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.