Current Event #2
December 12, 2013
An Ocean That's No Longer Wild
By: Lonny Lippet
Although there are around 500 species of sharks in earths
oceans, sharks are beginning to become extinct due to the high demand of
sharkfin soup in Asia. Scientist have recorded that approximately 100 million
caught and killed per year, simply for their fins alone. The reason the shark
population is decreasing so rapidly is because like mammals, they do not
produce more than 10 pups per litter like other fish that may produce up to 4
million eggs. This is a common dilemma for fish on the top of the food chain
because they aren’t typically hunted, but now the situation has changed, and so
has the shark population as a whole. Although sharks are a very important
species, scientist know little about them which makes it difficult to know what
the removal of sharks would do to the ecosystems they are encompassed in.
Scientists have created a design to track a shark’s whereabouts by attaching a pop-up
satellite archival transmitting (PSAT) tag. The tag is planted in the muscle tissue
of the dorsal fin of the shark and after six months, the tag is program to
release. The tag is used to collect data pertaining to how deep the shark swims,
the levels of light it is exposed to and the temperature of the water it is
swimming in. For example scientists have been following a shark that started in
the Cape Cod region and ended around the Caribbean waters, because the water
levels are from 500-1,000 meters where they less susceptible to being seen or caught.
The tags have provided intellect on where the sharks are going, when and why they
are going there. Because sharks are hunted so frequently now, the food chain is
being changed dramatically. Due to the changes in the climate because of global
warming, the ecosystems are changing, when the apex or top predator is removed,
the diversity of the ocean is decreased. There has been a major increase in white
sharks in Cape Cod in the last three or four years, but scientists aren’t positive
whether it is an actual increase in the number of sharks or that people are now
more conscious of them and are now looking. In order to follow the shark
experts dive down with the animal and plant it on them with a pole or spear, in
such a way that will not create a dangerous situation. An ocean without sharks
has no predators and in a sense loses its “wild” aspect. Scientists have concluded that if they are
going to save the sharks, they need to make an impact in the next ten years, to
ensure the next 200 years of the sharks lives.
This
article is extremely relevant because the whole ecosystem is changing due to the
dramatic decrease in the shark population. Without the apex in the ocean, it
decreases the resilience of other fish of the climate change. The tagging of
sharks will help inform you on how to stay safe and away from any sharks in the
area. According to scientist there has been an abnormally large amount of
sharks near Cape Cod, when the sharks are tagged you can be quickly notified to
leave the area. Ultimately tagging helps scientist learn about the sharks, and
keeps you safe and may even save your life.
Overall
the article by Lonny Lippet was very informative and taught me a lot about the
endangerment of sharks and how their extinction can be terminated. The article
was very clear and was separated into different sections based on different questions
which made it easy to follow. Although the article itself was very insightful, I
found it to be a little lengthy. The author also discussed many different species
of fish which kind of made it overwhelming. My only critiques would be to
shorten the article to make it more concise and only focus on the sharks. But despite
those minor changes the article was very interesting and informed me of the
topic on hand.
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