Scientists recently discovered the loss of Reef Sharks. The decrease in their population is due to them being poached for their fins. The loss of the Reef sharks is affecting the other animals in the food chain. Scientists discovered their loss by conducting under water surveys over the past twelve months. Another major factor due to their loss is recreational fishing. Many people choose to fish for Reef sharks because their big and put up a fight. The species is almost extinct and that is causing major problems. The scientists estimate that nearly 90% of the Reef Shark population has dropped around populated islands due to those two reasons. They did a special survey called "Towed Diver Survey" That is where they take a shark census while being pulled by a boat. The team crunched the numbers from over 1600 towed surveys. The model showed the impact that humans have on the shark population. " In short humans and sharks just don't mix" - Marc Nadon (Institute for marine and atmospheric research.)
Picture:
This picture shows the destruction ofReef sharks due to the human impact on
their environment. As you can see theres a dead shark laying there. The people look stunned because its very rare to see a dead washed up shark. Humans are destroying the Reef Sharks ecosystems.
My opinion on this article is that these sharks should not be hunted and killed for their fins. That is animal cruelty and it can really harm our ecosystem. The demise of these sharks lead to changes in the food wed and they are the highest organism on that specific food web. They are a Keystone species. That is what I think of this topic.
Questions:
Do you think Reef Sharks should be hunted for their fins?
How do you think this will affect the food web?
Do you think the sharks will recover from this crisis?
I believe that the sharks should not be hunted for their fins. Doing this could effect the food webs in drastic ways. Although people may want the fins, they are not thinking about the long term repercussions.
ReplyDeleteHow could removing the sharks effect the food webs?
No reef sharks definitly should not be hunted for their fins becuase its animal cruelity. I think that this will effect the food web becuase the sharks decrease and they are the main predator so all of its prey will increase like all the small fish and whatever the fish eat will decrease b/c the fish population will be so high. So the web will get a little messed up. I think they are only going to recover frm this crisis if people stop killing the sharks for thier fins, if not they could go extinct
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to add on to this.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2012/04/28/world/shark-pacific-reef-plummet/index.html