Majority of ocean's shark species face extinction.
- Thread starter hamato_yoshii
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I love how one of the recommendations was that more money be put into research, which was recommended by the leader of the reserch team
Don't get me wrong, I am all for sharks and making sure we don't eat them out of existance. I just am worried they will be the next polar bear (which has record populations ever recorded), and everyone says the polar bear is headed for extinction.
Don't get me wrong, I am all for sharks and making sure we don't eat them out of existance. I just am worried they will be the next polar bear (which has record populations ever recorded), and everyone says the polar bear is headed for extinction.
I am going to ignore that Polar Bear statement...for now. When it comes to sharks, they are absolutely right, thus the main reason for the start of Ocean's Advocate!
NilePufferFanatic;1817461; said:I love how one of the recommendations was that more money be put into research, which was recommended by the leader of the reserch team
Don't get me wrong, I am all for sharks and making sure we don't eat them out of existance. I just am worried they will be the next polar bear (which has record populations ever recorded), and everyone says the polar bear is headed for extinction.
Sound's like Al Gore!
This is why I want to become a Marine Biologist so that I can help conserve our elasmos. The best way I see of doing it is by educating the public that they aren't horrible organisms.
The polar bears may be thriving for the time being but their habitat is melting away. I'm not even sure that they are thriving where did you get that info from because I believe its wrong. Polar bears are losing the ice on which they hunt seals on. The ice is becoming thinner and the seals can see the polar bear waiting to kill them at their air hole so the polar bears are getting less and less food. Plus its not just polar bears that are being damaged by the ice melting. Ducky penguins are another. The whole ecosystem there will be affected. Without polar bears to control the seal population they will use up al lof their resources. Their food (fish, inverts, etc) will follow the same pattern. Things will thrive momentarily then die out due to using up all of the available resources. I don't want to go into much detail because this thread is about sharks.
The same things as I just mentioned for polar bears will happen to sharks. We are killing off the apex predator and that will have huge consequences in the future.
Oh and WB I would appreciate you adding into the flaming of the polar bear dude
. You always have insightful ways of sticking it to the man lol. Its people like that who are ignorant to the real danger that all this has and how important the natural balance of things are.
The polar bears may be thriving for the time being but their habitat is melting away. I'm not even sure that they are thriving where did you get that info from because I believe its wrong. Polar bears are losing the ice on which they hunt seals on. The ice is becoming thinner and the seals can see the polar bear waiting to kill them at their air hole so the polar bears are getting less and less food. Plus its not just polar bears that are being damaged by the ice melting. Ducky penguins are another. The whole ecosystem there will be affected. Without polar bears to control the seal population they will use up al lof their resources. Their food (fish, inverts, etc) will follow the same pattern. Things will thrive momentarily then die out due to using up all of the available resources. I don't want to go into much detail because this thread is about sharks.
The same things as I just mentioned for polar bears will happen to sharks. We are killing off the apex predator and that will have huge consequences in the future.
Oh and WB I would appreciate you adding into the flaming of the polar bear dude
. You always have insightful ways of sticking it to the man lol. Its people like that who are ignorant to the real danger that all this has and how important the natural balance of things are.
By no means am I an expert at anything aquatic, but considering we have only researched like 1% of the oceans, how can this possibly be true?
I also agree with the statement about the polarbears. Another reason is as the Ice melts away its breaking apart, spreading father apart and the polar bears can't reach certian areas before the ice spreads to far apart which can cause them to lose food sources or become trapped because they were not able to cross so many miles of ocean to catch the seals. While this may not seem like a major problem now it's affects will be more apparent as time passes. I am just going to stop there.
As for the sharks, while in FL they def. seem to be thriving (and need to have people educated on them for sure, shark bite capital =] ) but then we are also one small area in the world with certain sharks off our shores. I do see the danger and downfall of sharks coming from overfishing and shark finning. Sharks are one of the oceans top predators and keeps many animals in check. Its an apex predator, it is not preyed upon but it keeps fish and many other species in line from over populating etc. They dont reproduce very fast they have to grow and mature which takes a long time ontop of them not having very many offspring. If you take the larger one's then you are reducing whats in the ocean to reproduce. If you take the small ones, then your not leaving anything to grow to reproduce. It just creates a nice big chain reaction.
Just to put it out there.. I am by no means what so ever an expert just things I learn from places. It would be a good thing to start to research though to keep an eye on things. The ocean is big, but it may be something we may want to keep an eye on for many reasons.
As for the sharks, while in FL they def. seem to be thriving (and need to have people educated on them for sure, shark bite capital =] ) but then we are also one small area in the world with certain sharks off our shores. I do see the danger and downfall of sharks coming from overfishing and shark finning. Sharks are one of the oceans top predators and keeps many animals in check. Its an apex predator, it is not preyed upon but it keeps fish and many other species in line from over populating etc. They dont reproduce very fast they have to grow and mature which takes a long time ontop of them not having very many offspring. If you take the larger one's then you are reducing whats in the ocean to reproduce. If you take the small ones, then your not leaving anything to grow to reproduce. It just creates a nice big chain reaction.
Just to put it out there.. I am by no means what so ever an expert just things I learn from places. It would be a good thing to start to research though to keep an eye on things. The ocean is big, but it may be something we may want to keep an eye on for many reasons.
While sharks may seem to be doing okay in certain areas - like United States coastal waters. But globally speaking there are many species in serious trouble.
Case in point - the Grey Nurse/Sand Tiger shark. While in some areas of the Southeastern US coast they are plentiful. Also in areas near Australia, Southeastern Asia, & Indonesia they are very rare - possible numbering less than a few thousand for the whole Indo-Pacific area.
Also while it's possible to breed species such as Tigers, Lions, & Polar Bears in captivity. So even if we lose these species in the Wild - it's still possible to save the species as a whole. With many shark species - it's presently not possible to breed these species in captivity. So if we lose them in the wild - that's it - no 2nd chances.
Case in point - the Grey Nurse/Sand Tiger shark. While in some areas of the Southeastern US coast they are plentiful. Also in areas near Australia, Southeastern Asia, & Indonesia they are very rare - possible numbering less than a few thousand for the whole Indo-Pacific area.
Also while it's possible to breed species such as Tigers, Lions, & Polar Bears in captivity. So even if we lose these species in the Wild - it's still possible to save the species as a whole. With many shark species - it's presently not possible to breed these species in captivity. So if we lose them in the wild - that's it - no 2nd chances.
Here is a little education on why sharks are threatened:
Shark finning one of the most profitable, most rapidly growing industry in the world, second only to illegal drug trafficking.
MILLIONS of sharks are slaughtered each year by finning. Thats not millions of fins, thats millions of SHARKS
SEVERAL hundreds of thousands more sharks are killed each year by illegal poaching, sport fishing, by-catch, and asian market trades.
Shark cartilage is believed in Asian Culture to contain magical healing powers, rumored to cure cancer, allieviate arthritis, reverse digestive disorders, correct eye-sight, and strengthen one's sex drive. ALLLL of this is FALSE based on NO scientific fact! In fact scientific studies have been conducted WORLD WIDE which have PROVEN through various tests and studies that shark cartilage has absolutely NO medicinal healing properties, aphrodesiac effects, or other form of aid/relief. This is a practice that is based off of stories, culture, old-world legends, and those interested in making a quick buck on available resources. This is called persuasive communication, and such tactics can be learned through your local college. That is all it is, a bunch of false, rediculous bullsh**!
The average shark takes anywhere from 14-20 years to reach sexual maturity, some longer, and if they live that long, not every shark will reproduce. In a hundred sharks, you might have 90 mate, and yet only about 75 of them would produce viable casings/pups. Already you have lost 25% of your reproductive population, and then you can factor in the number of pups that actually make it into adult hood - considering shark pups fall prey to larger sharks, and other predators, and those pelagic species have to fight for survival from birth with relatively limited resources compared to those born further inland.
Additionally, though sharks may lay several eggs, only a small percent of those on average will be viable, having an opportunity to produce a healthy pup - and thats if the egg is not broken into and the shark eaten by other inverts, washed ashore, or damaged from the elements. Live bearers will only produce a small number to begin with usually no more than one or two pups, as live in-utero is a shark-eat-shark world from the start, with only the strongest and largest surviving, while the weaker and smaller become food. Taking that into consideration - you are down about another 40%. You do the math, with the remaining animals suffering from over-fishing, long-lining, illegal poaching and shark finning, hmmmmm - why do you think there is a problem, and number are rapidly declining, causing ecological imbalances world-wide.
Sharks are apex predators, ridding the waters of disease and weakness, picking off ill and injured animals. They keep the numbers in check, monitoring much faster repoducing animals. If sharks are taken out of the picture, you are going to see an influx of plankton eating fish, which will quickly decimate the micro-planktonic colonies, causing an influx of algaes to boot. Take out those key members and guess what - - you will effectively crash the marine ecosystem and remove oer 70 - yes 70% of oxygen resources for our planet.
How would you like to spend a day at a death ridden, algae filled ocean sucking down less than 30% of the oxygen you have now. ???
Shark finning one of the most profitable, most rapidly growing industry in the world, second only to illegal drug trafficking.
MILLIONS of sharks are slaughtered each year by finning. Thats not millions of fins, thats millions of SHARKS
SEVERAL hundreds of thousands more sharks are killed each year by illegal poaching, sport fishing, by-catch, and asian market trades.
Shark cartilage is believed in Asian Culture to contain magical healing powers, rumored to cure cancer, allieviate arthritis, reverse digestive disorders, correct eye-sight, and strengthen one's sex drive. ALLLL of this is FALSE based on NO scientific fact! In fact scientific studies have been conducted WORLD WIDE which have PROVEN through various tests and studies that shark cartilage has absolutely NO medicinal healing properties, aphrodesiac effects, or other form of aid/relief. This is a practice that is based off of stories, culture, old-world legends, and those interested in making a quick buck on available resources. This is called persuasive communication, and such tactics can be learned through your local college. That is all it is, a bunch of false, rediculous bullsh**!
The average shark takes anywhere from 14-20 years to reach sexual maturity, some longer, and if they live that long, not every shark will reproduce. In a hundred sharks, you might have 90 mate, and yet only about 75 of them would produce viable casings/pups. Already you have lost 25% of your reproductive population, and then you can factor in the number of pups that actually make it into adult hood - considering shark pups fall prey to larger sharks, and other predators, and those pelagic species have to fight for survival from birth with relatively limited resources compared to those born further inland.
Additionally, though sharks may lay several eggs, only a small percent of those on average will be viable, having an opportunity to produce a healthy pup - and thats if the egg is not broken into and the shark eaten by other inverts, washed ashore, or damaged from the elements. Live bearers will only produce a small number to begin with usually no more than one or two pups, as live in-utero is a shark-eat-shark world from the start, with only the strongest and largest surviving, while the weaker and smaller become food. Taking that into consideration - you are down about another 40%. You do the math, with the remaining animals suffering from over-fishing, long-lining, illegal poaching and shark finning, hmmmmm - why do you think there is a problem, and number are rapidly declining, causing ecological imbalances world-wide.
Sharks are apex predators, ridding the waters of disease and weakness, picking off ill and injured animals. They keep the numbers in check, monitoring much faster repoducing animals. If sharks are taken out of the picture, you are going to see an influx of plankton eating fish, which will quickly decimate the micro-planktonic colonies, causing an influx of algaes to boot. Take out those key members and guess what - - you will effectively crash the marine ecosystem and remove oer 70 - yes 70% of oxygen resources for our planet.
How would you like to spend a day at a death ridden, algae filled ocean sucking down less than 30% of the oxygen you have now. ???