Information


Sharks has a minion!

Save the Sharky




Sharks
Legacy Name: Sharks


The Custom Common Experiment #3877
Owner: Shark

Age: 12 years, 11 months, 4 days

Born: April 24th, 2011

Adopted: 6 years, 6 months, 2 weeks ago

Adopted: September 14th, 2017


Pet Spotlight Winner
October 26th, 2019

Statistics


  • Level: 6
     
  • Strength: 15
     
  • Defense: 17
     
  • Speed: 11
     
  • Health: 17
     
  • HP: 17/17
     
  • Intelligence: 1
     
  • Books Read: 0
  • Food Eaten: 0
  • Job: Towel Folder


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Why are sharks so important?

Sharks play a vital role in both the ecosystem they live in as well as in our economy!

Sharks have evolved in a tight inter-dependency with their ecosystem. They tend to eat very efficiently, going after the old, sick, or slower fish in a population that they prey upon, keeping that population healthier. Sharks groom many populations of marine life to the right size so that those prey species don`t cause harm to the ecosystem by becoming too populous. This can serve as an indicator for ocean health, and also helps keep healthy competition among other apex predators in the sea.

As predators, they shift their prey`s spatial habitat, which alters the feeding strategy and diets of other species. Through the spatial controls and abundance, sharks indirectly maintain the seagrass and corals reef habitats.

Sharks are at the top of these food chains and are considered by scientists to be “keystone” species, meaning that removing them causes the whole structure to collapse. For this reason, the prospect of a food chain minus its apex predators may mean the end of the line for many more species.

Sharks` control over species below them in the food chain also indirectly affects the economy. A study in North Carolina showed that the loss of the great sharks increased the ray populations below them.


So why does this matter?

By removing the sick and the weak, they prevent the spread of disease and prevent outbreaks that could be devastating. Preying on the weakest individuals also strengthens the gene pools of the prey species. Since the largest, strongest, and healthiest fish generally reproduce in greater numbers, the outcome is larger numbers of healthier fish.

Through intimidation, sharks regulate the behavior of prey species, and prevent them from overgrazing vital habitats. Some shark scientists believe that this intimidation factor may actually have more of an impact on the ecosystem than what sharks eat. For example, scientists in Hawaii found that tiger sharks had a positive impact on the health of sea grass beds. Turtles, which are the tiger sharks` prey, graze on sea grass. In the absence of tiger sharks, the turtles spent all of their time grazing on the best quality, most nutritious sea grass, and these habitats were soon destroyed. When tiger sharks are in the area, however, turtles graze over a broader area and do not overgraze one region.

The loss of sharks has led to the decline in coral reefs, seagrass beds, and the loss of commercial fisheries. By taking sharks out of the coral reef ecosystem, the larger predatory fish, such as groupers, increase in abundance and feed on the herbivores. With less herbivores, macroalgae expands and coral can no longer compete, shifting the ecosystem to one of algae dominance, affecting the survival of the reef system.

Due to the increase of the ray population there were fewer scallops for rays to eat. Without scallops to eat the rays have moved on to other food sources, further decreasing the abundance of food for others in the food chain.

The decline of the quahog, a key ingredient in clam chowder, is forcing many restaurants to remove this American classic from their menus. The disappearance of scallops and clams demonstrates that the elimination of sharks can cause harm to the economy in addition to ecosystems.

Sharks are also influencing the economy through ecotourism. In the Bahamas, a single live reef shark is worth $250,000 as a result of dive tourism versus a one time value of $50 when caught by a fisherman. One whale shark in Belize can bring in $2 million over its lifetime.

What is happening to sharks



Warning, this page discusses animal death!

There is no gore or explicit content, but it does talk about what is being done to sharks and why they are being killed.



keep scrolling to read on!

Just a note: while there is no doubt that sharks are being killed and are worth saving, compared to other commercial fisheries the shark-fin industry is opaque, secretive, and often operates in a legal grey area. It exploits loopholes in anti-finning laws and keeps few records. In addition to this, reporting can be unreliable and misleading, as member countries of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report shark catches with varying degrees of detail and accuracy.

The combination of these factors has made it difficult to quantify the global exploitation of shark populations, and has led to significant variation in the numbers that are quoted on the subject. These range from 10 million a year (United Nations) to more than 100 million (various sources), and the discrepancy has hampered efforts to agree on the scope of problem.


click here for larger image


If the numbers vary so much, where does the range of 26-73 million come from?


In 2006, a group of researchers led by Shelley C. Clarke published a study that presented the first – and only – quantitatively-derived assessment of the number of sharks ending up in the fin trade. By using fin auction records sourced in Hong Kong, the world’s largest shark fin trading hub, they were able to estimate the global shark catch to a level of accuracy that had been previously impossible, as well as calculate what the uncertainty of that estimate was. They came up with 26 to 73 million sharks per year, with an overall median (average) of 38 million per year.


Why is there such a high variation between numbers from different sources?


The most likely explanation is a high frequency of shark finning at sea, where the fins are removed from the shark and the mutilated animal is dumped back overboard, often still alive. Though shark finning is prohibited in several countries, including the USA, EU, South Africa, Brazil and Cost Rica, investigations have shown that the practice continues where enforcement is lax.

Removing the fins at sea and discarding the carcass wastes around 95% of the animal, but this frees up space on the boat for more fins, which can fetch up to US$1000 per kilogram. In comparison, prawns retail at around US$6 per kilogram.


What about sharks caught that don’t end up in the fin trade?


The authors of the 2006 study admit that these numbers may underestimate global shark catches. For example, they do not take into account domestic production and consumption of shark fins by major fishing countries such as Taiwan and Japan unless the fins are exported for processing and re-imported. Also, the numbers do not include those sharks which are caught as bycatch and discarded whole. Therefore, the actual number of sharks caught worldwide every year could be more than 73 million.

What can be done?

There are many things that can be done to help! Here are some suggestions for your consideration:


Educate yourself. By educating yourself on the issues, you can find effective ways to help. You can also help teach others about sharks and inspire them to get involved as well. Lack of understanding and empathy has been cultivated in the perpetuated idea that sharks are bloodthirsty, angry creatures. The more people learn about sharks and understand the truth of them the more people will be willing to help these important creatures. (And in today`s digital age it`s easier than ever to get educated and spread that knowledge.)


Avoid shark products. Obviously a great place to start is by not consuming any shark meat. However, there are more products than just shark meat on the market. Shark cartilage and oils are found in a range of products from beauty items to health nutrition. So before consuming any product, make sure it does not use any shark materials. By boycotting shark products, you will reduce market demand, causing companies to stop killing sharks to make these products.


Reduce your seafood consumption. Commercial fishing negatively impacts sharks in two ways. First, it reduces the populations of their food sources, especially sharks that rely on bony fish as their primary food source. Secondly, sharks are often killed as a byproduct of commercial fishing. Sharks are attracted to the movement of the trapped animals, and may try to feed on them, getting caught and strangling in the net. They may also be accidentally caught by fisherman looking for other seafood. So by simply reducing your consumption of seafood, you can reduce the number of sharks killed each year.


Reduce, reuse, & recycle. One of the biggest threats to shark species is trash. With the massive plastic consumption and dumping, sharks often mistake garbage for food. Plastic is also consumed by the marine species that sharks eat. So sharks will eventually consume non-food products, leading to illness and death. Plastic and plastic byproduct has many negative effects on our ocean (and our planet in general!) so even aside from helping the sharks it`s very good to be able to limit your contribution when possible!


Donate and volunteer with shark conservation organizations. There are hundreds of wonderful organizations that work tirelessly on shark conservation efforts. Shark conservation organizations fight to educate people, stop the slaughter of sharks, and write and support legislation that protects conservation zones. So if you have some spare time or money, you can donate to a shark conservation group.
You can use sites like Charity Navigator and Charity Watch to help you determine charities you want to donate to! Searching for shark or ocean on either will give you many options to choose from. (Although, if you`re able and feeling generous, there are no limits to the sort of charities you can search for!)


Write your legislators. Letter writing is a great way to helps protect and preserve sharks. Writing a letter to your representative to tell them that shark conservation is important to you and that you would like them to introduce and support legislation that will list sharks as protected species, ban shark finning and fishing, and set up conservation areas in the oceans around your country can be a big help.


Talk to your local educators. Schools are a great resource to help encourage people to get active in a cause. From elementary schools to universities, you can help promote campaigns that raise awareness, collect donations, and support conservation efforts. Teachers and students love to get active in causes, so talking to your local educators is a great way to rally people to help save sharks.


Speak out if/when you see abuse. If you live near the oceans or are just on vacation, if you see someone abusing sharks, speak out. Whether they are poking and prodding them or illegally hunting them, tell the authorities what you’ve seen. Most beaches have protections for the local marine species, so if someone is mistreating a shark you can help defend the shark by reporting the action.


Go diving with sharks. Shark diving is a great way to protect local shark species. Governments are much more likely to set up conservation zones when sharks bring tourism revenue to an area. There’s a variety of dives you can do for any skill level and interest. Whether you go cage diving with Great White sharks or simply snorkeling with Nurse Sharks, shark tourism will help support local conservation efforts.

credits


Profile template by Lea.

Shark heart on main from Save Our Sharks

Animated shark pixel from DeviantArt

Background image from 1-background

Text from the following websites (and at times edited/added to by myself)
Oceana
Shark Savers
Shark Sider
Save Our Seas

Thank you to Damon for giving me this lovely pet! ♥️ And shout out to Horror_902 for helping me pick between fonts!









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