sharks in danger Paul Mason THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Thanks to the creative team: Senior Editor: Alice Peebles Fact Checking: Tom Jackson Picture Research: Nic Dean Design: Perfect Bound Ltd Original edition copyright 2017 by Hungry Tomato Ltd. Copyright © 2018 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Hungry Tomato® is a trademark of Lerner Publishing Group All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review. Hungry Tomato® A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA For reading levels and more information, look up this title at www.lernerbooks.com. Main body text set in Avenir Next Condensed Medium 11/15. Typeface provided by Linotype AG. 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 Critically endangered sharks in 2017 included the: ANGEL SHARK Mediterranean, northeastern Atlantic The angel shark, smoothback angel shark, and sawback angel shark are all threatened by overfishing. DAGGERNOSE SHARK Northern South America Fishing is thought to reduce the number of daggernose sharks by 18 percent each year. It took just 10 years for over 90% of the population to be wiped out. GANGES SHARK India This river shark is threatened by overfishing and pollution. It is also losing habitat as dams are built on the rivers where it lives. IRRAWADDY RIVER SHARK Myanmar The mangrove forests where this shark hunts are steadily being cut down. The rivers it lives in have also become polluted. NEW GUINEA RIVER SHARK Northern Australia, possibly New Guinea A whale shark swims Threatened by overfishing, there are along, gathering thought to be only about 250 of these sharks left. small sea creatures into its giant mouth PONDICHERRY SHARK as it goes. China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan Last caught and identified by experts in 1979, this species may now actually be extinct. NATAL SHYSHARK South Africa This shark lives close to the coast in a very small area of Kwa-Zulu Natal where industry and development are threatening its habitat. 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 1Most 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.