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