Sharks are essential to keep a balance of order in our oceans. Without sharks that have been around since the dinosaurs, the balance would change and that would risk the loss of vital sea grasses and algaes that are essential for the very air we breathe. The greatest threat to sharks are humans. We fear them so kill them in mass numbers, yet it is their ocean we enter at our own risk.
Continuing our theory that in order to achieve the greatest results we should team up with others that have the same passion, we are proud to announce that we have teamed up with Support Our Sharks for our Shark Crusades. Founded in 2010, the same as us, they are all about educating people of the issues sharks face today and suggest ways that we can help them.
Check out these two great short films about sharks.
70 million+ sharks killed every year…..just for Shark Fin Soup!
As the top of the order of life in our oceans and having lived for over 420 million years, sharks are more important to our lives than we think. Whilst most people are scared of sharks, without them we may lose 60-80% of the world’s oxygen supply.
So how does a shark give us oxygen? Well at the bottom of the order of life in the ocean is Phytoplankton. This produces algaes and plant life that convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, just like the trees on land. However with the oceans taking up 70% of the world, they actually produce 60-80% of the world’s oxygen. If sharks become extinct, and they’re well and truely on their way to it, then the order of life in the ocean gets upset. If the Phytoplankton eaters and algae eaters take over and kill everything, then we won’t have that supply of oxygen.
Worst still is that when they kill these sharks, they catch them and cut their fins off whilst they are living. Then they get thrown back in the ocean where they drown as sharks need to swim to breathe.
If you learn to understand sharks, you will understand that they only attack humans if they mistake them for another source of food. People don’t get eaten by sharks, they get bitten by sharks. They may die from blood loss but more people get bitten by man’s best friend (dogs) than by sharks. Your also more likely to be killed by a vending machine than a shark.
We need to protect sharks to protect our oxygen….It’s that simple.
I highly recommend watching the movie Sharkwater.
Here is a great video on how sharks should be viewed