Please read, this is a cause that means so much to me.
Scientists believe that tiny ocean plants called phytoplankton contribute between 50 to 85 percent of the oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere.
But there are lots of animals that eat this phytoplankton including sea stars, shrimp, snails, whales, small fish, zooplankton and jellyfish. But why does it matter?
Lately tons of sharks have been dying because of long line fishing (usually done illegally). Sharks are the animals that kill the small fish, and shrimp and jellyfish, and all the other animals that kill the phytoplankton.
So when there is no one killing the animals that eat the phytoplankton, the ocean plants that give up more than half of our oxygen will start to die.
But who cares about sharks?
The media has been telling us for many years that sharks are dangerous, deadly animals. That isn’t true.
Sharks don’t like to eat humans, and they certainly don’t try to kill us either. In fact, sharks only kill around 5 people a year. As opposed to deer who kill up to 130, or hippos who kill 2,900 or even falling out of bed which kills us to 450 people in the US alone!
Why are sharks dying?
In lots of places people have been long lining, and sometimes even illegally. In the past few years, between 40 million and 100 million sharks have been killed each year. Mostly for their fins.
The fishermen will take them out of the water, cut off their fins, then throw them back into the water, so they can suffer a long and painful death, because they cannot swim at all without their fins.
Why do they want their fins?
The only use they have for shark fins, is ‘Shark Fin Soup’ which is very popular throughout asia, because it is a sign of wealth. Shark fins don’t even have taste, it just adds texture to the soup.
So please, if you care at all about our planet’s oxygen or sharks, sign a petition for the country you are in. So they will stop long lining/selling shark fins/importing shark fins:
*shark fin trade has been banned in California, Hawaii, Washington.
