Happy shark awareness day!

https://metro.co.uk/2018/07/14/without-sharks-the-worlds-oceans-are-ruined-7636456/

Sharks aren’t looked upon kindly in popular culture and don’t get much sympathy in public opinion. They are widely regarded as cold-blooded killers with mean, dead little eyes, who are only satisfied when they’re ripping the legs off unsuspecting swimmers and gobbling children up whole.

However, this stereotype of sharks as evil, bloodthirsty sea monsters who love to attack human isn’t accurate.

Sharks kill approximately five humans every year, compared to horses who kill 20 and cows 22. Alligators, a prehistoric predator just like sharks, cause the deaths of 1,000 humans each year.

We each have a 1 in 63 chance of dying from the flu and a 1 in 3,700,000 chance of being killed by a shark.

More importantly, we really need sharks. If we care at all about the health of our oceans, sharks as a species are vital.

Sharks are the apex predators of the sea. They sit at the very top of the food chain, alongside killer whales (who routinely coax baby whales away from their mums to kill them but bizarrely are looked upon far more kindly than sharks). If the shark population dwindles, then the marine ecosystem can become dangerously unbalanced.

Sharks are necessary for keeping the populations of their prey healthy. They tend to only hunt old, injured, or sick fish, grooming or streamlining many populations of sea creatures to keep them to a size where they won’t grow too big and damage the ecosystem.

This practice of hunting sick or slow prey might sound horrible, but it prevents disease from ravaging prey populations and stops potentially devastating outbreaks. It encourages the gene pool of the prey species to strengthen, so that the strongest and healthiest fish can reproduce in greater numbers.

Sharks are considered a ‘keystone’ species. This means that if they are removed from the food chain, the whole structure could collapse.

Without sharks regulating the ecosystem underwater, vital habitats would undergo serious damage. In Hawaii, sharks have been linked to the health of sea grass beds, because they control the population of the turtles that graze on the sea grass. Without sharks eating the turtles, they were able overgraze on concentrated areas of sea grass and as a consequence, destroyed their own habitat.


According to research from the University of Western Australia, sharks are also necessary for the health of coral reefs.

Researchers found that areas of reef with healthy shark populations were where small reef fish were thriving. These small fish care for the corals, and where sharks were present in optimum numbers, the corals were recovering fasting from bleaching and flooding, ad showing a greater resistance to disease.

This is particularly important because the world’s corals are increasingly under threat, and although they cover a relatively small percentage of the ocean floor, they are vital for the health of the ocean and the health of the planet.

Unfortunately, too few people understand the importance of sharks.

 

Love sharks, always been fascinated with them and a bit of a bucket list thing of mine to go like Cape Town and go down in a cage to see some.

Having a horrific fear of the deep ocean what could be a better way of getting over it?

 

You seen 47 metres down?

 

I’d love to do that too, Deep Sea World just isn’t the same.

 

*Fun fact*

Sharks will only attack you if you’re wet.

 

Oh my.

 

No not seen it.

Did watch the shallows last night though.

 

Shallows is good, and probably a better film but you should watch this one too, might put you off the cage plan mind

 

Maybe

Is it on Netflix?

 

Yeah, might be known as In The Deep too

 

Same! The videos even of guys going out of the cage are unreal!

Apparently. Your perfectly safe to swim with them, but when they "dip the fin" they'll start to move closer and closer and that's when you move your *.

 

Always been fascinated by sharks since I was a nipper.
Also a dream of mine to see them in their natural habitat.

Also they are not the apex predator of the oceans that is Orcas.
They will kill Great Whites with ease.

And the article is also right - Orcas are the true utter * of the seas.
They are cruel - they torture whales for weeks before killing them and kill for fun and amusement. Sharks tend to do so to eat or keep invaders away from where they are hunting/mating/nursing.

 

I think sharks are cool but I'm terrified of them.
Luckily I don't see much of them on a regular basis

 

If swam with a few sharks in Mexico. One was a wild one that just happened to swim by while snorkling on a trip. Close as * too shat it

Wanted to swim with those bull sharks this year but seen none and Thomson refunded my money. Free day out

 

I like that film, enjoyed the whole movie.

 

Sharky was just one * boy

 

Yes i love Sharks,far far far far far far better for the planet than the Human Race!

Still never seen a Basking Shark But i will,i * will,sooner than later