Sharks!...

Sharks!

   Way, way, way back (like about 420 million years before humans even arrived on earth), there were sharks.  In the process of evolution, they developed a heightened sense of smell (some sharks can detect as little blood as one part per million), a vast electrical detection system (the most sensitive of any animal...some scientists feel that sharks detect the ocean currents reacting with the magnetic field of the Earth and use that for their bearings and to navigate), formed social groups and traveled thousands of miles in migration (one tagged shark was shown to go from Australia to South Africa and back)...and they're headed for extinction.

   If all goes as planned, Western Australia will resume culling sharks in November, a controversial decision made by its premier (67% of the population opposes the culling).  In 10 years, Australia has had 15 fatal shark attacks.  In Hawaii and Florida, there were 2 fatal attacks each in the same period.  These three areas represent the areas with the highest number of shark fatalities.  The response?...to kill over 100 million sharks each year (these killings also include those taken worldwide for their fins and some for actual eating...in Australia's Victoria area, shark meat is used for fish & chips).

   Let's do those numbers again.  For a worldwide total of 7+ shark fatalities annually since 2003, over a billion sharks are estimated to have been killed.  Sharks take close to a year to reproduce, and don't reach reproductive age until a decade or so passes (lemon sharks take 13-15 years before reaching sexual maturity).  Most sharks, if left unmolested, live over 20 years (the spiny dogfish can live to be 100).  But today, their populations are dwindling quickly with 25%  being placed on the threatened or endangered list.

   A large portion of this killing is due to the harvesting of shark fins, a myth dating back to the Ming Dynasty that shark fin soup increases male sexual prowess (one group, WildAid, is showing that due to high mercury content, shark fin soup might ironically increase sterility in males).  This finning is banned in many areas (only in the past several years, however) since it involves cutting off each of the sharks fins then tossing the fish back into the water to drown.  The number of fins harvested (and we're talking only the fins) remains constant at close to 1.5 tons each year since 2000.  According to one report from CNN, "Shark fin soup can be expensive.  A bowl of imperial shark fin soup can cost upwards of $100.  These days, shark fin soup is so fashionable that it's becoming commonplace.  Buffets serve versions of it for as low as $10 a bowl.  The irony is that shark fin is flavorless -- its cartilage has a chewy consistency.  Tens of thousands of sharks are being killed for a gelatinous thing in a soup."

   In addition, another myth is being dispelled.  New studies released since 2008 are showing that sharks do indeed develop cancer and other diseases (it was once felt that sharks were immune to cancer, thus creating a fad that shark cartilege oil was beneficial).  In truth, the cancer patients using placebos faired better than those on shark cartilege in the study from the American Society of Clinical Oncology.  Some species' populations (there are over 470 species of sharks) are down 90%...

   The news is not all bad, however.  South Africa in 1991 became the first nation to actually protect the great white shark.  Nearly 10 years later, the U.S. passed the Shark Conservation Act.  In 2013, New York joined 7 other states and 3 Pacific territories in protecting sharks.  In 2007, the award-winning documentary, Sharkwater, arrived along with a followup film.  And Shark Trust is just one of many conservations groups hoping to spread more education about the threat to shark populations.  In addition, the Discovery Channel has a fairly thorough guide to how you can help protect this top predator. 

   Overall, the best news came a week ago when CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of World Fauna and Flora) issued a press release protecting sharks.   “Regulating international trade in these shark and manta ray species is critical to their survival and is a very tangible way of helping to protect the biodiversity of our oceans,” John Scanlon, Secretary-General of  CITES, said in a statement.  The new United Nations-backed trade protection rules, which came into effect on September 14, require special permits and certificates verifying that the shark and manta ray has been harvested sustainably and legally.  Said one report, "The new trade regulation is widely considered the most important effort in the last half-century to protect these species."

   To make a personal difference, simply stop the demand for shark meat.  Don't order it on menus (few restaurants carry it anymore...encourage those that do to stop doing so) and don't buy it in stores.  Helping in such small ways can indeed make a big difference...this might be your one big chance to help keep one of our last prehistoric creatures around.

  
P.S.  Some of you have asked for references and sources on some of the data I've been writing about so I've started attaching links if you wish further information on a subject.  And do bear in mind that
even though I do try my best to make sure that what I write is accurate, this is simply a blog and has no real fact checkers such as those employed by the top magazines...caveat emptor, as they say.