Shark Population Decline Essay example

Sharks have been creatures that can date back to over 450 billion years, and have survived through all disaster and still live on Earth today. This is a great feat for anything to stay in existence for that amount of time, and hopefully sharks can continue to live on this Earth and not go extinct. There are hundreds if not thousands of species of shark from when they first swam Earth’s oceans to when they continue to swim the same oceans. The study of sharks is a very interesting and extraordinary topic, being able to put together images of what sharks used to look like compared to sharks now is just amazing. In this vast amount of time sharks have spent on this Earth there has been many things that has changed, through evolution and adaptation. Through research and personal opinion I plan to show how sharks have evolved, what has changed through evolution and the history of

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.

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.

This argumentative essay is about how sharks really are misunderstood, the odds of you dying from a shark attack, how humans are more of a threat than sharks, and how sharks are going extinct very fast.

Thesis: Sharks are a vital part of our ecosystem, and killing them disrupts the delicate balance of the ocean.

Sharks are a fundamental aspect of Australian waters, but shark culling has rapidly decreased the numbers over the past few years. The government definitely should not adopt a policy on shark culling, as sharks are the cornerstone to the contribution of social, environmental, economic and political aspects of our nation. If governments adopt this policy on shark culling, it will undoubtedly have a deliberate impact on the food chain. Additionally, even killing small numbers of already-threatened sharks will rapidly increase extinction risks of sharks. To conclude, humans contribute to the killing of more deaths than the opposite action done from sharks.

The Eastern Grey Nurse Shark inhabits Australia as a genetically distinct population from its Western counterpart, and has been labeled a “Critically Endangered” animal by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999 ("Australian Threatened Species”). The population is found along the coast of Queensland and Narooma, the southern area of New South Wales, and various efforts have been put in place to conserve the species (“Grey Nurse Shark,” 2016). As such, the conservation methods put in place are not sufficient and further steps are necessary to allow the species to recover from its human-induced endangerment.

Donohue, Patrick and Log, Destin. “Sharks 101.” State and Regional Newspaper, 7 September. 2006. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 28 May. 2016.

The scientific community views sharks as important top predators in the oceanic food chain and as misunderstood creatures of the

Thanks to the movie Jaws, many people are scared of sharks. Seeing a fin in the water terrifies all but the most experienced of beach goers. Sadly, this perception means that most do not really care if the sharks are hunted to extinction or not. However, society’s opinion on sharks needs to change if we want any hope of saving the world’s oceans. Sharks, as an apex predator, are an important part of the ocean’s food chain.

Within 1996-2000, shark fin imports increased by 6%. To get the shark fins, men would catch sharks, cut off their fins, and then throw them back into the water. Are shark fin soup worth killing millions and millions of sharks? There are also many different uses for the different parts of the shark. For example, shark oil can be used for makeup and cosmetics, shark cartilage pills supposedly benefits our health and is old in health food stores, and shark steaks are sold all over the world. Although there are many economic benefits from shark finning, it can also threaten recreational fisheries, and other traditional ways of fishing.

Outlasting the worst catastrophes Earth has undergone, it seemed merely forty years ago sharks could and would outlive any event. Yet, even as sharks have the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, the summer of 1916 presented the first unexpected change for these great animals.

While most people were gathering their torches and sharpening their pitch-forks, set on destroying the oceans equivalent of a troll, those of a different nature began to group together and invest countless amounts of time and money to learn more about them. In the wake of Jaws, a whole constellation of dedicated shark research programs were begun or renewed. This resulted in numerous scientific conferences to allow researchers to share their results and collaborate on more ambitious projects. Rather than putting their prime focus on shark attacks, these meetings concentrated on shark systematics, physiology, life history, ecology, fisheries management and conservation. It is doubtful that this much fascination, be it fearful or curious, and funding would have had been available to support modern shark research had it not been for Jaws.

Next is that not all sharks are aggressive, majority of shark attack incident come from the great white, tiger and bull sharks, and interestingly, they are not always deliberately attack human, according to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), it is just like a cat or dog, they need to smell or lick us to recognize us, but for shark, not smell or lick, they do it with a test bite. Together with shark’s sharp teeth, we get our shark attack incidents. One more thing, similar to cartilage supplement, other body parts of shark are not necessary good for health, most of them contain higher concentration of

Since the late 2000’s, two studies have shown that the Great White Sharks population in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are on the rise after a harsh decline in the 70’s and 80’s (Landen and Landen, 2014). Great White Sharks population is increasing with over 2,210 adults in the Australasian area, but they are lacking in data of juvenile sharks in the region and there are likely to be an excess of 8,000 to 10,000 sharks (Australian Geographic, 2018). So, even if one shark was killed for