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sharks in danger

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The Cataloging-in-Publication Data for Sharks in Danger is on file at the Library of Congress. ISBN 978-1-5124-5977-7 (lib. bdg.) ISBN 978-1-5124-9879-0 (eb pdf)

Manufactured in the United States of America 1-43036-27705-8/9/2017 by Paul Mason

Minneapolis

CONTENTS HUMANS VS. SHARKS 6 WHO NEEDS SHARKS ANYWAY? 8 SHARK FINNING 10 BIG-GAME AND COMMERCIAL FISHING 12 BYCATCH 14 PROTECTIVE NETTING 16 SHARK TOURISM 18 SHARK REPRODUCTION 20 SHARK NURSERIES 22 OCEAN POLLUTION 24 SAVING OUR SHARKS 26 SEVEN INCREDIBLE SHARK FACTS 28 VISITING WITH SHARKS 30 GLOSSARY 31 INDEX 32 HUMANS VS. SHARKS

Most of us are scared of sharks, but there is no real reason why we should be. Only a tiny number of people each year are attacked by sharks.

WHALE SHARK

For the sharks, it is a different story. Sharks have very good reason to be scared of humans. We kill millions of sharks each year. Almost all are from species that are no danger to humans. The exact numbers are changing all the time, but the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says that: l About 10 different types of shark are critically endangered. They are soon likely to become extinct in the wild. l Roughly 15 types of shark are endangered, including great hammerheads. There is a strong possibility that they will soon disappear from our seas. l Close to 40 different species of shark are vulnerable, including whale sharks and great whites. This means they may become extinct in a few years’ time, if action is not taken. We shouldn’t be scared OF sharks. We should be scared FOR them. 6 as itgoes. into itsgiantmouth small seacreatures along, gathering A whalesharkswims and development are threatening itshabitat. small area ofKwa-Zulu Natalwhere industry This sharklives closetothecoastinavery South Africa NATAL SHYSHARK this speciesmay now actually beextinct. Last caughtandidentifiedby experts in1979, Malaysia, Oman,Pakistan China, India,Indonesia, PONDICHERRY SHARK thought tobeonly about250 ofthesesharks left. Threatened by overfishing, there are possibly New Guinea Northern Australia, RIVER SHARK NEW GUINEA The rivers itlives inhave alsobecomepolluted. shark huntsare steadily beingcutdown. The mangrove forests where this for over 90%ofthepopulationtobewipedout. by 18percent each year. Ittookjust10years reduce thenumberofdaggernose sharks Fishing isthoughtto Northern SouthAmerica DAGGERNOSE SHARK shark are allthreatened by overfishing. angel shark,andsawback angel The angel shark,smoothback Mediterranean, northeasternAtlantic ANGEL SHARK in 2017includedthe: Critically endangered sharks

GANGES SHARK India This river sharkis threatened by overfishing and Myanmar RIVER SHARK IRRAWADDY are ontherivers built where itlives. asdams pollution. Itisalsolosinghabitat 7 WHO NEEDS SHARKS ANYWAY? We ALL need sharks. They are a crucial part of life in our oceans. If sharks disappear, the balance of the ocean world is upset. Apex Predators Many sharks are apex predators. This means that they are not usually hunted by any other animal. If the number of apex predators declines, it harms the natural environment. The examples on this page and opposite show how this can happen.

Tiger sharks are apex predators. Seabirds are part of their diet. If the tiger shark population falls, the number of seabirds goes up.

Tuna numbers fall, affecting fish such as marlin that feed on tuna.

Seabirds eat young tuna. If there are more seabirds, more Fewer young young tuna get tuna then grow eaten. up to replace older fish as they die. 8 Sharks and Scallops On the Atlantic coast of the United States, shark numbers have recently fallen because of overfishing. This has led to an increase in cow-nosed rays, which the sharks would normally eat. Cow- nosed rays love scallops, a tasty shellfish. So with more cow-nosed rays, there are fewer scallops.

Sharks and Reefs Experts have discovered that having sharks around helps keep coral reefs healthy. When shark numbers fall, fewer large fish, such as grouper, are eaten. The grouper eat smaller fish such as parrot fish. Parrot fish are important for keeping the reef healthy because they eat algae. Without enough parrot fish to eat algae, the reef becomes choked with algae and unhealthy.

Shark Science: Food Chain A food chain is a group of living things that depend on each other for food. At the bottom are small plants and animals. These are eaten by other animals. They in turn are eaten by larger, fiercer predators. At the top of the food chain are the apex predators. 9 SEVEN INCREDIBLE SHARK FACTS

You would be REALLY unlucky to be bitten by a shark 1 Most victims of shark attacks are surfers. Even so, a surfer in California (where some of the most serious attacks have taken place) has a one- in-seventeen-million chance of being bitten. They are actually more likely to win the lottery.

Humans kill over 100,000 sharks a day for their fins . . . 2 . . . that’s 4,000 sharks every hour or 66.6 sharks every minute. So we kill at least one shark a second, every second of every day of the year.

Shark fins are a multi-million-dollar industry 3 Most sharks are killed for their fins, which can sell for over $450 per pound. They are used in a soup that is a traditional dish at Chinese weddings and New Year celebrations. In restaurants, a single bowl can cost over $200.

Shark fins don’t have much taste You cannot taste the fin in shark fin soup. It is added because of how it feels 4to crunch or chew on. Shark fins also have no nutritional value, so eating them really does 28 seem pointless. Sharks have amazing immune systems 5 Scientists are uncertain just how a shark’s immune system works, but it does seem to be very effective. Sharks are rarely ill. Studying shark immune systems may one day help human medicine.

A single (live) shark can be worth nearly $2 million In Palau, an island in the Pacific Ocean, reef sharks live in places where divers can almost always see them. Shark tourists spend so much 6money in Palau that, in its 16-year life, a single shark could be worth nearly $2 million to the local economy. No wonder Palau declared itself the world’s first shark sanctuary in 2009.

There are 15 shark sanctuaries around the world By 2017, shark fishing had been banned in 15 areas around the world. These shark sancturies are all in the southwest Pacific 7Ocean or near the Caribbean Sea.

29 VISITING WITH SHARKS

Some aquariums have sharks you can watch swimming around. But for a true shark fan, nothing beats the thrill of seeing sharks swimming in the wild. Here are some of the top places to do that—and remember always to go with a responsible, licensed operator.

UNITED STATES BAHAMAS FIJI From June to November, Bimini in the Bahamas is home Fiji’s Beqa Lagoon is a prime shortfin mako sharks head for to the Bimini Shark Lab. The area shark-diving location, but southern California in search is famous for bull sharks and this is not a place for the of food. This is one of the best hammerheads. This is a great nervous! The sharks here places to spot these amazing place to see sharks in the wild include bull sharks, tigers, predators. They are often seen and to find out about the Lab’s and large lemon sharks—as swimming near blue sharks, shark conservation research. well as less scary whitetip also common in the area. and blacktip reef sharks.

MEXICO Mexico’s Yucután Peninsula boasts all kinds of sea life, including humpback whales and whale sharks (see page 19). MALDIVES The Maldive islands COSTA RICA SOUTH AFRICA are surrounded by AUSTRALIA Cocos Island, off Great whites swim the warm, shallow sea, The Neptune Islands, Costa Rica, is known seas of the Cape region, perfect for marine off South Australia, for huge schools of while the Aliwal Shoal, life. Maaya Thila is are famous for great hundreds of scalloped off KwaZulu-Natal, is a protected marine white sharks. Visitors hammerheads. Divers a breeding ground for environment where can dive with Shark can regularly watch sand tiger sharks. divers often swim Expeditions, founded the hammerheads, Whale sharks can be with whitetip reef by Rodney Fox, a great as well as whitetip seen off South Africa’s sharks and other white expert and reef sharks. northeast coast. sea creatures. conservationist. 30

GLOSSARY absorb mangrove take in or soak up through the surface and a type of tree that grows along the edge of into the inside salty water in hot places conservation maturity keeping the natural world safe, so that age when a living thing is physically able to animals and environments do not disappear produce young critically endangered nutritional the International Union of Conservation for providing the ingredients needed for health Nature (IUCN) category for species facing and growth an extremely high risk of extinction overfishing cull catching so many fish that their number deliberate killing of animals to reduce their drops to dangerously low levels, so they population cannot be replaced endangered pollution the International Union of Conservation for harming or poisoning an environment with Nature (IUCN) category for species facing a toxic substances and materials high risk of extinction putrefied extinct allowed to rot without a single living example tag gill identification label, which may give off a signal so the shark can be tracked body part that allows a fish to breathe; the gills take oxygen from water in the same way human lungs take oxygen from air under threat general term for species that face some habitat kind of danger to their survival natural home of a plant or animal vulnerable immune system the International Union of Conservation for body system that allows living things to Nature (IUCN) category for species that will fight off disease become endangered if their situation does not improve 31 INDEX

apex predators, 8–9 longlining, 14–15 tagging, 24, 26–27 baby sharks, 20–23 tourism, 18–19, 29–30 mangrove forests, 7, 22–23 big-game fishing, 12 visiting with sharks, 30 by-catch, 14–15, 21 nets, 14, 16–17 vulnerable sharks, 6 nurseries, 21–23 “catch and release”, 12–13 whale shark gatherings, 19 chemical pollution, 24–25 poison, 15 commercial fishing, 13 pollution, 24–25 conservation, 26–27, 29 protecting sharks, 26–27, critically endangered 29 sharks, 6–7 protective netting, 16–17 culls, 16 reproduction, 20–21 diving with sharks, 18, 30 shark attacks, 16–17, 28 drift gill nets, 14 shark finning, 10–11, 27–28 endangered sharks, 6 shark immune systems, 29 shark sancturies, 29 fishing, 12–15 shark spotters, 17 food chains, 8–9 shark suffocation, 10–11

About the Author Paul Mason is a prolific author of children’s books, many award-nominated, on such subjects as 101 ways to save the planet, vile things that go wrong with the human body, and the world’s looniest inventors. Many take off via surprising, unbelievable or just plain revolting facts. Today, he lives at a secret location on the coast of Europe, where his writing shack usually smells of drying wetsuit (he’s a former international swimmer and a keen surfer).

Picture Credits (abbreviations: t = top; b = bottom; c = centre; l = left; r = right) Alamy: Alessandro Mancini 25br; David Angel 16; Design Pics Inc 15t; Doug Perrine 8cl; Erika Antoniazzo 11r; Ger Bosma 9t; Image Source 12; Jeff Rotman 16tl; Kevin Browne 25tl; Mark Conlin 8bl; NATUREWORLD 8c; Reinhard Dirscherl 18bl; Top Photo Corporation 11cl; WaterFrame 3, 13cr, 20tl; Wolfgang Polzer 21tl. FLPA: Christian Ziegler/Minden Pictures 22bl; Colin Marshall 19tl; Jean-Michel Mille/Biosphoto 20; John Holmes 8; MICHAEL WEBERBERGER/Imagebroker 32br; Norbert Wu/Minden Pictures 1, 2, 22, 6, 14, 23tr, 28t; OceanPhoto 9c; Pete Oxford/Minden Pictures 26; Peter Verhoog/Minden Pictures 29b; Photo Researchers 18; Steve Trewhella 13tr; Suzi Eszterhas/ Minden Pictures 28. Getty Images: Matt Jelonek 16b. 32 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Sharks—sleek, fast-moving predators with powerful jaws—can take care of themselves, right? Wrong! Thanks to humans, many shark species are officially endangered and some iconic sharks even face extinction. This has happened through . . . • demand for shark fin soup

• big-game fishing sharks in danger • ocean pollution . . . and other threats to their survival. Discover why sharks need our protection and why we need them. True stories and fascinating science combined with superb photographs explain how these incredible hunters have become the hunted—and how the future can still be made bright for them.

Wild World of Sharks SHARKS ON THE HUNT WORLD’S WEIRDEST SHARKS SHARKS IN DANGER THE SHARK ATTACK FILES

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