Fate of the Sharks

By LeiraOlecra

This shark could have died because of this dangerous punch.
If hungry shark attack – what would you do? One summer, a young boy, let’s call him by the name Brian (not his real name) was attacked by a bull shark in the Gulf of Mexico. Luckily, Brian knew what to do. As the shark bit his arm, he punched its gills. The shark let him go and Brian managed to get to the shore safely.

This kid has recovered completely from traumatic incident.
Brian was able to survive the attack and tells the story a few days later. According to him, the shark was big and ugly and bigger than jaws in the movie.
Its attack is nasty. He thanked God that he was lucky enough to survive.

Around the world there are rare shark attacks. The truth in statistic is that it is fewer than a hundred people a year but unfortunately about six of these rare cases, the victims died. Most of the attacks happened in open waters where sharks are known to live. In those places, these sharks scare many people away from the beach. In reality however, sharks have far more reason to fear us than we have to fear them.

The Hunting Game
Every year humans kill 60 million sharks. A key reason is to get shark cartilage, that soft and flexible material that makes up shark’s skeleton. A lot of people use these shark cartilages to treat sickness particularly cancer. This can be found in some U.S. health food stores. But there is no exact research that would tell and support the claim that shark cartilage really cures cancer.

International and local Chefs in many Asian countries use the fins to make soup. This tasty soup is very expensive. In Thailand and in main China, a single bowl alone can cost a hundred dollars!

Too many catch
Some shark parts are very valuable that is why its few species or kinds are over hunted. This unfortunate reality could cause their species to die out forever soon if not guarded and protected.

If that happen, that would be too bad because sharks have been with us humans for the longest time. This world wouldn’t be the same without them. Records revealed that the first sharks lived over 400 million years ago. So it only means that they live ahead of the dinosaurs. Little is known about pre-historic sharks but scientists have found few fossils. The cartilage does not long but scientist however found one tooth to prove their existence long before the time.

Endangered Species
Estimate puts it to 400 shark species swim in the world’s oceans. They come in shapes, forms and sizes. The sharks are actually predators, they eat other animals especially smaller than them.

The Truth About Sharks Attacks
Nobody can tell the exact reason why sharks attack people. Scientists however explained that it may be a case of mistaken identity for to a shark, a swimmer can look like a seal and sharks eat seals.

Curiosity and tourism contribute to the problem as well. A lot of people want to see sharks closer and so they dump smaller fish parts into the sea to experience close encounter with the sharks. Then these sharks would swim toward the tourists’ boats and as a result they would go to the same places again and again to find food.

If we were to ask sharks, they may not even like the taste of people. Aqua-biologist point out that sharks often leave after just one bite but of course just a single shark bite is deadly.

The Danger
Deadly as it may look but nearly 80 shark species are now being threatened and is endangered. It only means that pretty soon sharks may all vanish. Programs to protect and conserve them should be done so that our children would still see them in the generations to come.