User:Tigerfanz/sandbox

Why Shark Conservation?
If you’ve ever been swimming in the ocean, it’s likely that sharks have popped into your mind and sent a little shiver up your spine. The truth is that you have probably been within 5 feet from the greatest hunter in the world, the shark. Sharks are one of the greatest predators ever to live on this planet, and probably the greatest predator to ever rule the oceans. They are what is known as an apex predator. An apex predator is a creature that rules over all else in a certain ecosystem and is at the very top of the food chain. Sharks play a huge part in our world, not just in the ocean but also in humanity. Populations have been dropping due to people catching them for sport, people catching them for food, and people killing them for the hatred of the fish. If we continue to kill these great hunters, then our world will really reap repercussions. My goal in this paper is to make people aware of how much this world need sharks and what we need to do to increase the survival of these fish.

History Of Sharks
Sharks have been here for hundreds of millions of years. The earliest sharks date back to about 350 million years ago during the Paleozoic time period. This is very old considering the earliest dinosaurs date back to about 250 million years ago during the Mesozoic time period. “The Paleozoic era, a major division of geologic time occurring between 570 to 240 million years ago” (Paleozoic era. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition). “A few primitive fishlike invertebrates, and then vertebrates, appeared in the Cambrian and Ordovician era.” (Paleozoic era. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition). These are 2 minor eras during the Paleozoic time period. Most of the creatures during this time period were very small organisms. It is very interesting that sharks, the greatest known predator of the oceans have been on this earth for so long. This is one of the reasons they are the perfect hunter for their environment. They have had so long to perfect their craft. It is sad to think about that sharks were able to live through the meteorite that took out the dinosaurs but are becoming endangered because of human impacts. This should be an eye opener that we are doing so much harm to the environment. We are trying to understand how these great apex predators have such amazing survival skills and apply them to our own lives. Humans are a relatively new species on this planet compared to sharks. Understanding how their bodies are able to do things such as reject cancer cells, have a 6th sense which helps them with navigation/ hunting, and many other things could possibly help humans better our lives on this planet and have a greater survival rate. As I mentioned in the last paragraph, sharks have been here for millions of years before the dinosaurs and hundreds of millions of years before humans. There are many reasons they have adapted to the many different conditions of the oceans. There are sharks that can swim from the oceans and up rivers. These sharks are called bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas). They “utilize natural rivers and estuaries as nursery grounds before migrating offshore as adults” (Natural or Artificial? Habitat-Use by the Bull Shark, Carcharhinus leucas). There are sharks that can swim up to about 50 miles per hour. They are called Mako Sharks and are sought after for sports fishing. There are also sharks that range from over 40 feet long to less than 8 inches long. The most powerful predator in the oceans are the Great White Sharks. Sharks really do come in all sizes controlling all parts of the ocean. The greatest benefit that sharks have over many other species of fish and even humans are they they have a 6th sense. While we have the senses of smell, touch, sight, taste, and hearing, sharks have one more then us. This 6th sense acts as a highly specialized bioelectrical sensory system called the Ampullae of Lorenzini that helps them detect when pray is near and how to navigate the ocean currents. An author for the site Stranger Shark wrote that “It was discovered by Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694) in 1662 and described in more detail in 1678 by his countryman Stefano Lorenzini, although he unfortunately did not recognize the function of the Ampullae of Lorenzini. For a long time, the function was supposed to be sensing pressure or temperature. Only in 1962, the Dutch scientists Dijkraaft and Kalmijn were able to prove their main function: Perception of electricity. In 2003, however, Brown showed that temperature can also be translated into electrical signal, so that sharks can also perceive temperature deviations using the electro-sensory system” (Stranger Shark). Since these nerves can pick up small volts of electricity and movement, they are able to detect muscle movement of anything in front of them without even seeing them. Many people are trying to adopt this technology that the sharks possess and use them in the military for things such as navigation and “smart bombs.” Being able to figure out how to use this “6th sense” sharks have, could really lead to some innovative technology.

How Do Sharks Benefit The Ocean?
Sharks are apex predators and therefor control the food chain of the ocean. By controlling the food chain they also do many other things as a byproduct to help maintain the ocean ecosystems. They do many things to benefit the oceans. Sharks help keep food webs in balance. They go after the old fish, sick fish, and slow fish. This allows the healthier fish to stay alive and reproduce. They keep populations of other fish in balance so they do not become over populated and destroy the ecosystem around them. Sharks also keep pray populations healthy. They do this by praying on the weak and the sick fish. By preying on the weak and sick fish, sharks help prevent the spread of a disease which could cause an outbreak and kill off many species of fish. Lastly sharks keep sea grass beds and other vital habitats healthy. They do this by intimidation. When a shark is present in an area with sea grass or other similar vegetation, the organisms (ex: sea turtle) will look for other places to graze allowing the sea grass to flourish and not be overeaten and destroying a region. We need sharks to regulate the oceans and keep them in balance. “Where sharks are eliminated, the marine ecosystem loses its balance. The lesson is important. Sharks are being killed for their fins for shark fin soup, a food that has assumed cultural value but is not important for human survival or health. However, removing the sharks can result in the loss of important foods that we do depend upon for survival” (Shark Savers). Sharks benefit the oceans in many ways. They might not directly impact an aspect of keeping the ocean flourishing with life but they do indirectly impact the wellbeing of the ocean. Sharks do not only help ocean ecosystems but also help benefit humans. Sharks are more beneficial to people’s lives then they think. Sharks can help revel our origin. Since they have been around for millions of years we can study their evolution and try to trace them to other vertebrates and even humans. Many sharks like to feed on rays which are predators of shellfish, scallops, lobsters, and crabs. By feeding on their predators, the shellfish have a better chance for survival. It is natural for humans to become sick with disease. But with sharks, they have a highly developed immune system. This immune system is very good at repealing cancer and other diseases. Studying sharks immune systems are a good way to help find a cure to cancer or any other treatment that a shark’s immune system can repel. Certain shark species such as Basking Sharks actually help clean the oceans. When they consume large amounts of zooplankton, they actually help “clean” the water and prevent things such as red tide and other harmful algal booms. Some scientists are studying shark blood and the anticlotting compounds that can help figure out heart disease. Not only do sharks have a great immune system but they also have great eyesight. Sharks and humans share a common ancestor so our tissues are fairly similar. Optometric are studying shark corneas and will hopefully be able to use them one day in eye transplants. Sharks have much better vision than we do. These are just a few of the many ways that sharks help humans.

Increase In Shark Sport-Fishing
There are many reasons that sharks are being overfished. They are being overfished because of an increase in shark sports-fishing, catching them for food, and also hatred of the fish. Fishing has been around as long as people have been eating fish. But just in recent years, people have turned fishing into a sport. Certain types of fish are deemed “sport-fishing” fish or game fish because of their speed in the water, ability to put up a fight when reeling in, beauty of the fish, and thrill of the overall experience the fisherman gets when reeling in one of these fish. Some of the more popular sport-fishing species are sailfish, swordfish, tuna, and shortfin mako shark. Shortfin Mako Sharks (Isurus oxyrinchus) “embody all the characteristics prized by sport fisherman: beauty, power, aggressiveness, grace, and athletic prowess” (Sharks in Question, 120). This is why they are so sought after when shark fishing. Not only do they provide a great fight but they also provide a great meal and are considered the tastiest of all sharks. The conservation status of shortfin makos is in the vulnerable zone (Shark-world). This means they are headed towards endangered but are not there quite yet. The increase of sport-fishing popularity is a major reason for the shortfin mako sharks decline in population over the years. Setting limitations on the number of shortfin mako sharks caught per boat could really help their population jump back up.

Increase Fishing For Food
Another reason sharks are being overfished is because of catching them for food. Sharks are fish and humans eat fish so catching them shouldn’t be any differenent then catching any other fish. The problem with catching shark is that many people are only keeping the sharks fins because the meat is worth much more then any other part of the fish. NOAA a government agency has a website called ww.fishwatch.org and they talk about shark finning. They say, “a key federal law prohibits the practice of "shark finning," where valuable shark fins are removed and the remainder of the shark is discarded at sea. In the U.S. Atlantic shark fisheries, sharks must be landed with their fins naturally attached to the rest of their body” (Fish Watch). This means that you must bring in the entire shark to the port, not just the shark fins. Surveys have been done comparing sharks from the 1950’s to sharks of the 1990’s. They show that shark sizes are significantly smaller now, some by 50% or more. As of 2012, 141 species of sharks are classified as threatened and most species have declined by about 75% in population size since the 1950’s (Fish Watch). The reason shark fin is so popular in our world is because it is considered a symbol of wealth in many Asian countries especially China. This delicacy is served mostly at wedding and can cost anywhere from $5 a bowl to $1,000 a bowl. Shark fin has virtually no taste or nutritional value. It is loved because of the stringy texture. Since shark fin is so expensive compared to the cheap meat for the rest of the body, shark fisherman these days are only keeping the fins and throwing the rest of the carcass over. The US has many regulations to help stop shark finning/ overfishing. An example of this is the Shark Conservation Act of 2010. This act basically banned shark finning in US waters. “The act protects all shark species, with an exception for commercial fishing of smooth dogfish (Mustelus canis) with a valid State license within 50 nautical miles of that State's coast” (Wiki Shark Conservation Act). Shark finning is the major reason for the declining of sharks in the past 50 years. Hopefully people will follow these new acts, the government will enforce them and populations bounce back restoring the ocean environment to the way they used to be.

Increase Because Of Hatred Of The Fish
Lastly sharks are being overfished because of hatred of the fish. This idea of hating sharks has really been increasing because of general knowledge of sharks in the past decade or so. In the book Sharks Savage Predators of the Oceans by John McIntyre he writes that a few decades ago peoples attitudes towards sharks was that the “best shark was a dead shark” (Sharks Savage Predators of the Oceans, P.56). He reports that studies have been shown that a live shark is worth more then a dead shark to a local economy. McIntyre says that a live shark can have a value up to $100,000 to a local economy generated by eco-tourism. Many people are scared of what they can’t see. Half a century ago, we did not have the technology to study these great creatures. All we knew was that they would sometimes attack humans and they would do so viciously. After the movie jaws came out in 1975 hundreds of sharks were killed because people were scared of the “man eater.” This just made the already hated fish, even more hated. Documents have reported articles from the late 1970 saying that there were bounties on shark’s heads. People would go out and kill sharks just for the fun of it. You did not need a nice boat or gear. You could go out with a small boat and shotgun. At this time, shark fishing was considered a “blue collared” sport. The movie jaws and ridiculous amount of hatred for the fish started after a bull shark swam up river in New Jersey in 1916. That shark killed 5 people in 12 days. It is very sad that people used to kill these fish just because they were scared of the unknown. We now know that sharks don’t particularly like eating humans. Shark researchers have said that we are too boney for the shark and do not provide enough fat and calories for them (Shark Week).

What Can We Do To Save Sharks
There are many things we can do to help prevent this serious problem of overfishing. Someone that helps the world around them (the environment) can be considered an environmental steward. There are 3 types of environmental stewards. They are doers, donors, and practitioners. Doers are the people that actually go out and help the cause by taking action. For example the doers in an oil spill would be the volunteers that go along the beach and help clean up the oil from the beaches. A donor is the person that financially helps the cause. They can do anything from donating their money, to having galas or other fundraisers. They are typically governmental agencies. Lastly there are practitioners. They work on a day-to-day basis to steer governmental agencies, scientist, stakeholder groups, or any other group toward a stewardship outcome. Together these 3 groups make up environmental stewards and help keep the ecosystem running healthy (Increasing Capacity for Stewardship of Oceans and Coasts, P. 30). Anybody can be an environmental steward by being aware and knowledgeable of the world around them making sure they do as little as possible to negatively impact our world. Without these groups it would be hard to get any sort of sustainability in our increasingly technology, pollution, industrial based world.

Conclusion
It is very easy to get sucked into public opinion and go with what others are thinking. Befor you form an opinion on something, you should go out and learn a little for yourself on the topic you want to know about. Sharks are not very harmful creatures to humans. We just need to respect them when in their territory. We need to also be aware of how much good sharks provide for our ocean ecosystems and for humans. Is eating shark fin soup, worth catastrophic events happening in the ocean that could one day lead to the depletion of many other species in the ocean. All species are important in balancing an ecosystem but an apex predator is without a doubt the most important species to keep reproducing and healthy. This is because the apex predator controls the ecosystem. Keeping sharks in the ocean is a good move for everyone. Hopefully people understand what will happen if they keep overfishing and change their opinion on shark finning.