Saturday, January 16, 2010

What is shark hunting? It contains many different things. Its hunting sharks for their prized fins, teeth, meet for eating, and also just for the pure fun of the “sport.” Like any type of animal hunting, we are seeing that shark numbers are decreasing, and not in any comfortable rate. Sharks are becoming fewer and fewer. I found this great sight while looking for what other people had to say about shark hunting online. This site really gives you a better look at the effects that shark hunting has on the eco system. Ransom Myers from Dalhousie University, Halifax studied the effects of shark hunting and the disappearance of the great sharks living on the American Eastern Seaboard. Not to my surprise, he found several shark species have almost vanished since 1972. Vanished! These species include the bull shark, dusky and smooth hammerhead shark. Sharks not only have the job of being the top predator in the ocean, they also carry an unusually different job as well. Sharks provide protection for the animals at the bottom of the food chain by eating the mid-level predators. This prevents these lesser predators from whipping out the bottom level animals such as small fish and invertebrates. Shark fins also drive up the disappearance level as well. In China, shark fin soup is considered a delicacy, even though shark fin has no taste. The main purpose is to provide a different texture. But here’s the problem. China is a BIG country. They have many people who love to snack on the “delicacy.” So, in order to keep up with the demand, China has boats surf the seas looking for any type of shark they can find, neglecting age, gender, and type. I love sharks; I am very worried that sharks might be the next animals on the extinct list, right beside their long gone brother the Megladon.