Friday 17 December 2010

Less SHARKS at sea, more 'sharks' on land....

Sharks - (Superorder Selachimorpha) are a type of fish. The earliest sharks date from 420 million years ago, and they include 440 species ranging from 6'7" to 39'4" in size.
If there is one thing a human being is frightened of, it's a shark, even though only a few are dangerous to human beings. Only c4 out of c340 species have been involved in unprovoked or fatal attacks, and Peter Benchley (of the film Jaws fame) in his later years tried to dispel the image of sharks as man eating monsters.
The great White shark, the Hammerhead, and the Tiger shark are at the top of the food chain, their extraordinary skills as predators fascinate and frighten human beings even though their survival is under serious threat from fishing and other human activities. Sharks in general cruise at 5mph, and can reach speeds of 31mph when feeding or attacking. Most sharks are carnivores and are found in all seas.
It is estimated that 100 million sharks are killed every year for commercial and recreational fishing, particularly in Japan and Australia. They are often killed for shark's fin soup when the fins are cut off and stored on board ship and the bodies of the sharks are then cruelly thrown back into the water. The majority of shark fisheries have little monitoring or management. China and Japan battle all attempts to extend the 'Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species'. 'The Shark Trust' campaigns to limit shark fishing, and the advocacy group 'Seafood Watch' directs American consumers not to eat sharks.
So much for the sharks that innocently live in our seas, what about the 'sharks' that increasingly inhabit our land? They prey on anything they choose, plunder, steal, destroy without a moment's thought of tomorrow. They ignore the natural world at their peril! One day when it is too late human beings will weep to see the devastation they have caused. for more on sharks read:
http://on.natgeo.com/eWMZ7u

3 comments:

  1. Fascinating facts,the shark is a truely amazing creature.The landshark is a horrible creature,eg.huge companies swallowing up anything in its path .Similar to the Tories selling and stripping public assets as it cruises along .Beware the sharks are circling again.Don't go swimming !!!!

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  2. Interesting post.

    I deleted what was needed to be deleted.

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  3. Renegade Eye. Thanks! Will look in again.TpM.

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