes to inspire people. I can still not stand to watch those Humane Society and ASPCA commercials, but those animals are getting tons and tons of help.

If you do choose to watch my video links, they will make definitely make you sad if you have a heart unlike all those scums that murder animals. And if they bother you a lot, don't just try to pretend that it's fake (something that I do sometimes) because sadly it is all too real.

This post is also visible on my blog, They Need A Voice (theyneedavoice.blogspot.com)

The ridiculous reason why I used to hate sharks

Like I said in my last post, I loved sharks when I was little and about a year ago I began to hate them. The reason is so ridiculous I'm ashamed to say it. I got really into dolphins at the time. I began to like them so much I just decided that sharks were stupid. I know, it doesn't make any sense. Just because you like one thing a lot doesn't mean that you can't like another thing too. Now, I love them both. I know that I've never actually interacted with either of them in the wild, but I think of them as my friends and I don't want anything bad to happen to them. But unfortunately, they're tortured brutally all the time.

I'm now a Shark Angel

I just registered as a Shark Angel and I'm so happy! I also signed up for Shark Savers a while back. I can't believe I went from not caring about sharks about a year ago to loving them and wanting to save them right now.

When I was little, I was fascinated with them and loved watching shows about them with my dad. As I got older, I thought they were cool but I wasn't all for saving them. I didn't even know about shark finning. Suddenly, for a reason which I think is ridiculous, I began to go against them. I knew of shark finning, but it didn't bother me. I viewed them as big stupid animals that had no purpose. I hated them and cared nothing about the conservation of them. A few months later, I flew over to Atlanta Georgia to stay for a few days. I went to the Georgia aquarium, the world's largest aquarium. I did the Planet Shark exhibit which had sharks' importance awareness, information on prehistoric species, finning threats, and a fully preserved frozen mako shark. After that day, I no longer hated sharks.

It's only been in the last couple months that I've really loved sharks and cared about them. I don't know how I could have ever hated them and not been bothered by the horrible murder of them that takes place every single day. I didn't think that I could do much to help sharks. I just hoped that activists would help. But no. You don't have to live by the sea or even get out of your house to be an activist. I am only 12, and here's what I've done:

Made this blog

Signed a petition to ban the shark fin trade in the U.S, which is my country

Became a Shark Angel

Joined Shark Savers

Watched Sharkwater

Educated myself through books and the internet to know what's truly going on

Now I know it may not seem like much compared to some other activists, but what more can a 13 year old do? I could donate, but if I donated I'd want to use my own money not my parents'. If it was my parents' money, I wouldn't feel like that I was doing it. If I could, I'd donate to local humane societies and SPCAs, shark conservation websites, and savejapandolphins.org. But I just don't know what my parents would think about it. When I am older, into college, and into my own house I'll be able to help animals even more. I'll be able to help them directly, through travel and a career. But as of now, I'll just have to wait, updating my blog with my latest news and feelings. But I'm very proud of what I've done already.

You can become a Shark Angel or Cherub at sharkangels.com

I want to dive!

I've been doing tons of research on sharks lately, and now I want to get closer to them, beyond Google searches and book pages. I want to dive with sharks. That might sound very strange coming from a 13 year old girl, but I'm not like most girls. 'Scary' animals don't bother me. "Sharks and snakes and alligators, oh my!" simply doesn't fit me. Most animals don't scare me.

Now, back to the diving topic. I would do anything to jump in the sea right now and dive next to sharks in a coral reef. After becoming inches from the face of a blacktip reef shark behind glass at the aquarium restaurant, I want to become inches from a shark face with no glass. Not a great white or tiger shark face but a reef shark or some other bottom dweller. I'm not sure if I would get in the water with a great white without a shark cage, at least until I'm very experienced. Surprisingly, I'd get in with a great white without a cage before I'd jump in the sea beside a wild orca pod. But a mako on the other hand, they are not nearly as dangerous and scary as they look with their curved, jagged teeth and their huge solid black eyes. They are actually a very shy species, and I'd dive with them any day without a shark cage. Hammerheads are very similar in reputation to makos. They are strange and scary looking but actually very shy. One of the least scary-looking (you can't even see their teeth unless they are eating) large species is the beautiful blue shark, swift and agile with their long, lean bodies. They are one of the about 20 species of shark that are considered dangerous, but I have never heard of anybody being attacked by one. I've only seen pictures and videos of divers interacting with and feeding them. To tell the truth, I don't care if a shark species is on the danger list because most reports of attacks are very exaggerated and I know the cause for most attacks and it makes perfect sense. But sadly the shy and graceful blue, mako, and hammerhead sharks are three of the most targeted species for finning. Lastly, I believe that diving with a basking or whale shark would be awesome and exhilarating as well.

I could snorkel in the ocean easily, but scuba diving is better since you can go deep under. I am old enough to start diving now, but I still have to wait. I don't live near good beaches and I need to become a better swimmer first. My ocean friends will just have to wait for me for a few more years. Then, I'll meet my friends for the first time, but I will feel as if I've known them forever.

Learn More

Here are some good websites you can visit to learn about shark hunting and how to stop it:


sharksavers.org

stopsharkfinning.net

sharktrust.org

savingsharks.com

sharkwater.com

sharkalliance.org

sharkangels.com


I'm sure there are many more as well! :)

My recent aquarium trip

I went to my local aquarium recently for the second time since I've lived in the area. They have a shark exhibit, which is a train where you go through a tunnel that is a tank full of various shark species such as sandtiger sharks, sawfish, whitetip reef sharks, nurse sharks, and brown sharks. You then go on a bridge over a man-made water way and a giant animatronic shark head comes out of the water. I liked the exhibit okay the first time I went to the aquarium, but the second time I went, I was amazed by it. Not by the animatronic shark head that comes out of the water way but the tank tunnel full of sharks. I also ate at the restaurant at the aquarium, where I had some mahi-mahi fillets. In the restaurant, there was a large tank full of groupers and other fish, which our table was right beside.  There was one shark in it, a blacktip reef shark. I knew there was only one for two reasons. Reason one, it had a small black spot behind it's pectoral fin. Reason two, the pectoral fin by the black spot was bent slightly upward at the tip. The shark swam by several times, one time coming right up to the glass. When it came by, I put my face right up to the glass and watched it's face. I couldn't help but feel as if it looked at me straight in the eyes as it swam by. It felt like I was in the water with it. It might sound silly, but I couldn't help the feeling, I just think that they are so beautiful. One day when I start diving, I am going to have that same experience, only there will be no glass between us.

In the gift shop of the aquarium, I bought a T-shirt. It says on bold letters, 'Aquarium', 'Peace', and 'Love'. Under those letters, it has a small outline of a shark. I think that those three words are three things that sharks need. They need 'aquariums' as in a place to live where are they are guaranteed safe from being harmed. They need 'peace' as in free from human cruelty. Lastly, they need 'love' as in people who care.

Several months ago, I went by plane to Atlanta, Georgia so I could go to the aquarium there, which is the largest in the world. The Planet Shark exhibit was my favorite part of the aquarium. In the gift shop of the Georgia aquarium, I bought a shark encyclopedia as well as a collection of fossilized shark teeth. I would like to continue to buy shark merchandise at aquarium gift shops. I believe that if shark merchandise gains more popularity, more people will be inspired to help make a difference. They are beautiful creatures that should be protected and conserved.

P.S. The Georgia Aquarium has a new dolphin exhibit, which I have no desire to go to. To find out why I don't want to go, visit my other blog at theyneedavoice.blogspot.com.

Shark Hunting

The thought of the creatures may send shivers down your spine. Most people think of sharks as gruesome, relentless killers. Also, many people think that they are stupid and just kill everything in sight. Actually, sharks are far more intelligent than we give them credit for.  I have seen in several nature television shows people swimming beside great whites. Sharks are thought to be very dangerous to people, but you are more likely to be struck by lightning than be attacked by a shark. Elephants kill more people a year than sharks do. In reality, sharks kill on average 3-5 people a year. Crocodiles kill more people in one year than sharks do in 100 years.  Also, sharks attack us because we look like injured seals, when we thrash and splash about, which is a shark's prey. But, the shark usually takes one bite and swim off because it doesn't taste the way that they expected. The deaths are mainly caused by blood-loss. We kill 100 million or more sharks a year just for their fins. We kill many more just for meat. And that's just the ones that are killed intentionally. Hundreds more become entangled in tuna nets along with dolphins, porpoises, whales, seals, and sea lions. The number is shocking the first time you hear it, and I still can hardly believe it after knowing it for a long time. Many species are killed, including Blues, Hammerheads, and Makos. But any animal will be taken, no matter the size, age, or species. They are killed for their dorsal, pectoral, and caudal fins, which are used in a soup which is a delicacy in China (the soup is about the most tasteless, non-nutritious thing to eat). They are also eaten in other places such as Japan and Australia. The fins are sliced off while the shark is still alive and the mutilated animal is then thrown back in the water, slowly and painfully bleeding to death, starving or drowning (they need to constantly move to keep water running through their gills to breathe). It can take hours or days of suffering for the shark to finally die. While one animal is killed for fins, another is killed for meat and other uses. Thus, two animals are killed when just one could be killed for both things. May not seem like much, but it adds up. This happens in the waters of Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, New Zealand, Indonesia, Mexico, Taiwan, Spain, India, and even the Galapagos Islands. Despite being banned, shark finning still some times occurs of the coasts of the United States and Australia. Sharks are also hunted for sport, but I do not know what they are used for. If you hate sharks, think about the small number of people that they kill versus how many of them that we take.  I know that sharks aren't people and people are more important, but millions against less than a dozen is a humongous difference. But whether you like them or not, we need sharks. We need the oceans to survive. If sharks become more significantly endangered, fish beneath them in the food chain will flourish and consume more plankton. Plankton are the major oxygen producers in the world. If oxygen levels in the atmosphere start decreasing, we are all in big trouble. We need the oceans; the oceans need sharks, whales, and dolphins; and the three creatures need each other. Humans need to start thinking before they kill thousands upon millions of the creatures that we need to survive. In order to save ourselves, we must save the animals that we are slaughtering at rapid, alarming rates.

Hate sharks if you like, but just face the fact that you need them. I completely understand if you dislike them because you or a family member's been attacked, because I probably wouldn't like them as much. For a long time, I got nervous in murky waters. Now, It doesn't worry me. I know that they kill very few people, and that they are actually afraid of us. I used to hate them until I started doing research on them. Now, I love them. Many think that if an animal causes the deaths of a few people it means that they should all be wiped out. I do not believe that because an animal is considered dangerous means that we should kill them. The world has dangerous animals, but humans are the most dangerous creature on the planet. Think differently if you want, but understand the point I'm trying to make.

If you like sharks and want to learn more about dangers to them, you can see the movie Sharkwater. It has very good reviews. Even if you dislike sharks, it is still a good movie to see. I have heard that it has changed many people's opinions about sharks. I've seen The Cove and Sharkwater. It ordered Sharkwater from Amazon and watched it the day it came in. It is very good and all people who love sharks as well as haters should watch it.

Here are some more facts. Three sharks are killed every second and 10,000-10,400 are killed every hour. More sharks are killed in three hours than dolphins in a whole year in Taiji. Sure enough, everybody wants to save the dolphins and cares nothing about the sharks. The dolphins have lots of people helping them, the sharks don't. Everybody wants to save all of the cute, cuddly animals like dolphins, seals, dogs, and cats. I don't think that dolphins, seals, dogs, and cats should be tortured though, but they are getting tons of help. Animals that need the most help are the ones that are getting the least help. THEY NEED PEOPLE WHO CARE!!!

Does the description of the killing nor the pictures not bother you or make you care? Maybe if you see some videos you will understand. Here are a few videos, two with finning and the other with fin-less sharks all over the seabed.


WARNING: THERE IS BLOOD (lots of it)
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zep7B1esW-M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaZjmT8mHbU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0qkr2cIe5c (this is first footage ever filmed of shark finning)

You can also search shark finning on youtube and find a ton of videos. On most of them, there are age restrictions where you have to enter your date of birth, so for that reason I did not put links to them. You can see them as long as you have a youtube account and are over a certain age which I think is 18. I guess you could enter a false birthday if you are under 18, but it is probably smart not too. It is for a very good reason that it is restricted. Shark finning is extremely graphic and disturbing, not for the young or squeamish. None of the links are to videos with age restrictions.

Megalodon, Whale Shark, and Great White

Here's just a quick little post with a picture that shows the size comparison of a human (blue), a whale shark (violet), a great white (green), and the maximum (gray) and conservative (red) sizes of Megalodon. I'm glad that Megalodon is extinct; I'd never go to the beach! Click on the picture to zoom in.

Sharks' Importance

You may think of sharks as monsters. The majority of people think so. Like them or not, they are very important to the ocean. The ocean has a balance, and if one species is taken out, it will put the balance out of whack. Shark skeep the fish populations from getting out of hand. They are only second to Orcas as apex predators (followed by dolphins), and are extremely important. If they didn’t exist, fish would consume all of the plankton, our main source of oxygen. This would affect humans, cetaceans, and all other marine creatures.

        People don’t understand that you are more likely to be killed by a dog, horse, deer, or rabid raccoon or squirrel. We call lion “king of beasts” thinking that they are magnificent. They are no less dangerous than sharks.

       The filter feeding sharks such as Whale sharks, Basking sharks, and Megamouth sharks eat plankton. The predatory sharks such as Great White sharks, Shortfin and Longfin Makos, Bull sharks, Tiger sharks, Porbeagles, Salmon sharks, Lemon sharks, Hammerhead sharks, Greenland sharks, Sixgill sharks, Goblin sharks, Blue sharks, Thresher sharks, and Sandtiger sharks keep the fish populations balanced.

       Sharks have been around for 450 million years. Some of the first being the Megaladon, Helicoprion, Orthacanthus, Paleocarcharias, Symmorium, Echinochimaera, Belantsea, Scapanorhynchus (a resembling relative of the goblin shark), Hybodus shark, Stethacanthus, Falcatus, Acrodus, Erquitaia, Cretoxyrhina, Squalicorax, Physogaleus, Otodus, Tristchius, Cobelodus, Anomotodon, Cladoselache, Glikmanius, Akmonistion, Cardabiodon, Wodnika, Triodus, and Dunkleosteus. But since the 1970s, 95% of the ocean’s oldest predators’ populations have been decimated.

      In the shark/human relationship, we think that sharks are monsters. In fact, we’re the monsters. We think that killing them for meat and fins is a delicious, tasty decision. Actually, it’s not. Only 8-10 people are attacked and 3-5 killed by sharks each year. We kill 100 million or more of them a year. As we kill them, we are slowly messing up our world. We need to start thinking before we slaughter them.

       When caught, their dorsal, pectoral, and caudal fins are sliced off and the mutilated animal is thrown back in the water alive and either drowns, is eaten by another shark, bleeds to death, or starves to death. Shark Fin soup is a delicacy in China, and as the Chinese population grows, the demand for the soup also grows.

       Here’s a fact, shark fins are just cartilage. The soup is about the most tasteless, non-nutritional thing to eat. There is absolutely no use for it. But still, the fins alone as well as canned soup are sold in Asian markets, today. Chinese restaurants all over the world (including the USA) sell the soup, averaging $25.00 a bowl. There are four restaurants in my state that sell the soup, three of them being close to where I live (Yes, I'm sickened by it) and the last one being where most of my family lives. I went online to see the menu of one of the ones near my house, and shark fin soup was the most expensive soup on the soup menu. One pound of shark fin is worth $200 U.S and a whale shark caudal fin can be worth as much ad $10,000 in China. Scientists estimate that sharks may be all gone in 10-20 years, if we don’t act fast. We need sharks. Sharks need us.

Go to this address to find out what restaurants in your country sell shark fin soup:


http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/boycott.htm

 Copy pasted from my science project

Sharks in Movies

Sharks are often portrayed as villains in movies, most famously the Jaws movies and Deep Blue Sea. Though there are many shark horror films, they are all somewhat similar. Here are some of the movies about sharks, some well known, other not so much:

The four Jaws movies: Jaws, Jaws 2, Jaws 3, and Jaws: The Revenge

Another fairly popular shark horror film is Deep Blue Sea

Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus and Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus are monster/disaster films

Open Water and Open Water 2: Adrift are two films that are said to be based off of true events

Shark Tale is an animated film

Sharkwater is a documentary where they are trying to save sharks from hunting

Shores of Silence: Whale Sharks in India is another film about trying to save sharks

12 Days of Terror is a non-fiction, docudrama made for the Discovery Channel

Great White is an Italian Horror film that is extremely similar to the Jaws movies

Monster Shark is another Italian Horror film

Deep Blood is another Italian shark movie

Tintorea, a British-Mexican Horror film, is also very similar to the Jaws movies

Cruel Jaws is based on the Jaws movies

Megalodon is an American shark film

Mako: Jaws of Death is a 1970's thriller


Dinoshark is a 2010 low budget Syfy film

Shark Night is a 2011 Horror film