By Veronica Nicolich

I strongly believe that Sharks are friends and not foes. They are very important and should be saved for many reasons such as their role in the food chain. Sharks are a highly endangered animal because of several problems us humans cause in their habitat and to sharks in particular.

Firstly, sharks play a very important role in the marine ecosystem; mainly the food web. Sharks are apex predators and are usually either tertiary or quaternary consumers depending on their size and diet. If all the sharks were killed, then the food web would no longer be balanced and it would cause more species of fish to become extinct which would greatly affect the fishing industries.

For example:

If sharks were removed from the marine ecosystem, lobster fisheries in Australia would be threatened because the sharks will no longer be there to control the lobster eating octopuses.

Lobster Eating Octopus

Not all sharks are predators. Some are scavengers, which prey on dead or dying animals. Those that are predators help control the population of other ocean life and maintain the species diversity of their prey by focusing on the most available species. It is important to marine ecology as they help to maintain the biodiversity in our oceans.

Secondly, even though sharks are the Kings of the Ocean, they are still threatened by human fishing. The two main threats to them are accidental by-catch and overfishing. Shark flesh, cartilage and skin is used in several medicines and sell at very high prices, attracting fishermen into the trade.
If humans overfish, within a matter of time their numbers will dwindle and in the future sharks will become an extremely rare site. Shark numbers have already dropped by 90% throughout the worlds oceans. Another problem for sharks, is shark nets. Even though they are believed to be a physical barrier to prevent sharks reaching the swimming areas of public beaches, in reality, the nets dont act as total barriers for beaches because they are not permanently set in the water, they dont cover the whole length of beach and they dont go from the surface to the seabed. Approximately 40% of sharks getting entangled occur at these nets because they are able to swim over and under these nets.

Thirdly, there are over 100 species of sharks that happen to be endangered. The most well known of these endangered sharks are the White shark (Great White Shark), Tiger shark, Blue shark, Mako shark and the Hammerhead shark.
Thankfully there are countries fighting for the sharks and their rights.

White Shark

Mako Shark

Blue Shark

Hammerhead Shark

Tiger Shark

The table below shows a list of some sharks in Australia that are protected and their status of endangerment.
Species Grey Nurse Shark (Carcharias taurus) - East coast population Speartooth Shark (Glyphis glyphis) Northern River Shark (Glyphis garricki) Grey Nurse Shark (Carcharias taurus) - West coast population Whale Shark (Rhincodon typhus) White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) Dwarf Sawfish, Queensland Sawfish (Pristis clavata) Freshwater Sawfish (Pristis microdon) Green Sawfish, Dindagubba, Narrowsnout Sawfish (Pristis zijsron) Status Critically Endangered Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable Vulnerable Vulnerable Vulnerable Vulnerable Vulnerable

Finally, we come to the distribution and abundance of sharks. There are more than 440 different species in the world but unfortunately the population for each species is unknown. This is bad because if marine biologists cant find out the approximate population for sharks, then they cant tell how bad the situation is for some sharks and figure out the major causes.
It is estimated that up to 100 million sharks are killed by people every year, due to commercial and recreational fishing. Meanwhile, the "average number of fatalities worldwide per year between 2001 and 2006 from unprovoked shark attacks is 4.3".
Quoted an ocean conservationist.

To conclude, I strongly believe that we should fight for shark rights and make every effort to save these beautiful creatures because they play such an important role in the marine ecosystem by controlling populations and maintaining species diversity in the oceans. They are in grave danger because of our actions in placing nets around beaches that they get entangled in and for accidentally catching and overfishing them. So come on, stand up for the sharks and support keeping them alive instead of wanting them to be culled. Swim, Support, Save!

Dont think of Sharks like this. Together, we can walk hand in fin! Think of them like this.

Glossary
Apex Predator: The predator that appears at the top of a food web or food chain. Cartilage: A tough, elastic, fibrous connective tissue found in various parts of the body, such as the joints, outer ear, and larynx (voice box). Ecology: The study of relationships between living organisms with each other and with their abiotic environment. Ecosystem: A community of living organisms (plants, animals, microbes) with non living features (temperature, humidity).

Bibliography
http://ohia.org/ohia/roadshows/ocean/tony/foodchain.htm http://science.howstuffworks.com/zoology/marine-life/shark6.htm http://www.amcs.org.au/default2.asp?active_page_id=516 http://www.saveoursharks.com.au/Save_Our_Sharks_-_Shark_Nets.html http://www.shark.ch/Database/EndangeredSharks/index.html http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/45720 http://www.treehugger.com/ocean-conservation/10-amazingendangered-shark-species-how-many-do-you-know.html