Invasion Sharks

The sun sparkled on the water as you grabbed your surfboard, heading for the beach. You were just about to put your feet in the water, you caught a glimpse of a fin rising and circling a surfer. “Shark!” The iconic image of the Great White shark floating up to a helpless swimmer possesses everyone’s mind. Films and TV shows portray sharks as merciless apex predators as depicted in Jaws. However, can these so-called relentless marines become our guardians of the ecosystem?

Over the past decades, humans have morphed into the deadliest villains and innocent victims are going extinct, especially sharks. An estimated number of 5 humans are eaten by sharks per year whereas 100,000,000 sharks are eaten per year by us. Shark overfishing and finning has decreased the number of sharks in the water drastically. Why? The primary reason is culture; therefore, just for the sake of culture, people murder sharks inhumanely. Shark fin soup is notable in China, ‘flake and chips’ in Australia, and ‘shark steak’ worldwide. There are over 1,000 different species of sharks in the water and to restrain sharks disappearing from the face of Earth, some countries have banned fishing sharks. Nevertheless, more countries need to take action. If sharks go extinct, the outcomes are more than just devastating.

Sharks have always and still are being feared due to their strength, speed, and ferocity and many citizens would like them extinct. After all, the shark is an apex predator so we are doing the other creatures and ourselves a favour, right? If such a choice like this was made, the environment would almost certainly collapse. Sharks control the population of herbivores that would overgraze the seagrass, setting the stage for coral reefs and natural undersea beauties to die, leaving no home, food, and hideouts for the fish causing the ecosystem to be further endangered. Undoubtedly, sharks are our guardian angels.

Preventing damage to our ecosystem may be wishful thinking, but it means there is a chance for sharks to thrive once more. To ensure the nightmare consequences are not inevitable, avoiding shark products and buying sustainably sourced seafood is vital. In addition, supporting organisations leveraging non-lethal shark deterrents and supporting campaigns facilitating better fishing practices are essential. Nevertheless, you could do a more colossal favour for the environment by taking an active role in the struggle against the climate crisis such as protection from acidic water. Poseidon-like sharks will support us whenever we assist them.

In just about every source in the media you can find, sharks are described as aggressive, hungry, and are always lethal. However, this is not the case. We are aggressive, hungry, and lethal. We are the most dangerous beings in the world. We leave the poor corpses of finless sharks at the bottom of the ocean while we celebrate the moment with shark recipes which do not meet the law of nature. All we have in our ecosystem are there for a reason. The more we fish, the more the ecosystem collapses. We have been thoughtless in our caring, heartless in our loving and unfaithful in our commitment to the sustainable development of our environment.