When we hear the word “slaughter” we mostly think in pigs or cows. However, there are places created for the processing whale shark meat, where they are cleaned, cut into pieces and took their body oil for commercial purposes.

Each year, this places process about 600 whale sharks in China. In this issue, besides from the whale shark, other species of shark are included such as the basking shark, the blue shark, and the great white shark.

They use most body parts for different purposes. They use the fins in soups, and other dishes considered a delicacy and highly priced because of the belief of unconfirmed health properties. The meat is useful in the cuisine of several dishes; teeth are raw material for making crafts that are very attractive to tourists, and the cartilage and oil are components of various medicinal products supposedly with great qualities but

The whale shark is under legal protection throughout the world, but some countries, do not enforce such laws, and the situation seems to be uncontrolled. Japan, for example, is a constant target of environmentalist groups because of the crimes committed against many animal species, especially dolphins, and whales.

To understand why hunting a whale shark is an attractive and profitable business, it is enough to mention that from a single shark, the owners of fishing companies can make up to $ 30,000 USD and there will always be customers. But at what price do they do all this? The whale shark population is just a bit more than seven thousand individuals, not hundreds of thousands, or millions, a reason why this situation is alarming. They got an endangered status in the latest assessment of 2016 in the IUCN (Red List of Threatened Species) but in the short term, their condition could get even worse.

There are reports made by brave investigators posing as customers, who obtained the information to expose them. An example of this was a team of National Geographic in a region of China. This investigation was a work of three years since they first had to gain the confidence of the supplier not to cause any suspicions that could jeopardize their safety. In the video these researchers were able to capture with a hidden camera, the owner of a processing facility of fish oil, explaining freely about the large amounts of oil that are exported annually to different developed countries.

Environmental organizations operate day and night to eradicate this problem, but the participation of society is essential and pressuring on governments to not leave this as an unresolved issue. It may seem very far from us, or we might even think that there are more important things for which to protest, but this can affect us in many ways shortly.

We can help propagate this type of information that we do not see it ever in the news. However, the best way we can help is not buying products that come from the slaughter of these animals.

Sources:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140129-whale-shark-endangered-cites-ocean-animals-conservation/

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/factory-china-slaughtering-estimated-600-endangered-whale-sharks-every-year-180949539/

BioExpedition Publishing © 2017.

Sharks are marine predators, and they consume species that are part of their natural habitat and act on instinct, as the vast majority of living beings on this planet.

Their widespread ocean distribution and their physical characteristics are two of the reasons why people view them as a cruel and ruthless species, but their reality is completely different.

Sharks attack and kill on average ten humans per year. On the contrary, humans kill up to 30 million sharks annually (according to the Museum of the Natural History Department of Ichthyology Florida) and often just to take their fins and return them to the water alive severely injured.

WHAT IS THE ECOLOGICAL ROLE OF SHARKS?

Sharks help to “clean up” our oceans because many shark species consume carrion and dead plants, so they reduce the marine debris. They also regulate the population size of the species they consume, since otherwise such abundance of organisms could become a risk to marine wildlife and the whole biome would be affected.

The filter-feeding sharks feed on large amounts of zooplankton and eliminate harmful algal blooms, which also contributes significantly to “cleaning” the sea.

These cartilaginous fish have inspired the creation of objects for humans. For example, suits for swimmers who seek to create less friction with the water to achieve a higher speed. They have also been taken as examples to enhance structures of ships and aircraft, to improve stability in the maritime and air routes.

The research on sharks has provided valuable scientific documents that delve into the study of primitive fish and other marine vertebrates, from which conclusions have arisen about the origin of the aquatic life. Similarly, we have identified genetic qualities in sharks that can help to improve human health.

Here are some examples of the valuable importance of sharks in biodiversity and human life. If the top predator of the seas gets extinct, the populations of some species that are part of their food will increase without control. Every living thing has a purpose in their habitat, which is why sharks should also be part of our attention and defending them from the cruel slaughtering they suffer is our responsibility.

Sources:

http://www.sharksavers.org/en/education/the-value-of-sharks/sharks-role-in-the-ocean/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26975420

http://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/the-importance-of-sharks-you-do-the-math-/

https://www.cerc.usgs.gov/Projects.aspx?ProjectId=123

BioExpedition Publishing © 2017.

Zebra Shark In Australia

Image Tags:
shark, australia, black, bull, carpet, carpetshark, coral, diving, fasciatum, fish, grey, leopard, marine, ocean, queensland, reef, scuba, sea, aquarium, snorkel, sponge, stegostoma, tip, tropical, underwater, water, zebra

The great white shark was added to the endangered list because its population has dropped due to the unregulated trade and excessive hunting.

The great white shark is the top predator of the ocean, and adults have no threats in the seas. However, humans kill a large number of white sharks every year to get their teeth and jaws for trading, their meat for eating and their fins for remedies.

Links to other pages in this site

Why Sharks Attack Humans?
How Many Teeth Does A Great White Shark Have?
How Does A Shark Breathe?
Why Are People Afraid Of Sharks?
How Many Years Does A Shark Live For?

Scientists think that most of the shark attacks on humans are due to mistaken identity.

Observations proved that surfers on surfboards resemble the image of a sea lion a sea turtle or a seal when seen from the bottom of the ocean, making sharks curious to test the prey.

Other times, sharks attack humans as result of provocations by human activity like fishing, water activities or splashing.

Other occasions, colors used by people or shiny jewelry can attract the attention of sharks.

What Kind Of Shark Can Live In Fresh Water?
Why Do The Great White Sharks Attack Humans?
What Do Sharks Eat?
How Does A Shark Breathe?
Why Do Sharks Have Cartilage?

Mako sharks have an endangered status because of the same reasons other shark species have it, excessive human fishing, and hunting, either directly or bycatch.

In particular, Mako sharks are victims of an infamous practice called shark finning which consists of cutting off their fins while sharks are still alive and return them this way to the ocean being victims of predators or a slow death.

Links to other pages in this site

What Do Sharks Eat?
Why Do Sharks Drown When Pulled Backwards?
How Big Is The Biggest Recorded Whale Shark?
How Do Sharks Find Their Food?
How Does Global Warming Affect Sharks?

New teeth grow continuously inside shark’s mouth discarding the old ones and renewing them immediately.

Therefore, sharks do not have a particular reason to grow new teeth, but they do it all their life going through thousands of teeth during their lifetime.

Some guess that sharks produce up to 30,000 teeth during their entire life.

Usually, their mouth has several rows of teeth, therefore when they lose one because of struggling with prey or just because they are renewing it, the correspondent tooth from the row behind it goes forward to fill the space in the jaw.

Links to other pages in this site

How Are Whale Sharks Endangered?
Why The Great White Shark Is Endangered?
How Much Do Sharks Weight?
How Long Do Mother Sharks Carry Their Babies?
How Many Species Of Sharks?

Although the great white shark is known as the most ferocious and aggressive shark, this shark typically does not target humans as prey. This fact does not mean that you can swim without worries besides this species.

There are some regions in the world with very few shark attacks on humans like the Mediterranean sea which has only 31 confirmed attacks in the last centuries and a fewer number of dead people.

Those attacks could be the result of mistaken identity, or merely curiosity.

Links to other pages in this site

What Are The Tiger Shark Enemies?
What Is The Largest Shark In The World?
Why Are People Afraid Of Sharks?
How Many Species Of Sharks?
What Is The Age Span Of A Shark?