Sharks should be respected not feared!
Sharks have been living in the ocean waters for more than 400 million years even before the existence of dinosaurs. Sharks are the only creatures that have survived five massive mass extinctions! But today they are at risk of being endangered due to human activities. Humans kill millions of sharks every year but the cases of shark attack have been rarely reported.
Sharks are the top predators of the oceans and play a key role in maintaining the balance in the ecosystem. The disappearance of large numbers of sharks from the ocean have been drastically damaging the ocean habitat both economically and ecologically! Despite their extreme importance, we have failed to understand that by fishing and killing large numbers of sharks, we are threatening a widespread diversity of life living in the ocean by disturbing the natural balance!
Here we have listed some crucial reasons to remind you of the importance of sharks and different ways to conserve and care for the magnificent creatures!
5 Reasons why everyone should care about sharks
Sharks are perhaps the most perfect creatures on the planet, they need respect not threat! Enlisted some of the years which explain the status of sharks clearly:
1: Sharks are to maintain the ecosystems in equilibrium
Sharks are vital to maintain the marine and freshwater ecosystem. They feed on weak and sick animals to keep the habitat healthy and keep it productive. They preserve the health of the coral reef by making niches for the other species to live and decrease the risk of diseases spreading! Increasing diversity!
2: Sharks value more alive than dead to us
We should preserve – what we love!
Sharks are more beneficial to humans if they survive rather than being dead and sink down at the bottom of the ocean and become carcasses! A living shark can give you million dollars every month or a year – their fascinating appearance attracts the tourists. Now it’s up to whether it favors tourism or makes a non-beneficial tasteless soup of shark fins!
3: Sharks are not to meant attack or hurt humans
Sharks have always been imagined as the bloodthirsty creatures that attack humans – man eater! That’s not true! There are rare cases of shark attacks on humans that have been reported till date. Humans are not included in the menu of sharks, they do not attack them for food, they only attack humans when they feel threatened, curious and mistakenly identify them as their prey but once they realize the mistake, they back off and swim away leaving you alive! Few species that are extremely aggressive, no other shark’s species attack humans intentionally until or unless they were provoked.
4: Sharks regulate the behaviour of water creatures
Sharks are capable of regulating the feeding behaviour of other animals living in the ocean water and prevent overgrazing of the important habitat. For instance, sea turtles feed on seagrass and sea turtles are the favourite food item of the Tiger sharks. If tiger sharks are not in the area then the turtles will over-graze the seagrass bed but if they are wandering in the oceans, the turtles will not overgraze the broad range of a region! Balancing natural habitat!
5: Sharks keep carbon out of water environment
Sharks play a very important role in regulating the carbon cycle. The seagrass beds are capable of absorbing excess carbon and storing it in the sediments, thus reducing the heating of the water surroundings. Sharks are also able to store excess carbon in their giant bodies thus reducing the greenhouse effect making the atmosphere suitable for all other creatures. Unfortunately, we are reducing the capacity of the ocean to store carbon by killing millions of sharks! Accelerating global warming!
Final thoughts
Sharks are the magnificent creatures of the oceans, they are very important for maintaining the balance in the natural ocean habitat. They help in increasing the economy by fascinating the tourists and indorse tourism. They do not intestinally attack people but they attack only out of curiosity. They regulate the feeding behaviour of other water creatures and keep the global warming effect in control by storing the carbon in their own bodies.
Despite their extreme importance, humans are the major threat to sharks, they continue to kill and by-catch sharks only and only for money! Fishing and fishing should be banned all over the globe to conserve and save these incredible creatures from being endangered or extinct completely! Sharks must be respected, not feared or killed purposelessly!
