Sharks are starting to disappear, and it’s because of us. So many people are scared of sharks, which seems reasonable because of their sharp teeth and big bodies. We grow up in a society where kids learn sharks are monsters. If anything, humans are the monsters. According to Surf Researcher, more than 100 million sharks are killed each year in comparison to the 73 humans who die from sharks each year. So many sharks are killed inhumanely because of the desire for shark fin soup.
According to Shark Research Institute, the “finners,” the people that take the shark’s fins, only remove their fins, nothing else. They slice the shark’s fin and toss the shark back into the ocean where it then slowly dies. What does that say about us, humans? What if sharks bit off 100 million people’s arms and then just left them there? These sharks are forced to endure a slow, painful death.
We need to save the sharks. According to WorldWildlife, the shark population is dwindling. Overfishing also has drastic effects on the shark population. I believe that when catching sharks while deep sea fishing, fishermen need to release the sharks back into the ocean once they are caught. The shark’s life is wasted when it is just being finned, skinned alive or just left in a net. Sharks are at the high top of the food chain, to keep all of the other ocean animals in the sea manageable. Why would we just take them out of their home?
Many people see sharks as human killers and frightening because there are so many different movies and TV shows referring to sharks eating humans. Many movies are not based on true stories. A few movies where sharks are shown as dangerous or killing humans are Jaws and The Shallows. What people really don’t see is that sharks are beautiful. They aren’t out for us, most of the time we are out for them.