Evolution Of Sharks Essay

“The Misunderstood Shark” was written by Gregory Skomal, a biologist at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and shark fanatic. His article was published by The Wall Street Journal on August 7, 2015. The engaging title, itself grabs the reader’s attention, making the reader feel sympathetic towards the shark. Upon hearing the word, “shark”, an individual may cringe. The author makes a solid claim that our attitudes about sharks are changing, but not towards direction it needs to be. He supports his argument with strong appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos throughout the article.

Sharks are aquatic creatures and very important to the living with lots of information humans may not understand. To start off, femeles give birth to 7-9 sharks per litter that are 3-4 feet at birth. Next humans believe all sharks are monsters but out of 400 species only 4 sharks have been claimed to attack on humans. Lastly sharks attack for 2 main reasons one reason is for defense and predation. They attack in defense when humans are in or around their territory they attack in predation mistaking people for seals. In conclusion sharks are creatures that humans are still learning about and try to understand them better.

Sharks have been in our oceans for almost 450 million years. Those millions of years of evolution have allowed many different shark species to develop abilities, and to become perfect predators.

Every Jaws fan knows the shark gets it in the end. What they do not know is that too many sharks have gotten it; and that has caused a rapid decline in the shark population over the past thirty years. Since the 1970's, sharks of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico shores have declined eighty-five percent. Sharks are vital animal to our world's ecosystem, and if the decline is not controlled; we could be facing devastating problems in years to come. Information has been obtained from two books: The Shark Almanac by Thomas B. Allen and Sharks, An Introduction for the Amateur Naturalist by Sanford A. Moss. Sources also include a number of online references, among them BBC News, ENS News, The New York Times, and two online scientific

Arising over 350 million years ago, the shark species has been labeled as a human devourer. Now, with the increase in human population, the demand for shark meat, fins, and cartilage are at an all time high; therefore, the existence of the shark is becoming a concern (Budker 1971). Individuals are conditioned to think of sharks as a negative aspect to the environment, which is prolonging the effort to save shark species from becoming extinct. With that in mind, some private as well as national organizations have accepted the challenge of educating and informing people about the existence of the shark specie and its importance to the sea.

The Shark’s place in the marine ecosystem is as a predator at the top of the food chain as there is no natural predator of sharks. Sharks are not very fastidious about what they eat but their diet generally consists of seal, crab, squid, lobster and fish. If sharks were to become extinct there would be an ecological cost. The marine life that is the shark’s food source would start to overpopulate with nothing to prey on it. One possible reason that sharks are coming closer to shores is that their natural food source is diminishing due to overfishing by humans. To stop sharks from being too near to popular swimming locations, fishermen need to expand or change their hunting areas.

Many people call sharks beasts, terrible things, killers, but they are not. For instance sharks need to eat to just like humans. Sharks can eat all day. When sharks eat too much they throw it up and eat more. Sharks fend for themselves when they are hungry they might find other sharks and eat them. Sharks eat squid, shrimp, sardines, tuna. Besides sharks can never stop moving so they don't’ stay in one spot. Lastly sharks might look mean but they are

Strategy is not easily defined and furthermore the term is not exclusively related to just the business world. We can confidently say strategy is key to survival, not only in business but also in the animal kingdom. All animals under go a process of constant change in their physical appearance and in their behaviour. These changes take place over millions of years and the species that survive, do so because throughout their evolution they have perfected certain strategies that have enabled them to develop more successfully in the environment they inhabit. One such case of this successful development is the great hammerhead shark.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s article “The Brutal Business of Shark Finning” reminds us that sharks play a key role in the ocean as both predators and scavengers.

Beginning with the simplest one-celled organism, an extraordinary animal rose in the murky waters entitled to a non-comparable killing-eating machine. This organism has become nature’s most genuine and most successful creature that it has remained unchanged for over 250 million years. Nature finally invented the perfect king of the sea. This animal has given the sea it’s “living” adjective; in turn, it was entitled—the “great white shark.”

Sharks have been in existence for more than 300 million years. Their evolution occurred over 150 million years earlier than that of the dinosaurs. Most of the existing fossil data of early sharks was collected from fossilized teeth together with several skin impressions. primitive sharks (Cladodonts) , had teeth which were double-pointed, up to 2metres in length, ate fish as well as crustaceans, and existed approximately 360 million years ago.

Sharks, have been on earth for 400 million years, making them older than dinosaurs, and they have lived on earth massively longer than humans. Shark culling has been witnessed since the late 1960’s by Australian’s because of a fatal shark attack on two males at that time.

Sharks have a long history, they can be dated back to over 400 million years ago, one of very few species that live for such a long period without distinction. Within over 400 different species, the smallest shark is only 17 cm in length which is the dwarf shark; while the largest

A shark has multiple rows of teeth. The mouth of sharks is in the front of the head. In some species, sharks teeth are replaced as much as once a week. Some sharks have teeth used to crush and grind. These are some what like what humans have. They also have sharp teeth. These can be compared to incisors that humans have. These types of teeth are very important to sharks because they are carnivores and depend on their teeth in order to eat their prey. A sharks body in covered by scales which cover their bodies. These scales make the skin of a shark very rough and strong.

Secondly, I will discuss about the famous shark fin soup. Lastly, I will discuss the possibilities that can happen if sharks are extinct