After reading this article in The Guardian about sharks, I felt the need to talk briefly about these fantastic animals. The image of our mysterious friends got a huge dent when the blockbuster "Jaws" came out. It's like the shark never fully recovered from that.
However, the shark family, consisting of more than five hundred species, is vital to the health of our oceans. They keep precarious ecosystems in balance and prevent one species from becoming too dominant. Sharks are also very important for science. For example, their wounds heal remarkably quickly and they are immune to many diseases, and we still don't know why. The word 'immunity' sounds extra alluring these days, doesn't it?
Lots of shark species have been shown to be keystone predators. They maintain balance in ecosystems and keep things in order, removing weaker, sicker prey and stopping any single species from exploding in numbers and taking over. One study comparing remote islands in the Central Pacific showed that when sharks are fished out, coral reefs can become dominated by small fish and overrun by algae. We don’t understand until we lose the species how important it was. - Jasmin Graham, shark biologist.
Recently a new species has been discovered, the walking shark. This shark uses the four fins as legs and walks on the seabed. The Greenland Shark, which lives deep in the icy Arctic sea, can live to be more than two hundred years old. The dwarf lantern shark is the size of a pencil, the whale shark and basking shark are the largest fish on Earth. And also completely harmless to humans. The white shark is perhaps one of the most mythical, imposing, and powerful animals on Earth. Not to mention the hammerhead shark.
A walking shark
The dwarf lantern shark
Many sharks are in danger of extinction. As land animals, we do not yet notice much of this, but it would be a shame if these animals disappear forever. Pollution, climate change, and overfishing are the three most common causes. Sharks are absolutely not suitable as prey because they reproduce very slowly and it takes a long time before an animal reaches adulthood. In addition, they lay few eggs and their eventual offspring is therefore very limited.
There’s a lot we can learn from sharks. If they’re not here, then that evolutionary history, that information, is lost. We need to talk about sharks. Though no sharks have yet gone the way of the dodo, plenty of species are lined up for imminent extinction. And the loss of sharks is not just about species blinking out, but a diminishment from their former abundance. Just like the erasing of native fauna from the continents – of bears and wolves, tigers and lions, koalas and kakapos – so the oceans are now losing their sharks. The only difference is that their dying out mostly goes unnoticed. - Jasmin Graham
The shark's terrifying image is completely unjustified. Of the five hundred shark species, only five or six are potentially dangerous to humans. The chances of dying from a shark are smaller than the chance of dying from a falling coconut. Dogs, malaria mosquitoes and hippos are much more dangerous. So we should not look at the shark with fear, but with admiration!
- Did you know that ... scientists have done an age test (via eye fluid) on an old, free-living Greenland shark and determined that in all probability that shark had her first swimming lesson around 1615 (!!!). And oh yes ... "It's a female."
- Follow the Shark Friendly Marinas here. They have a mission to reduce worldwide shark mortality and are one of the leading environmental non-profits in Puerto Rico.